Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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Eurovision Song Contest 1981
CountryFlag of Finland.svg  Finland
National selection
Selection processNational final
Selection date(s)21 February 1981
Selected entrant Riki Sorsa
Selected song"Reggae OK"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result16th, 27 points
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄198019811982►

Finland was represented by Riki Sorsa and the song "Reggae OK" at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 April in Dublin. Sorsa won the rights to represent Finland on the 21 February.

Contents

Before Eurovision

National final

The final was hosted by Finnish television producer and singer Erkki Pohjanheimo, at Yleisradio Studio 2 in Helsinki. Eight songs were selected from the semi-final which took place on January 28. The winning song was selected by a national jury, two of which included former Finnish Eurovision contestants Marion Rung and Lasse Mårtenson.

Final – 21 February 1981
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1 Tapani Kansa Sunnuntailapsi56th
2 Paula Koivuniemi Ei tule toista kertaa18th
3 Mikko Alatalo Leuhkat eväät302nd
4 Frederik Titanic37th
5 Taiska Hiroshima273rd
6 Markku Aro and Nisa SorayaMun suothan tulla vierees sun135th
7 Riki Sorsa Reggae OK661st
8 Juice Leskinen Ilomantsi264th
Jury Votes
SongÅke GranholmMarion RungJohn WikströmArto PajukallioUpi SorvaliLiisa LääveriJarmo Porola Kati Bergman Lasse MårtensonTotal
Sunnuntailapsi21115
Ei tule toista kertaa11
Leuhkat eväät33533332530
Titanic1113
Hiroshima2322258327
Mun suothan tulla vierees sun1523213
Reggae OK88858885866
Ilomantsi52855126

At Eurovision

On the night Sorsa performed eighth (following Yugoslavia and preceding France). For the first time in 15 years regular Finnish conductor Ossi Runne did not conduct the Finnish entry (instead he was providing the YLE television commentary) and was instead conducted by Otto Donner. At the close of voting "Reggae OK" had picked up 27 points, placing Finland in 16th place out of 20. [1] The Finnish jury awarded its 12 points to Switzerland.

Voting

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Germany was represented by Lena Valaitis, with the song "Johnny Blue", at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 April in Dublin. "Johnny Blue" was the winner of the German national final, held on 28 February. Valaitis had previously taken part in the German final in 1976.

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Norway was represented by Finn Kalvik, with the song "Aldri i livet", at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 April in Dublin. "Aldri i livet" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 7 March.

Finland was represented by Kaija Kärkinen, with the song "Hullu yö", at the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 May in Rome. "Hullu yö" was chosen as the Finnish entry at the national final organised by broadcaster Yle and held on 2 March.

Finland was represented by the band Boulevard, with the song "Nauravat silmät muistetaan", at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 30 April in Dublin.

Switzerland was represented by Peter, Sue and Marc with the song "Io senza te" at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 4 April. The group were the winners of the Swiss national final for the 1981 contest, held on 21 February.

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Yugoslavia was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981, held in Dublin, Ireland, after last participating at the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 contest in The Hague, Netherlands.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "If I Were Sorry" written by Oscar Fogelström, Michael Saxell, Fredrik Andersson and Frans Jeppsson Wall. The song was performed by Frans. In addition to participating in the contest, the Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2015 with the song "Heroes" performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. SVT organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2016 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "If I Were Sorry" performed by Frans emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Sing It Away" written by Sandhja Kuivalainen, Milos Rosas, Heikki Korhonen, Petri Matara and Markus Savijoki. The song was performed by Sandhja. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2016 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. 18 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three semi-finals and a final, taking place in February 2016. Six entries competed in each semi-final and the top three from each semi-final, as selected solely by a public vote, advanced to the final. Nine entries competed in the final on 27 February where the 50/50 combination of votes from ten jury groups representing different factions of Finnish society and votes from the public selected "Sing It Away" performed by Sandhja as the winner.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Blackbird" and performed by Lasse Piirainen and Leena Tirronen under the name Norma John. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2017 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ten entries were selected to compete in the national final on 28 January 2017 where the 50/50 combination of votes from ten international jury groups and votes from the public selected "Blackbird" performed by Norma John as the winner.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Monsters" written by Saara Aalto, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb and Ki Fitzgerald. The song was performed by Saara Aalto, who was internally selected by the Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) in November 2017 to represent the nation at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. The national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2018 was organised in order to select the song that Aalto would perform. Three songs were selected to compete in the national final on 3 March 2018 where the 50/50 combination of votes from eight international jury groups and votes from the public selected "Monsters" as the winning song.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Look Away" written and performed by Ville Virtanen under the stage name Darude and Sebastian Rejman. Darude and Sebastian Rejman were internally selected by the Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) in January 2019 to represent the nation at the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. The national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu2019 was organised in order to select the song that Darude and Rejman would perform. Three songs were selected to compete in the national final on 2 March 2019 where the 50/50 combination of votes from eight international jury groups and votes from the public selected "Look Away" as the winning song.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Dark Side" written by Aleksi Kaunisvesi, Joonas Porko, Joel Hokka, Niko Moilanen and Olli Matela. The song was performed by the band Blind Channel. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2021 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Seven entries were selected to compete in the national final on 20 February 2021 where the combination of votes from seven international jury groups and votes from the public selected "Dark Side" performed by Blind Channel as the winner.

References

  1. "Final of Dublin 1981". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Dublin 1981". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.