Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Before its 2006 victory, Finland was considered by many to be the under-achiever of the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to 2006, Finland had placed last a total of eight times, three times with nul points. Finland's entry in 1982, "Nuku pommiin" by Kojo, was one of only fifteen songs to score no points since the modern scoring system was implemented in 1975. Due to poor results, Finland was relegated from taking part in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003.^[1][2]

In 2006, Finland won the contest with the band Lordi and their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah", an entry that stood out from the Europop that had dominated the competition. The song scored the highest number of points in the history of the contest, with 292, a record that was later broken by Norway's Alexander Rybak in 2009.^[3]

In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision song, the one minute and 27 seconds "Aina mun pitää" performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät.^[4] Finland reached the final for the first time in four years in 2018, with Saara Aalto placing 25th. After a non-qualification in 2019 with Darude and Sebastian Rejman, Blind Channel placed sixth in 2021, followed by a 21st place for The Rasmus in 2022 and a second place for Käärijä in 2023, the latter of which is Finland's second best result to date.^[5]

All of Finland's entries were in English between 1973 and 1976, and since 2000 (with the exceptions of 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2023); both of these periods allowed submissions in any language. Finland's entries in 1990 and 2012 were in Swedish, which is an official language in the country alongside Finnish. All of Finland's other songs have been in Finnish.

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Year	Category	Song	Performer	Final	Points	Host city	Ref.
2002	Fan Award	"Addicted to You"	Laura	20	24	Tallinn	[6]
2006	Press Award	"Hard Rock Hallelujah"	Lordi	1	292	Athens	[6]
2011	Press Award	"Da Da Dam"	Paradise Oskar	21	57	Düsseldorf	[7]

You're a Vision Award

Year	Performer	Host city	Ref.
2023	Käärijä	Liverpool	[8]

Conductors

Commentators and spokespersons

Over the years, Yle has had several experienced radio and television presenters as commentators. The Eurovision Song Contest has been broadcast in Finland from 1960 to 2001 and from 2021 onwards by Yle TV1 and from 2002 to 2019 by Yle TV2.

• 
  Laila Kinnunen in Cannes (1961)
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  Marion Rung in Luxemburg (1962)
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  Viktor Klimenko in Naples (1965)
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  Fredi in The Hague (1976)
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  Kirka (pictured in 1989)
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  Lordi (pictured in 2005)
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  Hanna Pakarinen in Helsinki (2007)
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  Teräsbetoni in Belgrade (2008)
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  Waldo's People in Moscow (2009)
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  Kuunkuiskaajat in Oslo (2010)
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  Krista Siegfrids in Malmö (2013)
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  Softengine in Copenhagen (2014)
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  Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät in Vienna (2015)
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  Sandhja in Stockholm (2016)
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  Norma John in Kyiv (2017)
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  Saara Aalto in Lisbon (2018)
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  Darude (not pictured) and Sebastian Rejman in Tel Aviv (2019)
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  The Rasmus in Turin (2022)
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  Käärijä in Liverpool (2023)

• Finland in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Finland in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
• Finland in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.