Yleisradio Oy, translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock company which is 99.98% owned by the Finnish state, and employs around 3,200 people in Finland. Yle shares many of its organizational characteristics with its UK counterpart, the BBC, on which it was largely modelled.
PMMP was a Finnish pop rock band fronted by singers Paula Vesala and Mira Luoti and backed by musicians Mikko Virta, Juho Vehmanen and Heikki Kytölä. The name of the band is often said to be an abbreviation of the sentence "Paulan ja Miran Molemmat Puolet", which can be translated in English as "Both Sides of Paula and Mira". However, in an interview on the Finnish talk show Krisse Show, they stated that the name of the band comes, like ABBA, from the names of 4 of its members: so PMMP is Paula, Mira, Mira, Paula. PMMP's albums were produced by former Thergothon drummer Jori Sjöroos, who also wrote the music for all the songs. The lyrics are written by Paula and Mira. The band is an acclaimed live act.
Maria Kalomira Sarantis, known professionally as Kalomira, is a Greek-American singer, songwriter, actress, television personality and host. Born and raised on Long Island, just outside of New York City in the United States, she first came to prominence in Greece in 2004, after winning the Greek talent show Fame Story. She has subsequently released four studio albums, represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, and hosted various television shows.
Katri Helena Kalaoja is a Finnish singer.
Teräsbetoni is a Finnish 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 of the band's name is steel concrete, Finnish for reinforced concrete.
Mokoma is a Finnish thrash metal band formed in Lappeenranta, Finland, in 1996. Their music also has grindcore and death metal influences with traditional Finnish melancholy.
Nina Susann Åström, is a Christian singer-songwriter and evangelist from Finland.
The ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships (WSSC) are the world championships for the sport of synchronized skating. Held since 2000, the World Synchronized Skating Championships is an annual event organized by the International Skating Union and attracts the most elite senior-level synchronized skating teams from around the world to compete for the World Championship.
Paula Julia Vesala is a Finnish singer-songwriter, actress, and playwright. She was one of two singers and main lyricist in the pop rock duo PMMP along with Mira Luoti. Her solo career began in 2015 under the stage name "Vesala". She has composed songs for other well-known Finnish artists such as Vesa-Matti Loiri, Jenni Vartiainen, and Antti Tuisku.
Kari Tapani Jalkanen, better known by his stage name Kari Tapio, was a Finnish schlager and country & western singer. During his career, he was one of the most popular singers in Finland for decades; having sold over 830,000 certified records, he is the best-selling soloist in the country. Tapio was born in Suonenjoki, Finland. In the 1960s Tapio performed in his home town Pieksämäki with the local bands ER-Quartet and Jami & The Noisemakers. In 1966 he took singing lessons from Ture Ara.
Tapio Huuska, known by his stage name Cristal Snow, is a Finnish musician, television presenter, and a drag artist. He was one of the candidates to represent Finland in Eurovision Song Contest 2008. In 2016, he participated again in the preselection for Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Love Is Blind" and was placed 6th.
Jonna Christensen, better known by her stage name Jonna, is a pop and R&B singer/songwriter from Finland. She has released three albums, over ten singles and several music videos.
Eva Rita Katarina Biaudet is a Finnish politician and Member of Parliament of Finland in the parliamentary group of the Swedish People's Party. She returned to the Finnish Parliament in the parliamentary election of April 2015. Eva Biaudet was Member of Parliament of Finland (1991–2006) and is a former Minister of Social Services. After the election of 2003 Biaudet did not want to continue as a cabinet minister.
Diandra Danielle Flores, better known by her stage name Diandra, is a Finnish pop singer who rose to fame as the winner of the sixth season of the Finnish singing competition Idols in 2012. She is the youngest winner of Finland's Idols. Her debut album Outta My Head was released in July 2012.
Merja Annele Suvas-Berger, professionally known as Meiju Suvas, is a Finnish singer.
Kristin "Krista" Siegfrids 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 in May 2013. As a television presenter, she hosted Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu from 2016 to 2020.
Sini-Maria Makkonen, professionally known as Sini Sabotage, is a Finnish rapper.
Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Aina mun pitää" written and performed by the band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2015 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. 18 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three semi-finals and a final, taking place in February 2015. 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 28 February where the combination of votes from eight jury groups representing different factions of Finnish society and votes from the public selected "Aina mun pitää" performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät as the winner.
Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät were 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 Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, which they later won; they represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 but got knocked out in the semi-final. The group disbanded in December 2016 when guitarist Pertti Kurikka turned 60 years old and retired from playing punk rock.
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.
