Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980

Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980
Eurovision Song Contest 1980
Participating broadcaster	Yleisradio (Yle)
Country	Finland
Selection process	National final
Selection date	8 March 1980
Competing entry
Song	"Huilumies"
Artist	Vesa-Matti Loiri
Songwriters	Aarno Raninen Vexi Salmi
Placement
Final result	19th, 6 points
Participation chronology
◄1979 • 1980 • 1981►

Finland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song "Huilumies", composed by Aarno Raninen, with lyrics by Vexi Salmi, and performed by Vesa-Matti Loiri. The Finnish participating broadcaster, Yleisradio (Yle), selected its entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision

Yleisradio (Yle) invited twelve composers for the competition. One of them, Sami Hurmerinta  [ fi ], declined the invitation. The Finnish national selection consisted of a semi final and a final. ^{[1] [2]}

Semi-final

The semi-final was held on 12 January 1980, and it was hosted by Heikki Harma. From the eleven entries the six finalists were chosen by an expert jury. The members of the jury were Aarre Elo  [ fi ], Jussi Raittinen, Matti Rosvall  [ fi ], Erkki Pälli  [ fi ], Rauno Lehtinen, Liisa Lääveri  [ fi ], Erkki Melakoski  [ fi ], Kari Kyrönseppä  [ fi ], and Markku Fagerlund. Each juror awarded 1 to 6 points for each song. The full results were not revealed. ^{[1] [3] [4] [5]}

Semi-final – 12 January 1980

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Result
1	Paula Koivuniemi	"Romantiikkaa"	Markku Johansson  [ fi ], Juha Vainio	Eliminated
2	Tapani Kansa and Satu Pentikäinen  [ fi ]	"Hyvä on"	Jukka Siikavire  [ fi ], Erkki Mäkinen  [ fi ]	Eliminated
3	Kisu  [ fi ]	"Oh la la"	Kassu Halonen  [ fi ], Raul Reiman  [ fi ]	Eliminated
4	Kirka and Silhuetit  [ fi ]	"Karthago"	Antti Hyvärinen  [ fi ], Juice Leskinen	Advanced
5	Vesa-Matti Loiri	"Huilumies"	Aarno Raninen, Vexi Salmi	Advanced
6	Sinikka Sokka  [ fi ]	"Eräs lapsi ei nuku"	Henrik Otto Donner, Pentti Saaritsa  [ fi ]	Advanced
7	Tapani Kansa	"Kun ystävän mä sain"	Lasse Mirsch	Eliminated
8	Eija Ahvo  [ fi ]	"Lady Day"	Jukka Linkola, Arto Melleri	Advanced
9	Irina Milan  [ fi ]	"Päättymätön laulu"	Olli Ahvenlahti, Jukka Virtanen	Advanced
10	Liisa Tavi  [ fi ] and Band	"Nopea talven valo"	Pekka Tegelman  [ fi ], Jukka-Pekka Takala	Advanced
11	Reijo Karvonen  [ fi ] and Pepe Willberg	"Jos voimaa on"	Reijo Karvonen, Matti Härkälä	Eliminated

Final

Yle held the final on 8 March 1980 at its television studios in Tampere, hosted by Mikko Alatalo. After the Eurovision Preselection, this was proceeded by the Intervision preselection, where all six songs were sung by Marion. The winner was chosen by regional juries. Each jury group consisted of 15 members, and each juror distributed their points between 1–6 points for each song. ^{[1] [3] [6] [7] [8]}

Final – 8 March 1980

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Vesa-Matti Loiri	"Huilumies"	386	1
2	Liisa Tavi  [ fi ] and Band	"Nopea talven valo"	190	6
3	Kirka and Silhuetit  [ fi ]	"Karthago"	315	2
4	Eija Ahvo  [ fi ]	"Lady Day"	210	5
5	Irina Milan  [ fi ]	"Päättymätön laulu"	240	3
6	Sinikka Sokka  [ fi ]	"Eräs lapsi ei nuku"	234	4

Scoreboard

Song	Turku	Oulu	Helsinki	Tampere	Lappeenranta	Total
"Huilumies"	75	75	78	85	73	386
"Nopea talven valo"	38	41	39	34	38	190
"Karthago"	66	64	59	67	59	315
"Lady Day"	39	42	46	37	46	210
"Päättymätön laulu"	47	31	51	53	58	240
"Eräs lapsi ei nuku"	50	62	42	39	41	234

At Eurovision

Vesa-Matti Loiri (1980)

On the night of the final Loiri performed 10th in the running order following Switzerland and preceding Norway. Loiri was accompanied by Arto Alaspää  [ fi ], Kalle Fält  [ fi ], Maarit Hurmerinta, Martti Metsäketo  [ fi ] and Irina Milan  [ fi ] as backing vocalists. The Finnish entry was conducted by Ossi Runne. Finland placed last in the contest with six points. ^[9]

Voting

Points awarded to Finland [10] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points   Norway 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point   France

Points awarded by Finland [10] Score Country 12 points    Switzerland 10 points   Netherlands 8 points   Ireland 7 points   Denmark 6 points   Italy 5 points   Austria 4 points   United Kingdom 3 points   Luxembourg 2 points   Germany 1 point   Portugal

References

1. "1980 Interviisut hakkasivat Euroviisut" (in Finnish). Yle. Archived from the original on 5 October 2003. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
2. Murtomäki, Asko (2007). Finland 12 points! Suomen Euroviisut (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland: Teos. p. 106. ISBN   978-951-851-106-2.
3. Säilynoja, Juhana (21 April 2015). "Viisukarsinnat muuttuivat joka vuosi 1980-luvulla" [The contest selections changed every year in the 1980s] (in Finnish). Yle Elävä arkisto  [ fi ]. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
4. "Euroviisut 1980 Suomen karsinta" (in Finnish). Yle Areena. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
5. Murtomäki, Asko (2007). Finland 12 points! Suomen Euroviisut (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland: Teos. pp. 106, 110. ISBN   978-951-851-106-2.
6. "Euro- ja interviisujen Suomen karsinta 1980 osa 1" (in Finnish). Yle Areena. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
7. "Euro- ja interviisujen Suomen karsinta 1980 osa 2" (in Finnish). Yle Areena. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
8. Murtomäki, Asko (2007). Finland 12 points! Suomen Euroviisut (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland: Teos. pp. 106–108, 110. ISBN   978-951-851-106-2.
9. Murtomäki, Asko (2007). Finland 12 points! Suomen Euroviisut (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland: Teos. pp. 106, 111. ISBN   978-951-851-106-2.
10. "Results of the Final of The Hague 1980". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 November 2021.

External links

• Säilynoja, Juhana (21 April 2015). "Viisukarsinnat muuttuivat joka vuosi 1980-luvulla" [The contest selections changed every year in the 1980s] (in Finnish). Yle Elävä arkisto  [ fi ]. Retrieved 16 April 2025.