Finland has been represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

58 times since its debut in . The Finnish participating broadcaster in the contest is (Yle), which has often selected its entrant with a national final, since 2012 known as . The country won the contest for the firstand to date onlytime in with "

Hard Rock Hallelujah "Hard Rock Hallelujah" is a song by Finnish rock band Lordi. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in Athens, resulting in the country's only ever victory in the contest. It reached the 1 spot in Finland and reached the top 10 in eight o ...

" performed by

Lordi Lordi () is a Finnish Rock music, rock band. Formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker Mr Lordi (Tomi Petteri Putaansuu), Lordi are known for wearing monster masks and using horror elements with pyrotechnics during c ...

. The country's best result before then was achieved with "Tom Tom Tom" by

Marion Rung Marion Rung (born 7 December 1945) is a Finland, Finnish pop singer. She is known for having represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 and 1973. Her 1962 Eurovision song placed 7th, and in 1973, she managed to bring Finland's se ...

in , which placed sixth. Finland has finished last in the contest eleven times, receiving ''

nul points The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is determined by a positional voting system. The most recent version of the system was implemented in the . Each participating country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points, based on th ...

'' in , , and . Since the introduction of the semi-finals in , Finland has failed to reach the final eight times. In , the country had its best result in eight years with "Something Better" by Softengine finishing 11th, a result that would be surpassed with " Dark Side" by

Blind Channel Blind Channel is a Finnish nu metal band from Oulu. They represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song " Dark Side", finishing in sixth place. The band define their musical style as "violent pop". Career In February ...

, which came sixth in , and later with " Cha Cha Cha" by Käärijä, which won the public vote and came second overall in , the latter of which is Finland's second best result to date.

History

(Yle) is a full member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU), thus eligible to participate in the

. It has participated in the contest representing Finland since its in 1961. Before its victory, Finland was considered by many to be the under-achiever of the contest. Prior to 2006, it had placed last a total of eight times, three times with ''

''. Finland's

entry Entry may refer to: *Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States *Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games *Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets *Entry (film), ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian ...

in , "" by Kojo, was one of only fifteen songs to score no points since the modern scoring system was implemented in . Due to poor results, Finland was relegated from taking part in , , , and . In 2006, Finland won the contest with "

" by the band

, an entry that stood out from the

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

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 Alexander Igorevich Rybak (; born 13 May 1986) or Alyaksandr Iharavich Rybak () is a Belarusian-born Norwegian musician and actor. Based in Oslo, Norway, Rybak extensively worked on television programs and on tours in Europe, particularly in S ...

in . In , Finland finished last in the first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision song, the one minute and 27 seconds "" performed by

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät ; ; PKN) was a Finnish punk rock band, formed in 2009 in a charity workshop for adults with developmental disabilities. They are the main focus of the 2012 Finnish documentary film ''The Punk Syndrome''. In 2015, they qualified for the finals of U ...

. Finland reached the final for the first time in four years in , with

Saara Aalto Saara Sofia Aalto (born 2 May 1987) is a Finnish singer, songwriter and voice actress. In 2012, she came second in the first season of '' The Voice of Finland''. In 2016, Aalto finished as the runner-up in the thirteenth series of ''The X F ...

placing 25th. After a non-qualification in with Darude and Sebastian Rejman,

placed sixth in , followed by a 21st place for

The Rasmus The Rasmus is a Finnish Pop music, rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki while the band members were in upper comprehensive school.Main source of the band's history: The original band members were Lauri Ylönen (founder, frontman, lead sing ...

in and a second place for Käärijä in , the latter of which is Finland's second best result to date. All of Finland's entries were in English between and , and since (with the exceptions of , , , 2015, 2023, and 2025); both of these periods allowed submissions in any language. Finland's entries in 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.

Participation overview

Hostings

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

You're a Vision Award

Related involvement

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.

Photo gallery

File:ESC 1961 Finnish Final Laila Kinnunen.jpg,

Laila Kinnunen Laura “Laila” Annikki Kinnunen (8 November 1939 – 26 October 2000) was a Finnish singer. She was one of the most popular Finnish singers of the 1950s and 1960s, and represented Finland at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, the first time Fi ...

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

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in Luxemburg () File:Eurovision Song Contest 1965 - Viktor Klimenko.jpg, Viktor Klimenko in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

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Fredi Fredi may refer to: * Fredi (Valencian pilota) (born 1957), retired Valencian pilota professional player * Fredi Bobic (born 1971), German football striker * Fredi González (born 1964), Cuban current manager of the Atlanta Braves * Fredi Walker, A ...

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() File:Kirka12589.jpg,

Kirka Kirill "Kirka" Babitzin (Russian '' Кирилл Бабицын'', 22 September 1950 – 31 January 2007) was a Finnish vocalist and musician. One of the most commercially successful artists from Finland, his career lasted from the late 1960s u ...

(pictured in 1989) File:LordiMoscow.jpg,

(pictured in 2005) File:ESC 2007 Finland - Hanna Pakarinen - Leave me alone.jpg,

Hanna Pakarinen Hanna Helena Pakarinen (born 17 April 1981) is a Finnish pop and pop-rock singer who rose to fame as the winner of the first series of the Finnish singing competition '' Idols'' in 2004. Since then she has represented Finland in the Eurovision So ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

() File:ESC 2008 - Finland - Teräsbetoni, 1st semifinal.jpg,

Teräsbetoni Teräsbetoni is a Finnish heavy/power metal band. Their first album, ''Metallitotuus'', was released in 2005 and has so far sold more than 32,000 copies. Teräsbetoni has been strongly influenced by bands such as Manowar. The direct translation ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

() File:Waldo's People.jpg,

Waldo's People Waldo's People is a Finnish Eurodance band. The lead singer of the band is Waldo, whose real name is Marko Reijonen. They represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, with the song " Lose Control". It won a place for the Eurovision ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

() File:Kuunkuiskaajat.jpg, Kuunkuiskaajat in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

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Krista Siegfrids Kristin "Krista" Siegfrids (born 4 December 1985) is a Finnish singer and television presenter. She represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with her entry " Marry Me". Siegfrids' debut album, named '' Ding Dong!'', was released ...

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

() File:ESC2014 - Finland 01.jpg, Softengine in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

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Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

() File:ESC2016 - Finland 04.jpg, Sandhja in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

() File:ESC2017 - Finland 01.jpg, Norma John in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

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Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

() File:ESC2019 - Finland.jpg, Darude (not pictured) and Sebastian Rejman in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

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Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

() File:Eurovision 2023 - Jury Semi-final 1 - Finland - Käärijä (03).jpg, Käärijä in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

() File:Windows95man Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Final Malmö dress rehearsal semi 1 07.jpg, Windows95man in Malmö () File:Erika Vikman at ESC2025 for Finland 28.jpg, alt=Erika Vikman in Basel , Erika Vikman in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

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Notes

References

{{Authority control Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest