NB This version was published in December 2016 and has been replaced by an updated Top 5 from Finland.
Having been south, east and central, time to head to the snowy north with our first Nordic country – Finland. Finland is regarded somewhat as a Eurovision underachiever. Despite being in the contest since 1961 and with 50 appearances, they have just the one win, and that came relatively recently in 2006. However that winner has has gone down as one of Eurovision’s most memorable….
Couple of surprises in here maybe, and I’d be impressed if you knew the song from the 1970s… Slightly controversial in my ordering top 5 maybe – do comment below though and let me know your thoughts on your Finnish favourites!
5. Krista Siegfrids “Marry Me” (2013, 24th place, 13 points)
A bundle of energy and enthusiasm, I saw Krista live at the London Eurovision Preview Party. It’s a fun party track and amusingly brought a same sex kiss to the TV sets of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia…
4. Hanna Pakarinen “Leave Me Alone” (2007, 17th place, 53 points)
An underrated track, it went down well in the hall – not surprising since this was the Finnish entry when Finland hosted the competition for the first (and so far only) time.
3. Lordi “Hard Rock Hallelujah” (2006, winner, 292 points)
Lordi at number 3? Well yes, as while it is one of the most memorable and widely known recent Eurovision winners, I do have two other songs I prefer more. While they are a heavy rock/metal band, their winning entry is actually quite pop sounding. With the pyrotechnics and the costumes and the enormous points haul (they won by a mile), Finland’s sole win remains a memorable one.
2. Monica Aspelund “Lapponia” (1977, 10th place, 50 points)
I will be most surprised if anyone else knows this but I love it! I think I must have heard it on ESC Radio a few times. It did pretty well for Finland and it was the last song to be awarded a douze points until Lordi in 2006.
1. Softengine “Something Better” (2014, 11th place, 72 points)
A surprise package at 2014’s contest, doing much better than originally expected, but a deserved good result, and the best Finnish result since Lordi. You don’t get alt pop/rock that often in Eurovision and a combination of that, great chorus and good live performance put it the top of my fave Finnish songs.