It has been funny to read the comments here and there in chatrooms and blogs when both Finns and especially foreigners have been outraged that we Finns send a song in Swedish to the Eurovision song contest 2012 in Baku. Finland is a bilingual country. That seems to be big news to most of them. Some even argue (with Finns) that it is not. I tell, it is. Also, this is not the first time we send a song in Sweish. Fri? by Beat in 1990 was in Swedish. We have had countless songs in Swedish in the national finals over the years, and even some of them have been runner ups, Mitt äppelträd in 1982 and Svart och vitt in 1988 come to mind easily. There is a chance this När jag blundar might be translated fully or partly into English but Pernilla herslef has expressed a wish it stays in Swedish and I doubt YLE will force her to change that.
And what comes to Pernilla being a Swedish speaker. So? What about Axel Ehnström aka Paradise Oskar, Nina Åström, Ami Aspelund, Riki Sorsa, Monica Aspelund, Carita Hollström, Ann-Christine, Lasse Mårtenssen and Marion Rung?
Facts: Some 5,5% of the population speaks Swedish as mothertongue in Finland, or 300.000 people. Many smaller towns especially in the western and south coast are fully Swedish speaking, as are the autonomic Åland islands. So, now you know.
And yes, after initial shock seeing all my favourites drop out and the overal UMK thing, I'm warming up to the song and it's been playing in my head all night so it can't be that bad after all... :-)
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