Finland will take part in the Eurovision song contest 2026 for the 59th time. Finland has taken part every year since its debut in 1961 - 65 years ago - except in 1970 (when boycotting along with Austria, Norway, Sweden and Portugal the voting system and previous year's chaos) and due to being relegated in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003 thanks to those insane rules back then. Over the years Finland was considered quite an under achiever with last places coming this way a bit too often in the first decades. In this series I will go through the first contests, how we came up with the eventual entry and we can remember from the other songs from those years.
The third Euroviisut took place in Yle's aka Supomen televisio's studio 1 in Helsinki on February 14, 1963. The open call received 200 songs and eight were chosen for the final. Each song was performed once again by two different artists and two different arrangements; small band and big orchestra. So, there were 16 artists lined up but a minor scandal was caused by Vieno Kekkonen, Pirkko Mannola and Brita Koivunen who had refused to take part, and that previous winners Laila Kinnunen and Marion Rung were excluded according Ebu's wished and guidance. A jury of 40 members picked up a surprise winner but this edition gave birth to two evergreens Mä oon mikä oon, a slighty naughty affair my Tamara Lund whose star was botn bright that night, and Kaikessa soi blues by Lasse Mårtensson who would become a very remarkable figure in Euroviisut in years to follow. For some reason - if not that Laila Halme was under contract with the biggest label in country - neither of singers that sung Muistojeni laulu in competition was sent to Eurovision but Laila Halme. All in all people were not very keen on the entry nor believed in it's chances.
Indeed, in London Finland performed seventh and scored zero points placing shared 13th (with Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) out of 16 entries.
Final results:
1. Muistojeni laulu - Marjatta Leppänen / Irmeli Mäkelä 331
2. Kaikessa soi blues - Lasse Mårtenson / Johnny Forsell 315
3. Olen mikä olen - Tamara Lund / Laila Halme 298
4. Marraskuu - Seija Lampila / Rauni Pekkala 279
5. Kristiina ja minä - Lasse Liemola / Matti Heinivaho (cover) 276
6. Pimpula vei - Erkki Liikanen / Tuulevi Mattila 272
7. Malaga - Maynie Sirén / Tapio Lahtinen (cover) 269
8. Niin kuin ruusu - Pärre Förars / Stig Fransman 258
Laila Halme (1934-2021) was somewhat popular singer in the 1950's and 1960's. She hosted the national final in 1987 with Lasse Mårtenson. She would return as lyricist in the national final in 1990 for her son's song Katsot yötä tummaa.
Marjatta Leppänen (b.1937) is a true entertainer, showgirl and actress / singer whose career continues still today. She wasn't only denied the 1963 Eurovision trip but also in 1965 the song she performed won the selection but was not sent! Talk about bad luck! Despite that she was back in 1966 and 1975, too, and also hosted the national final in 1979.
Irmeli Mäkelä (b. 1942) was quite popular in the late 1950's and early 1960's, but later concentrated on classical music singing opera. She would be back the year after for another try.
Lasse Mårtenson (1934-2016) shares the record of most songs written for the national final (with Janne Höyty who has mostly co-written his songs tho): 14 songs between 1963-1977 as composer, three as lyricist, seven as artist. And two wins (1964 and 1967). He was composer, singer, conductor and actor. He has also composed for films and television some evergreens. He co-hosted the 1987 national final with Laila Halme and if that wasn't enough Eurovision he was married to Siw Malmqvist, who has represented both Sweden and Germany in Eurovision!
Tamara Lund (1941-2005) got her big breakthrough here. She would return in 1965 and 1966 but later moved on to opera stages in Germany and theater. She also acted in films and stayed in spotlight until her death.
Seija Lampila (b. 1936) danced ballet and got her first hit as singer already in 1951. Three years later she toured Europe with a band and in 1956 her biggest hits. This was her only appearance in Euroviisut. She moved to Germany first and then to US with her diplomat husband and lives now in Atlanta, and is obviously pretty much forgotten.
Rauni Pekkala (b. 1942) is also a forgotten name but she's continued to sing until these days. In 1960's she did a couple of films, too, and pops up occasionally in tv all the way to late 1990's. This was also her only appearance in Euroviisut.
Lasse Liemola (b. 1937) was a real teenage idol and heartthrob in the late 1950's that lead him to do also some films. In early 1960's he concentrated in business world and later politics staying in a spotlight a little bit. This was his only appearance but the year befor he was the lyricist for On keskiyö.
Erkki Liikanen (b. 1943) is a singer, imitator and entertainer that most people certainly don't remember from Euroviisut but the other song contest Syksyn Sävel that he took part six times, winning twice and being runner up the other four times with his funny and humorous catchy entries between 1975-1989. In Euroviisut he was back in 1964 and again in 1975 with Seija Simola as Dans.
Tuulevi Mattila (b. 1946) was only 16 and her singing career was short lived. Between 1961-63 she recorded 14 songs and scored zero hits. After Euroviisut she ended her recording deal and concentrated in other things and became dance, yoga teacher and dance pedagogue.
Tapio Lahtinen is a bit mystery. he could be the author Kullervo (1922-1996) who used also many other aliases. He has written several evergreen lyrics from the late 1940's and 1966 when he started working at Yle. Or then he's not. Who knows?
Pärre Förars (1924-2011) was a singer and multi instrumentalist who was singing in various bands. Later he became lawyer and politician. This was his only appearance.
Stig Fransman (b. 1934-2022) was a theater, television and movie actor and singer (1958-1964 a handful of singles). He was back also in 1964. He was married to actress Heidi Krohn and their daughter Sanna Fransman is also a wellknown actress.
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Johnny Forsell, Matti Heinivaho, Maynie Sirèn - check previous posts.
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