Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961

Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961
Eurovision Song Contest 1961
Participating broadcaster	Yleisradio (Yle)
Country	Finland
Selection process	National Final
Selection date	12 February 1961
Competing entry
Song	"Valoa ikkunassa"
Artist	Laila Kinnunen
Songwriters	Eino Hurme Sauvo Puhtila
Placement
Final result	10th, 6 points
Participation chronology
1961 • 1962►

Finland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 with the song "Valoa ikkunassa", composed by Eino Hurme, with lyrics by Sauvo Puhtila, and performed by Laila Kinnunen. The Finnish participating broadcaster, Yleisradio (Yle), selected its entry through a national final. This was the first-ever entry from Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest, and the first-ever entry performed in Finnish in the contest.

Before Eurovision

National final

Yleisradio (Yle) held a national final at the Työväenopisto in Helsinki, hosted by Aarno Walli. Four songs took part, having qualified from a radio-only semi-final. The winning song was chosen by an "expert" jury.

Brita Koivunen was supposed to perform "Puuttuva lehti" in the final but for unknown reasons she withdrew and was replaced by Christina Hellman.

Final - 12 February 1961

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Place
1	Ritva Mustonen  [ fi ]	"Portinvartija"	Erik Lindström  [ fi ], Hillevi	3
2	Laila Kinnunen	"Valoa ikkunassa"	Eino Hurme, Sauvo Puhtila  [ fi ]	1
3	Kai Lind  [ fi ]	"Pikku ikkuna"	Kari Tuomisaari  [ fi ]	4
4	Christina Hellman	"Puuttuva lehti"	Erkki Rahkola [a]	2

1. Lyricist unknown

Songs eliminated in the semi-final

The songs eliminated in the semi-final were:

Artist	Song
Laila Kinnunen	"Jossain meren rannalla"
Brita Koivunen	"Pikku piccolo"
Ritva Mustonen  [ fi ]	"Kun kevät saapuu"
Kai Lind  [ fi ]	"Pistäydyn naapurissa"

At Eurovision

On the evening of the final Laila Kinnunen performed "Valoa ikkunassa" 4th in the running order, following Austria and preceding Yugoslavia. At the close of voting the song had received 6 points (2 from Italy and the United Kingdom and 1 from Denmark and France), placing Finland joint 10th (with Monaco and the Netherlands) of the 16 entries. The Finnish jury awarded its highest marks (3) to Luxembourg and Monaco.

Voting

Each participating broadcaster assembled a ten-member jury panel. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

Points awarded to Finland [1] Score Country 2 points   Italy   United Kingdom 1 point   Denmark   France

Points awarded by Finland [1] Score Country 3 points   Luxembourg   Monaco 2 points   Norway 1 point   Denmark   France

References

1. "Results of the Final of Cannes 1961". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.