Advance favourites Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen’s “Liekinheitin” (“Flamethrower”) won the qualifier as demonstrators outside protested Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Finland has chosen “Liekinheitin” (“Flamethrower”) by Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen as its official entry for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Vienna in May.
The duo clinched their win at the UMK (Contest for New Music) national qualifier, hosted by Yle at Nokia Arena in Tampere on Saturday evening. The broadcast drew an all-time record audience.
The forehand favourites won by a large margin, earning 570 points compared to their nearest rival, Antti Paalanen. The raspy-voiced accordionist scored 210 points with his quirky “Takatukka”.
Boy band Komiat placed third with 116 points, with the four other finalists – all female vocalists – all scoring less than 100 points.
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Raspy-voiced accordionist Antti Paalanen came in second. Image: Miikka Varila / Yle
Lampenius, 56, is best known as a crossover violinist with a long career in both classical and pop – as well as for appearing on the cover of Playboy magazine in 1998 under the name ‘Linda Brava’. She has discussed her experiences in an autobiography and an award-winning documentary series.
Parkkonen, 20 years her junior, is a pop singer whose career began with a third-place finish in the Idols singing competition in 2008, followed by a Dancing with the Stars Finland win in 2014 and the platinum-selling album PETE in 2018.
Finland rated as favourite to win ESC
According to international betting sites, Finland is the favourite to win this year’s ESC. It has only done so once so far, when “Hard Rock Hallelujah” by monster-rock band Lordi won in 2006.
On Sunday, “Liekinheitin” was ranked in first place by the aggregate site eurovisionworld.com, with an 18 percent chance of winning, ahead of Greek entry “Ferto” with a 12 percent chance.
The UMK final attracted a record viewership of more than 2.5 million people on TV and Areena in Finland, or some 44 percent of the population.
Nearly 447,000 votes were cast, which was over 100,000 more than last year. Three-quarters of the points came from the public vote, with an international jury’s votes weighted at 25 percent.
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Protesters Jack Wright and Kukka Rantakangas from Tampere. Image: Jani Aarnio / Yle
Before the final in Tampere, an estimated 70 demonstrators protested at Sori Square near the venue, calling for Israel to be barred from the Eurovision Song Contest.
“We’re demonstrating because of the genocide committed by Israel in Palestine,” said Tampere protester Kukka Rantakangas.
“We demand that Israel be excluded from Eurovision,” added another local resident, Jack Wright.
The Tampere with Palestine collective and the Finnish Palestine Network called on people to boycott UMK and Eurovision because the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has not excluded Israel from the competition.
1 March, 11.50am: Added audience figures.
1 March, 12.31pm: Added betting site’s ranking.