Finland for Thought
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I'm an American who's been living in Finland for six years (damn!). I started this blog to address some of the political, cultural, and current event issues in Finland and the United States.

...but mostly what you'll find here is: Finnish and American stereotypes, Funny YouTube videos about Finland, rants about our high taxes and low salaries, and [not-so] comedic differences between Finns and Americans. Enjoy! :-)

21.5.2006

Finland wins Eurovision!!!!!!

Tags: Uncategorized — Author: Phil @ 1:00 am

Hell has frozen over… (highest Eurovision score of all time!! Watch Lordi at Eurovision on YouTube)

lordi_wins_eurovision.jpg
Hat Tip to Anonymous for the pic and M for the YouTube link!

138 Comments »

  1. Sweet! I find this quite amusing – in postivite way of course. I’m interested to see what Finnish media will write about this.

    Comment by J-P — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:08 am

  2. FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!! BRING IT HOME LORDI!!

    Comment by gopha — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:08 am

  3. Now Tarja Halonen must invite Lordi to Linnanjuhlat!

    Comment by Anonymous — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:11 am

  4. I just can’t stop smiling :)

    Comment by Punde — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:12 am

  5. They have reminded everybody that the Eurovision is all about fun. I have not laughed so much in a long time and all my friends have remembered me!

    Nice one Lordi.

    Comment by Asa — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:12 am

  6. FINLAND > *

    Vittu Perkele’s!!!

    Comment by fibercool — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:12 am

  7. And we get to host Eurovision next year!!! Can’t wait!

    Comment by Phil — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:13 am

  8. This is so cool! The French announcers were completely bummed, they were seriously surprised that the French chick didn’t get any points. She sucked!

    GO LORDI!

    Comment by Anzi — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:15 am

  9. PERKELES!!!!
    So they have found life on Mars, I suppose…

    People are shooting fireworks outside btw!

    Comment by riippumaton — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:17 am

  10. And how sweet is it to see Russia in 2nd place and Sweden close as well?!??? Mwahahahahhaaaaa!!

    Comment by Phil — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:21 am

  11. Heh, Wikipedia’s Lordi page was updated like 5 minutes after they won.

    Comment by Phil — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:23 am

  12. This is so cool! The French announcers were completely bummed, they were seriously surprised that the French chick didn’t get any points. She sucked!

    She did get 5 points from Monaco, I believe. The event is documented on Wikipedia.

    Still, she probably ponders whether she should have performed the original song instead.

    Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:24 am

  13. Finally! From now on we should only send metal bands.. we can even do it alphabetically! Apocalyptica next year followed by Bodom..

    Comment by Harri — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:24 am

  14. LORDI RULES!!!!!!

    Hope to see you all in the celebration party for the almighty LORDI

    Hard rock halleluja

    Comment by Blah — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:25 am

  15. We need to mob those three countries that gave no votes. Then we kick their asses!!!

    Comment by Real Deal — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:26 am

  16. Well, let’s book the olympic stadium and make sure it’s raining cats, dogs and old ladies…

    Now that said, it’s only bloody ESC, but I have been cursing for years, why Finland never sends in something original and different. Now we (finally)^2 did without damn “expert” jury or mummo intervention and the result is RECORD HIGH by Perkele. Writing QED is one of my highest pleasures. Let’s be unbeatable in defeat and unbearable in victory.

    Comment by Antti (the redneck one) — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:27 am

  17. Hope to see you all in the celebration party for the almighty LORDI

    Where’s the party at?

    Comment by Phil — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:27 am

  18. Yeah, Franklin you’re right. But still: Ha ha!

    Comment by Anzi — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:28 am

  19. Happy happy joy joy.
    Seriously though, this win wasn’t because Lordi’s song was so good – it was because non of the others were.

    Comment by Incen — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:28 am

  20. Well, now it’s official, Hell has finally frozen over, since we the finns won the Eurovision contest

    Comment by :D — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:33 am

  21. Don’t know yet but I hope there is going to be a party.
    Propably in one of the Helsinki market squares

    Comment by Blah — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:34 am

  22. Don’t know yet but I hope there is going to be a party.

    I’ll bring the molotov-cocktails, you bring the 10 gallon drums of gasoline. :-)

    Comment by Phil — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:42 am

  23. It’s a deal :)

    Comment by Blah — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:43 am

  24. Antti:
    Now that said, it’s only bloody ESC, but I have been cursing for years, why Finland never sends in something original and different.

    It’s that good old poor national self-esteem. “What will they think of us”? This was a bold move, quite unbecoming of our brainwashed freeriding welfare-statist Lutheran herd mindset, that got an unprecedented reward. I’m anxiously waiting what the flower-hatted aunties who were so offended will say.

    Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:45 am

  25. I’m anxiously waiting what the flower-hatted aunties who were so offended will say.

    I hope they eat their hats and choke on them. Out with the old, in with the new.

    Comment by Anzi — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:48 am

  26. I sure hope their host is humane, ’cause lordi.org is not getting the allotted traffic. The exceeded quota bills haven’t all disappeared yet.

    Comment by Incen — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:49 am

  27. This is fantastic. I voted twice from here in Stockholm and won 175 kronor from svenska spel too on my 20 kr bet :) So glad that we beat the botox queen Carola.

    From so many nil points to 292 points. Feels quite good!

    Comment by JG — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 2:16 am

  28. 40. time tells the truth. :)

    Comment by tim73 — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 2:24 am

  29. Watched on the web from Los Angeles, and routed all the way for Finland. This is totally cool! (Although the Croatian chick had nice legs.)

    Comment by dreadnought_91604 — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 2:26 am

  30. This is the most hilarious moment since the day before yesterday when we saw their semi-final perfomance.

    Comment by Joona — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 2:26 am

  31. Phil

    You go from cute dog to this?

    Well congrats.

    Comment by winter — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:09 am

  32. WOW!

    I still have nightmares of being forced to wath the Finnish finals and the competition while living there with constant comments that “this is going to be the year……”

    Comment by Fred Fry — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:31 am

  33. I think this picture would better fit with the theme, Phil:
    http://www.votelordi.org/victory.jpg

    Comment by Anonymous — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 4:12 am

  34. Or maybe this:
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Noanoa/helvetti_jaatyy.jpg

    Comment by Anonymous — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 4:17 am

  35. Wow. I just arrived back from Spain with a bottle of Spanish bubbly bought from the Madrid-Barajas airport and had the unique pleasure of pouring glasses to my friends and toasting Finland winning the ESC… It was positively surreal to say the words “Suomen euroviisuvoitolle”. No f***ing way…

    Comment by Drakon — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 5:30 am

  36. “”We are a rock band and we just won Eurovision – that’s weird,” their lead singer, also called Lordi said.

    “This was a victory for rock music and also a victory for open-mindedness,” he said. ”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4998186.stm

    Comment by M — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 8:00 am

  37. >I’m anxiously waiting what the flower-hatted aunties who were so
    >offended will say.

    Truly, Lordi’s victory was slipping one up their old, dry and dusty whatchamacallit. FOOOOOOOKIN’ great! :P

    Comment by AnonyMeaCulpa — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 8:24 am

  38. We are the winners of eurovision :D . Lordi rules the world!

    Se on jämpti vittu saatana!

    Comment by YAR!! — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 8:30 am

  39. Does anybody have clips of Lordi’s performance or counting of votes or the moment when the results are revealed? I’m a Finn in the U.S. and I can’t believe that I’m totally gonna miss this historical moment!! :)

    Comment by Katarina — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 9:00 am

  40. Katarina, try here
    http://www.youtube.com/results?search=lordi+eurovision&search_type=search_videos&search=Search

    Comment by M — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 9:02 am

  41. Anzi (8): I was in UK, watching the finals from BBC. Their commentator was obviously surprised and pissed that absolutely nobody gave votes to UK entry. I’m surprised they actually scored that high with their horrible piece of crap:)

    Well, Finnish Orcs and Klingons (as the BBC commentator called them) came, saw and kicked some ass. Now that Lordi has proven themselves, we can send more of our rock and metal acts to Eurovision. I am sure stuff like Stratovarius or Sonata Arctica would fare well.

    We must now think of another Finnish equivalent for ‘Hell Freezes Over’ since Eurovision victory was such thing:)

    Comment by Mr. S — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 10:46 am

  42. Hard rock halleluja!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Derek — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 11:13 am

  43. LOL!

    Can we say it’s all about music after all? IT’S ABOUT WHO LIKES WHO! Estonia votes for Finland, Belarus votes for Russia and so on…

    It doesn’t matter if you good or not, people vote for country and not for singer…

    IMHO real music results: Russia number 1, Sweden 2!

    Comment by Belino — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 11:38 am

  44. I think this picture would better fit with the theme, Phil:
    http://www.votelordi.org/victory.jpg

    lol It looks like a Pepsi endorsement.

    Comment by gopha — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 11:54 am

  45. belino’s right!

    look at the impressive list of our long lost nation buddies:

    andorra, croatia, greece, ireland, poland, spain, uk! where have they been during the last 40 eurovision song contests that finland has been part of? we’ll surely be succesful in all the following years with the help of our newly established kindred nations!

    Comment by spectator — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 12:04 pm

  46. Actually Finland doesn’t have such friends that would vote for her. It’s been studied and Finland is indeed an exception in that sense. The Swedes in particular never voted for Finland, the Norwegians used to give a vote or two, though. That’s one reason why Finland has done so poorly in the past even when the song has been fairly good.

    Comment by spendler — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 12:35 pm

  47. “This was a bold move, quite unbecoming of our brainwashed freeriding welfare-statist Lutheran herd mindset, that got an unprecedented reward. I’m anxiously waiting what the flower-hatted aunties who were so offended will say.”

    Heh, I’m expecting the usual letters to the editor from the pseudonym “O tempores O mores”, perhaps a tirade about desecration of the finnish flag in Lordi’s hat and the bishops may have to ask forgiveness for the whole Europe, not just Finland anymore. I guess these geezers, who managed to barr the Sex Pistols from corrupting our youth by obstructing their gig in the 70’s/80’s are already retired.

    I know I’m hoping too much, but I hope Lordi managed to kill the usual euro-humppa forever. Or if it is absolutely necessary to send some humppa there, send at least The Eläkeläiset. Maybe we see next year the ESC, which is a couple notch more interesting, than the “Exhibition of achievements of the socialist national economy” back in the good old USSR.

    Comment by Antti (the redneck one) — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:03 pm

  48. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snG2V-PtpB8

    Well she didn’t take it too well

    Comment by Anton — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:09 pm

  49. I’m truly happy for Finland… but what makes me sad is whole voting system.

    There are only 2 ways to get votes: friendly country and diaspora. Russia got votes from Finland but no votes for Finland from Russia. If not Russian population in Finland who is gonna vote? Sweden vote for Finland because it’s better to give to Finland than to Russia:))) And so on and so on…

    Need to add that Sonera totally sucks!!! Sms was delivered after 30 mins after voting and confirmation came at 3 a.m. However, everything was fast and perfect with DNA.

    Comment by Belino — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:15 pm

  50. Oh my, I thought that Iceland missy was just doing a great pissis act, but she seems to be one for real.

    Comment by Antti (the redneck one) — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:23 pm

  51. CONGRATULATIONS TO FINLAND!
    Finally, this ancient and reactionist system is crumbling to pieces! I think this is even better than hell freezing over and discovering life on Mars, since the ESC will never be again than it has been for the past 50 years. Say good-bye to sleezy ballads, catchy pop songs and the like. This truly is a mega-monster sized nail in the coffin of ESC!

    I wonder, how long Finland’s joy over their amazing victory will last. Hosting the ESC ain’t gonna be cheap and I wonder, where YLE will raise the money. Most likely in form of a temporary extra payment to the TV license fee. Like the road maintenance tax, it will last to remind the Finns forever of their ESC victory…

    Comment by Saksalainen — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:26 pm

  52. Rise taxes!

    Comment by kk — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:28 pm

  53. I guess Miss Iceland there is portraying how all of the flower-hatted aunties and those who have based a big part of their self-esteem on bashing Finland are reacting right now. :-D

    Comment by Anzi — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 1:32 pm

  54. Miss Iceland Silvia Night is just a charachter, and not to be taken for real. It’s just humour .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvia_Night

    Comment by Probo — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 2:04 pm

  55. Voting system

    Go with the American Idol voting system. Anyone in the world can call a 866 number and punch in a code for their vote.

    The highest number of votes win. Gets rid of bias, as the kids will pick the best singer no matter how you game the system.

    Comment by winter — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 2:12 pm

  56. Think about the contest in Finland next year – I bet Marco Bjurström will be one of the hosts. Imagine him on international television. Naminami…

    Comment by Anonymous — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 2:32 pm

  57. TV licence fees will be continuosly risen in any case during the decade. That’s “a promise” that was made some years ago. (BTW, compared to that fact, those adds that state: “When one doesn’t pay, others pay more!” are quite silly) YLE has promised hosting the ESC next year will not effect to the fees. Money comes from government and European brodcasting companies.

    Comment by riippumaton — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 2:52 pm

  58. Probo, does that justify her childish acting? She gets what she deserves.

    Comment by kk — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:03 pm

  59. Winter, what are you talking about?

    Comment by Justen — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:06 pm

  60. I’m anxiously waiting what the flower-hatted aunties who were so offended will say.
    Yes, I wonder if they still are so much offended?

    But fortunately not all people over 40 years of age are offended etc. My grandma actually watched the contest with me and thought Lordi was great, and my mother loves the song.

    Comment by Tuulikki — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:31 pm

  61. Why not outsource the venue to Estonia?

    The Finnish state can save alot of money on expenses.

    And the Finns can party cheaper as well.

    Comment by Peter — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:31 pm

  62. Does anyone know the backgrounds of the Lordi guys?

    Are they shy pimple-faced skinny guys in real life but, like Finnish auto drivers, can get downright mean, aggressive and rude when surrounded by heavy metal.

    Comment by Peter — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:35 pm

  63. Miss Iceland didn’t win because people thought her shock act was for real.

    Whereas Lordi’s shock act was “safe”. It was obviously done tongue in cheek, and with humour.

    Comment by Peter — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:38 pm

  64. Go with the American Idol voting system. Anyone in the world can call a 866 number and punch in a code for their vote.

    Wow, what a bright idea.

    European populations:

    Russia: 144,978,573
    Germany: 83,251,851
    Turkey: 67,308,928
    UK: 59,778,002
    France: 59,765,983
    …
    Finland: 5,183,545
    etc. (source: Wikipedia)

    Of course, mobile phone penetration is an issue, but we’d still better get used to the ESC being hosted in Moscow…forever.

    Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:41 pm

  65. Think about the contest in Finland next year – I bet Marco Bjurström will be one of the hosts. Imagine him on international television. Naminami…

    I’ve been thinking about this as well. Marco B., Bettina S., Antero Mertaranta…seems like there’s a minefield in every direction.

    As far as national image goes, this is far more a cause for concern than a few guys and a gal in monster masks.

    Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 3:54 pm

  66. “- I bet Marco Bjurström will be one of the hosts…”

    Maybe we should continue the unorthodox approach and throw in two grumpy old men. Jörn Donner and Jouko Turkka come to mind. Or hey, I know, Jaana Pelkonen and Wallu Valpio. Hmmmm…Krisse and Andre Wickström…The official supervisors of Lotto or the couple from Kaurismäki film with akisque dialog…

    Comment by Antti (the redneck one) — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 4:49 pm

  67. #48, Finland got 8 points from Russia.

    Comment by samwyse — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 5:22 pm

  68. “I’ve been thinking about this as well. Marco B., Bettina S., Antero Mertaranta…seems like there’s a minefield in every direction.”

    Maria Guzenina anyone? Or the other MTV VJ Axl Smith(?) It has to be someone who speaks english fluently. And the other host will come from some other country just as was the case this year.

    I just hope the finnish organisers won’t fuck up the show like in the athletics WC last summer. Remember the flying pyramids and all…

    Comment by DC — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 6:18 pm

  69. Seems the Russians are crying now because superhomo mullet boy (complete with complementary wife beater t-shirt and kung fu grip) didn’t win. What’s funny is the only one who isn’t crying is the guy himself.

    http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/21/russia.eurovision.ap/index.html

    I’m really not looking forward to Ulkomaalainen class tomorrow. We have ten russian speakers in there.

    Comment by gopha — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 6:57 pm

  70. Look at Phil’s post # 10 :) It doesn’t matter whether Russian or Swedish singer was good or not for him… the main thing is that they are number 2 and 3?:)

    This is how all the people in all countries vote. Not for singers but for countries.

    Voting system is a shame! Truly music voters have no chance to vote for their singer and here is why: let’s say there are 10 people who love singer from Zimbabve and vote for him from Finland. Because there are no immigrants from Zimbabve in Finland those votes simply lost and not counted. Counting top records is the worst system…

    Eurovision always was about pop music. Today Finnish Rock Monsters, tomorrow maybe Circus with tigers and pigs will enter it:)))))

    I also hope that next year everything gonna be ok and not like last year’s WC. Still remember complains from Finnish Sponsors that it was not so profitable:)))) not in finnish way, to put 1 euro and get back 100:))))

    Comment by Belino — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:04 pm

  71. Flood your posts with however many smileys you see fit. Doesn’t hide the bitterness and contradictions.

    Comment by gopha — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:21 pm

  72. Today Finnish Rock Monsters, tomorrow maybe Circus with tigers and pigs will enter it:)

    Funny, most of the performers seemed to be dressed for the circus, when they happened to be dressed at all.

    Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:26 pm

  73. # Naa naa na naa naa, # we are the winners, # of Eurovision!! :D ;) :P

    Comment by Åboy — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:27 pm

  74. Maria Guzenina anyone? Or the other MTV VJ Axl Smith(?)

    MTV hosts sound like a boring choice, playing it safe. I’m rooting for Krisse & Andre.

    Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:28 pm

  75. Sour grapes are hard to swallow, as we finns know all too well. ;) This time it’s our turn to party!! It doesn’t matter how we do in the contest from now on. At least we got this one amazing victory with record high points. :)

    Comment by Åboy — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:31 pm

  76. Funny, most of the performers seemed to be dressed for the circus, when they happened to be dressed at all.

    Speaking of…

    Anyone see Maria Menounos’ silver dress, low cut in the front? Her left breast was slowly sproutin’ out. I said to my wife “Hey! You can see the dark area around her left nipple!” :D

    Comment by gopha — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:31 pm

  77. It was incredible. We were an heterogeneous group of nationalities in a pub: we were italians, finns, spanish, french, dutch and so on, watching the results from a wide screen and ALL supporting Finland like hell!!
    And when WE won we all erupted in joy! It looked like in Italy people gather at the pubs to watch the world cup matches, same sensation.
    I’m proud of my little Finland for this time!!

    By the way, does anyone know why Italy NEVER participates to this contest?

    Comment by Simo — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:43 pm

  78. “Seems the Russians are crying now…”

    OK, let’s pretend they made it all the way to the top and keep the celebrations down. Channeling Kekkonen: “We don’t have to make noise about the ESC victory.” Let’s allow Tehtaankatu 1 to meddle a little in the next selection of our ESC entry…

    Comment by Antti (the redneck one) — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:52 pm

  79. Who’s gonna host the Eurovision 2007 Song Contest? Lordi, of course! :)

    Comment by Anonymous — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 7:55 pm

  80. Host for 2007?

    Duh. Conan, of course. He’s almost as Finnish as Maria Menounos is Greek.

    Comment by Anonymous — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 8:24 pm

  81. “MTV hosts sound like a boring choice, playing it safe. I’m rooting for Krisse & Andre.”

    You have a point there. Maybe Andre and Silv.. I mean Krisse could improve their english or do their act so that it doesn’t matter. Also I just remembered that Guzenina is a SDP member nowadays, so she might not be a good choice. Although I bet YLE wouldn’t mind ;-)

    Comment by DC — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 8:33 pm

  82. You have a point there. Maybe Andre and Silv.. I mean Krisse could improve their english or do their act so that it doesn’t matter.

    Swedish speakers tend to have better oral English skills, I don’t think it’s an issue. As for Krisse, why in the world would she need to improve? I’m betting on crazy grammatical blunders and overuse of the word “like”.

    Back in the day, the hosts tended to be fluent in at least English and French, but that’s a little too much to expect.

    Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 9:11 pm

  83. Conan O’Brien to host 2007 ESC!!!

    Comment by Anonymous — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 9:24 pm

  84. damn anonymous that was excellent idea ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Comment by brlpbrlp — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 10:03 pm

  85. http://koti.mbnet.fi/escapism/loirdi.jpg

    Lordi and Loiri – like two berries. :)

    Comment by MP83 — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 10:59 pm

  86. How about Conan and Silvia Night?
    And all the singers have to pass through a
    15′ compulsory interview with both hosts :-) )

    Comment by Armas — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 11:00 pm

  87. Simo: Italy participated the Eurovision Song Contest pretty regularly in the past but hasn’t done it since 1997. According to the Italian-language Wikipedia article about the contest, one of the main reasons for this is that the Italian RAI (national broadcaster) doesn’t want to take the financial risk of having to organize the contest any more. I’ve been told (very unofficially) that Italians pretty much hold the Eurovision contest in contempt these days and would rather just do their own thing, the Sanremo Music Festival (which, at least according to them, the Eurovision contest is modeled after).

    Comment by Paula — Sun, May 21st, 2006 @ 11:53 pm

  88. => 41
    Terry Wogan (UK) Commentator was being sarcastic. In fact, when they chose the uk song this year, I believe his comments were akin to “another zero points for us, then” – then the BBC forced him to support it.

    Comment by Rob — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 1:25 am

  89. …man, I just can’t stop smiling…:D

    Comment by FinnFreak — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 9:41 am

  90. I think Paula is right in that the Italians don’t participate because winning the competition means you have to arrange it next year and they’re afraid they couldn’t afford to do that. I don’t think we Finns are seriously afraid of that; since the Estonians and Latvians were afraid of going bankrupt and managed to pull it off both of them I just think Finland wanted to join the club more than anything, no matter the cost. This is a very good thing for Finnish showbusiness and music export industry and it’s definitely worth arranging.

    Still, the idea behind Lordi in Eurovision probably wasn’t that they were a sure-fire Eurovision winner. Sure they were but it was not easy to predict in advance. They were there to get maximum publicity for Finnish metal music, something that the world is dying to hear. Even if the unlikely had happened and a Finnish schlager song one day had won the competition, I don’t think the rest of Europe would have gone crazy for Finnish schlager music for that one win. Now that the Finnish metal song won, everyone’s expectations of the quality of Finnish metal music were fulfilled and this will open doors for other metal acts.

    The special quality of Lordi was that the song enjoyed support across Europe. Of course Lordi got a disproportionately high score from our Nordic neighbors but that’s expected. If Spain comes with a latin tune it’ll always be more likely to become a hit in Portugal than in Russia. The Finnish metal tune was always going to score high, not only among neighbors qua neighbors, but among fellow metal-listening countries such as Germany, Britain and Norway. Getting ten points from Germany is a very impressive result. I think Poles like any rock tunes and think rock music in Eurovision is cool. The Greeks must’ve loved the blue and white flag that Mr Lordi was sporting.

    Comment by Helsinkian — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 10:54 am

  91. Italy doesn’t participate anymore because they didn’t want to pay. Italy wanted to be one of the countires that automatically get to the finals everytime (= the biggest payers) but didn’t want to pay the demanded price. So they thought “screw you guys, we’re going home”. :)

    Comment by Åboy — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 11:27 am

  92. Åboy: maybe the Italians were smart in not participating since none of the four big payers hit top ten this year. Anyway, the Italians have just pulled off the Winter Olympics.

    My speculation of the Italians being afraid of not being able to afford to host Eurovision was based on my assumption (just a guess, I have no facts) that paying for the tv licence can’t be as popular in Italy as it’s in Finland. Sure Finnish students very often don’t pay but I guess paying for the tv licence fee is very common indeed among middle-aged and elderly Finns (watching Eurovision is also known to be popular among the middle-aged and the elderly).

    Comment by Helsinkian — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 11:49 am

  93. about the italian debate: my only thought is that, as italians, we are really missing something.
    it seems the eurovision is the only thing linking europeans together in a relaxed competition.
    but italian tv is controlled by politicians who just don’t care…

    Comment by interflug — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 12:37 pm

  94. Helsinkian (89): I just think Finland wanted to join the club more than anything, no matter the cost. This is a very good thing for Finnish showbusiness and music export industry and it’s definitely worth arranging.

    The organizer is YLE. It means that in the end the show will be funded by taxpayers, not consumers. So in effect the Eurovision circus is a subsidy to showbusiness and music export industry. Do they really need more on top of the disastrous copyright legislation?

    There is also the question of opportunity cost. What will not be done because of the resources diverted to this particular show? I’m not all that convinced that it is a better deal than “business as usual”, various smaller events and business conferences that have to relocate to a new venue when something like the Athletic Games circus comes to Helsinki.

    Comment by MarkkuT — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 1:01 pm

  95. MarkkuT: To be perfectly honest, up until this year I’ve thought it great that it’s not Finland arranging the ESC because it’s such a momentous waste of money.

    I thought it was great for Estonia and Latvia since these new nations really needed the publicity and by proving that they can arrange Eurovision they shed the Soviet-era image and showed that they are capable of arranging other, more meaningful things as well. I’ve never thought Finland would be in dire need for this.

    But Lordi changed a lot of things when it comes to my thinking of whether arranging Eurovision is worth it. Bands such as HIM, 69 Eyes and Nightwish have been on the way of becoming something great. Not everybody outside of Finland necessarily know where they come from. Those who are not into hard rock haven’t necessarily even heard of them. Of course, their fans know who they are and where they’re from; you bet many fans of Finnish hard rock/metal acts from all over Europe voted for Lordi. Now that Lordi won, this idea that great heavy metal comes from Finland has been cemented in the minds of many Europeans who were previously unaware of our great export product.

    No, arranging Eurovision will be no great deal in itself. But Lordi will appear next year again as special guests and if the arrangement is well done, Finland will reenhance the image of a leading metal country at the expense of the schlager festival and at taxpayers’ (not only Finnish but other European taxpayers’ as well, don’t forget the bigger freeride) expense. I honestly think that the Finnish music export industry will benefit from this. Of course very many will think their tax money could be better spent but I’m confident next year’s ESC will enjoy very broad popular support. Because it was Lordi (and not Katri Helena, for example) who brought Eurovision to Finland many of those who would otherwise oppose arranging ESC due to their principles will be cheering on instead.

    Comment by Helsinkian — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 1:59 pm

  96. To support YLE, don’t forget to pay the yearly TV license fee!

    Ooops!

    Comment by Smile — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 2:25 pm

  97. Smile: I would if I kept a television at home; I don’t have one, so I don’t pay.

    Comment by Paula — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 2:43 pm

  98. Still, she probably ponders whether she should have performed the original song instead.

    is she still pondering if she should have sung *on key* as well?

    Comment by Hank W. — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 3:24 pm

  99. did without damn “expert” jury or mummo intervention and the result is RECORD HIGH by Perkele.

    The Finnish “Expert Jury” sent shit like Laura Voutilainen and Jari Sillanpää was it instead of Nightwish or even Nylon Beat… that shows how “expert” the experts are… KYLLÄ KANSA TIETÄÄ :D

    Comment by Hank W. — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 3:26 pm

  100. I hope they eat their hats

    A lot of Finns had promised “syön hatullisen paskaa” :D

    Comment by Hank W. — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 3:34 pm

  101. “A lot of Finns had promised…”

    Not to talk about those flocking in Eteläsatama en route to Sweden with all their possessions…

    Next year we should again send some expert jury conservative compatible scheisse, just to make the difference crystal clear.

    Comment by antti (the redneck one) — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 3:51 pm

  102. “A lot of Finns had promised “syön hatullisen paskaa” ”

    Hah :D

    http://www.dansc.net/salaa/lordilupaus.jpg

    English translation (sort of):

    “I will eat a huge hatfull of shit if Europe gets on its knees in front of this kind of garbage. This sick world needs a healer – Siiri Suomi”

    Bon Apetit Siiri Suomi!

    Comment by DC — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 4:00 pm

  103. DIDN”T GWAR DO THIS KIND OF COSTUMING DECADES BACK.

    Comment by Anonymous — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 4:24 pm

  104. Here’s an Israeli wingnut who seems to blame his country’s poor showing on a nefarious Finnish-Iranian conspiracy:

    http://www.onejerusalem.com/2006/05/21/iran-the-eurovision-and-us/

    Comment by Kimmo W. — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 5:04 pm

  105. Haw :D

    Why not invite Conan O’Brien to host the next Eurovision since it’ll be held in Finland ;) !

    Comment by Cameraperson — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 5:20 pm

  106. (Quoting myself here. This is an excerpt from another board I frequent. This was in response to someone who took the whole competition a bit too seriously…)

    I must say you don’t have a frikkin’ clue if you think Lordi’s a
    serious band. They’re a joke and know it very well themselves.

    Two great things about their victory:

    1) They slipped one up ESC’s whatsit. Think about it – a joke band
    winning the contest with best points ever :D

    2) They slipped one up the whatsits of all moral guardians, religious nutters etc. who were trying to get them banned. Well, turns out
    those weenies didn’t get what they wanted but got what they deserved
    instead :D

    All in all, a very refreshing exception from the usual BS you see in contests like this IMHO.

    Comment by AnonyMeaCulpa — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 5:42 pm

  107. I want Siiri Suomi to have that lunch she promised! =)

    I had a major hangover whole saturday, when Lordi came to the stage it disappeared and I was so nervous when the points began to flow..I was just walking around and when the win was sure I sat down put the horns to the eir and screamed! LORDI! YOU ROCK!

    This is better than the Ice-Hockey World championship gold! It’s gonna be a HELLUVA SHOW ON FRIDAY!!!

    Comment by PePe — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 6:12 pm

  108. #86:

    I kind of suspected that nations had to pay a participation fee based on population, so I understand why RAI (the Italian Yle) is concerned to participate and, God save RAI, “win”.

    We in Italy have the Sanremo festival, which is the italian version of eurovision, I think older than that, and hugely popular, and all the songs there are “italian style”, if you know what I mean.

    Eurovision can be not worth the game. Although I regret it, because it is truly a competition in the competition.

    BTW, in Italy the licence fee is mandatory. Meaning that you must pay it like you pay the electricity bill, unless you explicitly prove that you have no TV. In Finland, you pay it “voluntarily” or if inspectors catch you at home…
    So, it is not so easy to not pay the fee in Italy.

    Comment by Simo — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 9:51 pm

  109. Anyway…RUATTI ON PARAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Uolevi — Mon, May 22nd, 2006 @ 11:36 pm

  110. [i]BTW, in Italy the licence fee is mandatory. Meaning that you must pay it like you pay the electricity bill, unless you explicitly prove that you have no TV. In Finland, you pay it “voluntarily” or if inspectors catch you at home…
    So, it is not so easy to not pay the fee in Italy.[i]

    Well, now in Finland the inspectors go to only houses that do not pay a licence, and then you have to prove you do not have a TV… so i do not really see the difference in the system. The difference is that Finland has only 5 million people and all the houses have coordinates on the map…

    Comment by Hank W. — Tue, May 23rd, 2006 @ 12:10 am

  111. “The difference is that Finland has only 5 million people and all the houses have coordinates on the map…”

    ..and of course that the finnish authorities can’t be paid of with a piece of prosciutto. ;)

    Comment by Åboy — Tue, May 23rd, 2006 @ 1:30 am

  112. Awesome bitching here:

    http://tinyurl.com/murk3

    Brits with some paranoid post-imperial hangover. How anyone in their right mind could think that a 40-year old chav rapping about teenage life surrounded by a bunch of slappers in school uninforms would hold pan-European appeal and is a glowing example of tunesfulness and musicianship is totally and absolutely beyond me. Way to go, Engerland! Naturally, political voting is ok when practiced by Ireland and the UK… Except many of the Brits complain about not having neighbours, so maybe Ireland sankm but no one notices, what with being busy complaining about the downfall of the ESC.

    Eastern Europeans who all seem to share a disconcerting love and seriousness for saccharine balladry of the budget-Celine style and third rate casino floor show naughtiness to titillate the middle-aged. Once again, how someone can look at the umpteenth performance featuring wannabe MTV-video candy getting their clothes ripped off after minutes of painful gyrations and wonder how it doesn’t hold globall appeal is beyond me.

    And, of course, how anyone in their right minds can consider the ESC anything but a hilariously bad camp romp devoid of any esthetic value is also beyond me.

    Watching all the people who were worried about Lordi come out of the wooodwork as supporters will be a riot. The incomparably idiotic Alexander Stubb springs to mind first and foremost. Thanks to dorks like him, next month’s column for Soundi is a no-brainer…

    Here’s a previous intallment…

    http://www.soundi.fi/juttu_0506_tolosentotuudet.html

    Comment by Arttu — Tue, May 23rd, 2006 @ 2:36 am

  113. PS: Helsinkian, the Greek vote was a no-brainer. The country has had a very strong metal/goth scene for years. Weird, huh?

    Even though Lordi is really bubblegum hard rock, I think it motivated a lot of people who otherwise couldn’t give a shit to vote. SOme voted because they want more exposure for rock in areas where it lacks mainstream acceptance (Greece). Many of my friends in places like Norway and the UK said they would vote for Lordi, because they saw it a big hairy fuck you to the entire ESC.

    That last sentence sums up my motivation for voting for him in the primaries in Finland.

    Comment by Arttu — Tue, May 23rd, 2006 @ 2:41 am

  114. I’ve heard that the inspectors in Finland can’t come in unless the people living there let them in. So they don’t have a real chance at catching illegal TV owners.

    Simo, how do they prove that they have no TV in Italy? Do they get a certificate from the state that gives them right not to pay?

    Comment by Pave — Tue, May 23rd, 2006 @ 5:28 pm

  115. Pave, you underestimate the stupidity/honesty of Finnish people.

    Comment by Hank W. — Tue, May 23rd, 2006 @ 8:05 pm

  116. Going in order:

    #110: I hope you are joking, although a sentence like this is not nice, no matter the number of winks you accompany it with.

    #112: I guess proof depends on the cases, I never had to worry about that, because until I was in Italy, I was living with my parents :-) and they paid for that.

    #113: I guess that they must be not so stupid/honest if they do not pay in the first place… :-)

    Comment by Simo — Tue, May 23rd, 2006 @ 8:26 pm

  117. Ha ha ha ha:

    http://www.platinum.ac/eurovision07/

    Then again, the opening ceremony for the athletic world championships was a fucking laugh riot…

    Comment by Arttu — Tue, May 23rd, 2006 @ 10:26 pm

  118. Helsinkian (94): Thank you for the civil comment. I’m just afraid that ESC is the present form of bread and circuses… we’ll see what obscenities the politicians drive through next year around Eurovision Song Contest time… ;)

    Comment by MarkkuT — Wed, May 24th, 2006 @ 10:38 am

  119. Boycott Seiska!
    http://www.adressit.com/ansku69

    Comment by Anonymous — Wed, May 24th, 2006 @ 5:35 pm

  120. There is one thing I don’t like about Lordi. They dress like Gwar and kindda look bad ass but their music doenst fit their costumes. It sounds more like rock then metal and even if it can be considered metal… being dressed like monsters doensn’t actually represent their music. Anyway, I’m glad they won instead of some pop sensation singer.

    Comment by Sam — Wed, May 24th, 2006 @ 5:53 pm

  121. “Boycott Seiska!”

    You can always count on these sad rubbish rags not to respect people’s wishes or privacy. True vultures of the media they are.

    Comment by Åboy — Wed, May 24th, 2006 @ 6:14 pm

  122. “it sounds more like rock”

    Hard ROCK it is…

    Comment by PlasmaG — Wed, May 24th, 2006 @ 6:31 pm

  123. PlasmaG is right, it’s hard rock not metal. Media has spun this way too much. Was it BBC that even labeled Lordi as death metal? Oh please. It’s all about the show. Lordi isn’t an overly serious band, it’s entertainment just as horror movies are entertainment for some of us. They’re not trying to scare people for real, they just wan’t to put up a great show and rock! And I think the monster costumes fit well with their lyrics and give them an edge over the thirteen in a dozen hard rock bands.

    I really hope Norway will send some of their black/death metal acts to ESC 2007. That would make Lordi sound like Britney Spears and hopefully by then everyone can notice the difference between death metal and hard rock.

    Comment by DC — Thu, May 25th, 2006 @ 1:54 am

  124. Satyricon would be a good choice for Norway, I think. Or Darkthrone, if they agreed to do one of their songs that doesn’t sound like Motorhead.

    Comment by Arttu — Thu, May 25th, 2006 @ 10:31 am

  125. sign the petition to get Italy back into Eurovision!
    http://www.gopetition.com/online/7512.html

    Comment by interflug — Fri, May 26th, 2006 @ 3:07 pm

  126. I guess it’s important nowadays to know if band plays death-, speed-, black-, or whatever metals there is. To me it seems funny.
    Does anyone remember the good old days when in (Soundi, Help) mail order catalogs there were labels for pop, rock, prog. and heavy music. Under the heavy -label there were Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper… You liked the band, you listened it and didn’t have to figure what sub-genre it might represent.

    Comment by issi — Fri, May 26th, 2006 @ 3:58 pm

  127. Well, yes, I’m sure the world was a lot nicer and less complex when Kekkonen was still alive…

    Comment by Arttu — Sat, May 27th, 2006 @ 11:41 pm

  128. THE WORLDSGREATEST SONG OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  133. Lordi on paras

    Comment by MIiiinnäää — Sat, May 12th, 2007 @ 6:13 pm

  134. LOOOORRDIIIIIIIIIIIII OOONNNN PAARAAAAS

    Comment by Susanna — Sat, May 12th, 2007 @ 6:14 pm

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  138. i was 12 when lordi did what it did for finland,i was so happy i masturbated 46 times in the next 10 days ,it yielded 512 mls semen.i cooled in the fridge,the day before i had been to the toilet for a lovely shit,which i froze.to the 512 mls of cool finnish semen i added cubes of frozen shit,a hint of dogs piss,a blob of antti ylonens shit and to top it all,my aunti liisa kamrats vittu mehu ,40 ml.the mixture was fabulous.my mother leena ylonen said it was very nice,in fact the 2nd best drink she had tasted,but she did admit that the semen she tasted as a teenager was far superior in every way, in fact that semen will never be matched by one within a thousand kilometres,but perhaps just one day/ one can always dream?

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