Member station Yle First appearance 1961 | Appearances 50 (44 finals) Best result 1st: 2006 | |
 | ||
National selection events National Final
Euroviisukarsinta
1961–1969
1971–1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004–2011
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu
2012–present Worst result Last: 1963, 1965, 1968, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2009, 2015 SF | ||
Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 50 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah". Previously, its best showing was Marion Rung’s song "Tom Tom Tom" in 1973, which was placed 6th.
Contents
Finland has finished last in the contest ten times, receiving "nul points" in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final six times. In 2014, the country had its best result for eight years when Softengine finished 11th. In 2015 Finland finished last in Semi Final One with the shortest ever Eurovision entry "Aina mun pitää" that only lasts 1 minute and 25 seconds by PKN (Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät).
History
Before the 2006 victory, Finland was considered by many as the ultimate under-achiever of Eurovision. Prior to its triumph, it had placed last a total of eight times, once with "nul points" after the introduction of the current scoring method. Finland's entry in 1982, "Nuku pommiin" by Kojo, was one of only fifteen songs since the modern scoring system was instituted in 1975 to earn no points. (Norway had placed last eleven times and scored zero points four times, but had also won twice before 2006).
Due to low results, Finland was excluded from the contest in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003.
First victory
In 2006, Finland won with The band Lordi and its song Hard Rock Hallelujah, an entry different from the mainstream Europop that dominated the competition. The song broke records scoring the highest number of points in Eurovision Song Contest history (292).The record was eventually broken by Norway in 2009 (387).
Language
All of Finland's entries were in English between 1973 and 1976 and again since 2000 (except in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015); both of these periods allowed submissions in any language. Two entries, 1990 and 2012, were in Swedish, which is an official language in Finland alongside Finnish. All of Finland's other songs have been in Finnish.
Voting patterns
In voting patterns, Finland has traditionally supported and been supported by the other Nordic countries. In recent years also the Baltic nations, such as Estonia and Latvia have been favoured by Finland, and the other way around. In 2004, Finland's first-place vote went to Sweden; in 2005, it contributed 12 points to Norway; in 2006, it was Russia's turn to get the 12 points, but it was Serbia who got their top score in 2007. The first time in Eurovision history that Sweden gave Finland 12 points was in 2006 for Lordi's song "Hard Rock Hallelujah". In 2007, they repeated this, giving 12 points to Hanna Pakarinen with "Leave Me Alone". Finland has also given notably high points to Italy, a country that had not competed in various periods, especially from 1998 to 2010, but returned in 2011.
Contestants
Voting history
As of 2016, Finland's voting history is as follows:
Marcel Bezençon Awards
Press Award
Fan Award