Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Finland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-eight times since its first entry in 1961. Finland has won the contest once in 2006 with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" performed by Lordi. In 2014, Finland scored their best position in the contest since their victory in 2006, qualifying to the final and finishing in 11th place with the song "Something Better" performed by Softengine.

The Finnish broadcaster for the 2015 Contest, who broadcast the event in Finland and organised the selection process for its entry, was Yle. Finland's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest have been selected through national final competitions that have varied in format over the years. Between 1961 and 2011, a selection show that was often titled Euroviisukarsinta highlighted that the purpose of the program was to select a song for Eurovision. However, since 2012, the broadcaster has organised the selection show Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), which focuses on showcasing new music with the winning song being selected as the Finnish Contest entry for that year. The Finnish broadcaster opted to continue selecting their entry through UMK for 2015.

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2015

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2015 was the fourth edition of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the music competition that selects Finland's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition consisted of four shows that commenced with the first of three semi-finals on 7 February 2015 and conclude with a final on 28 February 2015. All shows were broadcast on Yle TV2 and online at yle.fi/umk. The final was also broadcast via radio on Yle X3M.

Format

On 26 May 2014, UMK 2015 show producer Anssi Autio announced that the format and rules of the competition would be modified from that of previous years. The panel of judges that had been a feature of the competition the past three years were retired for UMK 2015. Also, all shows in the competition would be recorded live; there would be no pre-recorded shows.

Eighteen artists and songs competed in UMK 2015—an increase from twelve which had competed in the previous editions of the competition. The format of the competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals and a final. The four shows took place at Yle Studios in Helsinki and were hosted by Rakel Liekki and Roope Salminen. The three semi-finals, held on 7, 14 and 21 February 2015, each featured six entries with the top three advancing to the final from each show. The final, held on 28 February 2015, consisted of the nine songs that qualified from the semi-finals. The results for the semi-finals were determined exclusively by public televoting. In the final, the winning entry was determined by the combination of public televoting and votes from several civilian juries that represented different types of Finnish people. In addition to being able to vote via phone call and SMS during all shows, internet voting was also enabled. The proceeds from the televoting were donated to the Nose Day Foundation (Nenäpäivä-säätiö), which funds projects in developing nations.

Competing entries

A submission period was opened by Yle which lasted between 1 September 2014 and 8 September 2014. The competition allowed for entries longer than three minutes, however, should the winning song be longer than three minutes, it would have to be shortened for the Eurovision Song Contest. At least one of the writers and the lead singer(s) had to hold Finnish citizenship or live in Finland permanently in order for the entry to qualify to compete. A panel of experts appointed by Yle selected eighteen entries for the competition from the received submissions. The competing entries were presented during a live press conference on 13 January 2015, but a leak on Spotify revealed the artists and song titles on 7 January 2015—six days before the official presentation.

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final show took place on 7 February 2015 where three out of the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from public televoting. The three qualifiers were "Crossroads" performed by Satin Circus, "Aina mun pitää" performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät and "No voy a llorar por ti" performed by Norlan "El Misionario".

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final show took place on 14 February 2015 where three out of the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from public televoting. The three qualifiers were "Ostarilla" performed by Shava, "Heart of Light" performed by Opera Skaala and "Lions and Lambs" performed by Jouni Aslak.

Semi-final 3

The third semi-final show took place on 21 February 2015 where three out of the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from public televoting. The three qualifiers were "Hold Your Colours" performed by Solju, "Särkyneiden sydänten kulmilla" performed by Järjestyshäiriö and "All for Victory" performed by Angelo De Nile.

Final

The final results were determined 90% by televote and 10% by jury votes. The eight jury groups were made up by selected themes: children, "rainbow people", Marthas, musicians, the media, taxi drivers, and Finland Swedes. One jury group, with the idea to represent ESC fans, was gathered from voluntary UMK viewers. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät was the winner of the competition with the song "Aina mun pitää".

Detailed jury results

Preparation

"Aina mun pitää" set a Eurovision record by being the shortest Eurovision song to ever compete at the contest with its 85 second length. Following their Finnish national final win, the band garnered media interest from international press commenting on the fact that the band was composed of middle-aged men with developmental disabilities. The band's manager, Teuvo Merkkiniemi, stated: "They try to change the world by their songs and playing: they are an example to other people with handicaps."

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 26 January 2015, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Finland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 19 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Finland was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from the Netherlands and before the entry from Greece.

All three shows were televised on Yle TV2, with a second audio program available and providing commentary in Finnish by Aino Töllinen and Cristal Snow and in Swedish by Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos. The three shows were also broadcast via radio with Finnish commentary broadcast on Yle Radio Suomi and Swedish commentary broadcast on Yle Radio Vega. The Finnish spokesperson, who announced the Finnish votes during the final, was 2013 Eurovision entrant Krista Siegfrids.

Semi-final

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät took part in technical rehearsals on 11 and 15 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 18 and 19 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.

The stage show featured the members of Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät in a band set-up: vocalist Kari Aalto, guitarist Pertti Kurikka, bassist Sami Helle and drummer Toni Välitalo. Stage lighting was the most prominent feature of the performance with the background LED screens displaying industrial brick walls.

At the end of the show, Finland failed to qualify to the final and was not announced among the top ten nations. It was later revealed that Finland had placed sixteenth and last, receiving a total of 13 points.

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Finland had placed tenth with the public televote and sixteenth (last) with the jury vote in the first semi-final. In the public vote, Finland scored 51 points, while with the jury vote, Finland scored 1 point.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Finland and awarded by Finland in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Finnish jury: