News - Live: Finnish national final | Eurovision Song Contest News - 2010 Oslo, Norway 

The Finnish national final to select the country's 44th entry to the Eurovision Song Contest will take place tonight at Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre, also known as Pirkkahalli. Three songs qualified from each of the three heats and one jury wildcard made the number competing tonight to ten. There will be two voting rounds, and the result will be decided solely by a telephone and SMS vote. Three acts will qualify for another round of voting, a so called superfinal.

The show

The show will be broadcast on YLE 2 19:00 CET (20:00 local time) and TV Finland (on cable or satellite) delayed at 22:35 CET. Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Peltola will be the hosts of the programme, which is aired live from the Exhibition and Sports Centre in Tampere. Ten acts will present one song each and the winner will be chosen in two rounds of televoting. Three songs will compete in the 'super final'. 

How to watch? 

An official webcast will be made available by YLE for viewers in Finland only here.

An unofficial webcast will be made available WORLDWIDE here at 19:00 CET.

An international webcast is provided on anywheretv.fi here. You need to register first (you can use the google translator if you need assistance). Don't not mind the prices shown after you have registered - live streamings can be watched for free (just return to the main page).

The show can also watched on your mobile device, navigate to yle.mobi and follow the special link with red arrow to watch the live show.

Web Radio

YLE Radio Suomi has a live radio webstream (available WORLDWIDE) of the event here or here from 19:04 CET (20:04 local time).

The participants

Composer/Lyricist in brackets.

1. Maria Lund - Sydän ymmärtää
   (Valtteri Tynkkynen/Maria Lund, Heikki Salo)
2. Antti Kleemola - Sun puolella
   (Antti Kleemola, Mikko Karjalainen)
3. Linn Nygård  - Fatal moment
   (Sebastian Holmgård/Sebastian Holmgård, Linn Nygård)
4. Pentti Hietanen - Il mondo è qui
   (Lasse Heikkilä, Petri Kaivanto, Stefano de Sando)
5. Heli Kajo - Annankadun kulmassa
   (Heli Kajo)
6. Nina Lassander - Cider Hill
   (Janne Hyöty, Paul Oxley)
7. Amadeus Lundberg - Anastacia
   (Risto Asikainen, Ilkka Vainio)
8. Sister Twister - Love at the first sight
   (Jonas Olsson, Elin Blom/Elin Blom) 
9. Eläkeläiset - Hulluna humpasta
   (Kristian Voutilainen, Onni Waris/Onni Waris)
10. Kuunkuiskaajat - Työlki ellää
    (Timo Kiiskinen)
     

Your opinion

• You can vote for your favourite song in our poll here. 

LIVE

The show will start soon. A special show reminiscing past Eurovisions is airing before the final starts.

Jaana and Peltsi now wish us all welcome and also decalre the voting lines open. We now have the first artist on stage. The songs are introduced with a video and a voiceover.

1. Maria Lund – Sydän ymmärtää

First off is the entry that got the wildcard from the YLE secret jury after she did not qualify directly from her third heat. Maria already took part in a Eurovision event, when she was the Finnish representative at the Eurovision Dance Contest in Glasgow 2008. Her number here is also very much about dancing and has one of the best rehearsed stage routines of the night. This song has a strong retro feel from the late 50s and early 60s and many Finnish listeners hear several references to many hits of that era, even in the playful lyrics. The polka dot accessorised outfits add to the theme.

At this point Jaana and Peltsi try to reveal the newly inaugurated winners trophy, the Eurovision Key just to find it has been lost. A desperate scramble then follows to find it before the end of the show and we see the hosts leave the venue to search for the trophy.

2. Antti Kleemola – Sun puolella

Antti Kleemola has been struck by the stomach bug that ravaged the venue in the previous week but is bravely taking to the stage anyway. His radio friendly ballad is in a style that is very popular with Finnish singer-songwriters. Antti starts off behind his piano and stands up towards the end of the song. Even if Antti has written several hit records for other artists he has only been known as a solo artist for a couple of years. The song is pleasant enough and catchy after a few listenings but whether he will get votes will be seen. His start position at the second place is also considered a bad omen in these contexts.

The search for the lost trophy now takes us to the home of Fredi, or Matti Siitonen, who sand the Finnish entries in 1967 and 1976. He does not admit to have stolen the trophy though but hints it might be someone that was a favourite for success at Eurovision with an artistic song.

3. Linn – Fatal moment

One of the few rockier numbers this year comes from Linn, who already got to repreresent Finland once in Oslo for the MGP Nordic for children and youth in 2007. Her entry is one of the three tonight that come from the Swedish speaking Ostrobothnia region, who have been thought to strongly support their own. Whether this sort of music is right for Linn has been questioned by some, and this number might be most obviously one that is not as professional as most others, and the pyros used will probably not lift it above most others. Linn originally entered via the open web selection.

Now our hosts have arrived at the home of Marika Krook, who sang the vocals for Edea’s Aava in Birmingham in 1998. We can all now already guess she is not the suspected thief either and the search continues to find someone who has represented Finland twice at Eurovision.

4. Pentti Hietanen – Il mondo è qui

The only song sung in Italian comes from operatic and musical artist Pentti Hietanen. He has changed some of his backing singers for tonight and one of them is veteran singer Inga Sulin. He is still wearing his black velvet suit. The choreography seems a bit better suiting to the song on this big stage. Whether Pentti’s fan base is big enough to take him to the super final remains to be seen, but Finns are known to love their songs in Italian. The song itself might not be strong enough to go through tonight.

Jaana and Peltsi now arrive at Marion’s house. She sang the Finnish entries in 1962 and 1973, and was until Lordi responsible for the best result for Finland coming 7th on her first attempt and 6th on her second, both times in Luxembourg. She in her turn hints the trophy might be with an artist, who twice has won the Finnish final but did not get to go to Eurovision anyway and might be bearing grudges.

5. Heli Kajo – Annankadun kulmassa

The audience go wild for this act in the hall. Next up is the new discovery of the year. Heli Kajo has shot to fame after she entered in the open selection, vowed the YLE jury and got selected directly to the final with her French sounding song. She also pleased the TV viewers and many Eurovision Song Contest fans, rising to be one of the outside favourites to make the super final tonight. The song has very funny lyrics that many people can relate to – she seems to be stuck in a relationship with somebody who can only say they love her while drunk. The fashion conscious artist wears a specially designed outfit in black lace and very high Louboutin heels. Actually tonight’s host Jaana will later sport another pair of heels be the same designer!

Marjatta Leppänen, the winner of Finnish national finals of 1963 and 1965 get now a visit from out hosts, but she will not admit to bearing grudges and has not stolen the trophy either.

6. Nina Lassander – Cider hill

The second Swedish Ostrobothnian entry is from Nina. She has changed her frock from the one we saw in the heats, but the overall look still harks back to colonial American style of centuries gone by. The routine with the parasols is still there and this gentle little number might please a few viewers. This number has a one of the best thought out stage shows tonight.

The hosts now arrive at the house of Jarkko and Laura, who sang for Finland in Madrid in 1969. Even if YLE last all their promotional material then, this married couple are not the ones with the grudge that led to stealing the trophy. They give up the search.

7. Amadeus – Anastacia

The winner of the annual tango song contest, only last year moved to YLE channels, is on next. The routine of allowing the winner a direct qualification will continue in 2011. Amadeus has changed his outfits to a more youthful look today and got rid of one of the dancers from the heats. The youthfulness is probably a wise move judging by the number of female pre-teen fans seen around the venue supporting him already today. This poppy number will be translated to English if he gets the ticket to Oslo. It might well stand a chance of going through to the superfinal tonight as it is the only one in this genre tonight.

Jaana and Peltsi now return to the venue and hang their coats after being unsuccessful in returning the trophy.

8. Sister Twister – Love at the first sight

This open selection qualifier is the third one also representing Swedish Ostrobothnia. The girl band also represented Finland in Oslo in 2007 for the MGP Nordic. The lead singer Elin Blom is still only 15 year old but is one of the artists here showing some real pop or rock star qualities. This number has loads of pyro effects and youthful energy. Even if Elin and her band would not win the ticket for Oslo again we can rest assured we shall see more of these girls.

The hosts now make sort publicity for the official CD release.

Jaana and Peltsi now announce the open selection will be much wider for next year’s selections.

9. Eläkeläiset – Hulluna humpasta

The veteran group, meant to be consisting of old age pensioners are sitting behind their desks playing their instruments. Even if this has been labelled as a joke entry by many, these guys do take their job very seriously. Their whole act is about the image and the supposedly drunken antics of the band. The drinking has been toned down to adapt to Eurovision Song Contest rules and the band have calmed down their normally rude language a bit too. The show element is now probably much less than many would have expected, and most of the action seems to happen during the interlude when the keyboards get some rough treatment. The band are not taking life too seriously, even if their message has somewhat been lost for some of the most purist fans. The band are not seriously making fun of the contest, but see it just as another gig to do their own humppa thing, that they have even exported to some European countries with success before.

10. Kuunkuiskaajat – Työlki ellää

The last act then sees some very genuine Finnish music, also in original humppa style that is very popular in Finland. The elements are mostly from Eastern Finnish heritage with some added gipsy flavour. The number has gained loads of fans since their performance in the last heat and is seen by some as a genuine challenger to get to the superfinal or even Oslo. They all perform barefoot and the girls are in their white dresses. The last position might be either good or bad, as the voting lines close soon after this performance having been open from the start of the show.

After Jaana and Peltsi we get a recap of all the 10 songs.

Then a short video entry charts the Norwegian history in the Eurovision Song Contest. Then we get the countdown to close the voting.

First interval act comes from 11-piece Mikko Leppilampi Band, fronted by the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest host. After that we meet for the last time the pretend Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest hosts Trine and Oddvar.

Now we get the results of which three songs have made it to the superfinal:

Nina Lassander – Cider hill
Eläkeläiset – Hulluna humpasta
Kuunkuiskaajat – Työlki ellää

The voting lines will now be reset and voting will start again as we see these three acts again.

Famous TV host Marco Bjurström now joins the hosts for additional commenting.

Marco did like Nina’s singing voice, slated Eläkeläiset as unfunny and Kuunkuiskaajat  as a genuine act.

After hearing the three superfinalists we get to see last year’s Norwegian winner Alexander Rybak. He premieres his new single Europe’s skies and mixes it into his Eurovision winner Fairytale. It is his fourth visit to Finland, where he has a sizeable fan base, many of which are present here tonight judging by the screams.

The winner’s trophy has been recovered, after it had been stolen by an entrant from 1996, Sami Hintsanen, now host of a popular sing-a-long show on YLE.

Result is here:

3rd Eläkeläiset – Hulluna humpasta
2nd Nina Lassander – Cider Hill

The winner is Kuunkuiskaajat – Työlki ellää

Now a reprise of the winning song.