Finland was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961, held in Cannes, France, with the song "Valoa ikkunassa", composed by Eino Hurme, with lyrics by Sauvo Puhtila, and performed by Laila Kinnunen. The Finnish participating broadcaster, Yleisradio (Yle), selected its entry through a national final. This was the first-ever entry from Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest, and the first-ever entry performed in Finnish in the contest.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1961 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | Yleisradio (Yle) | |||
| Country |  Finland | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | National Final | |||
| Selection date(s) | 12 February 1961 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Laila Kinnunen | |||
| Selected song | "Valoa ikkunassa" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 10th, 6 points | |||
| Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Before Eurovision
editNational final
editYleisradio (Yle) held a national final at the Työväenopisto in Helsinki, hosted by Aarno Walli. Four songs took part, having qualified from a radio-only semi-final. The winning song was chosen by an "expert" jury.[1]
Brita Koivunen was supposed to perform "Puuttuva lehti" in the final but for unknown reasons she withdrew and was replaced by Christina Hellman.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ritva Mustonen | "Portinvartija" | Erik Lindström, Hillevi | 3 |
| 2 | Laila Kinnunen | "Valoa ikkunassa" | Eino Hurme, Sauvo Puhtila | 1 |
| 3 | Kai Lind | "Pikku ikkuna" | Kari Tuomisaari | 4 |
| 4 | Christina Hellman | "Puuttuva lehti" | Erkki Rahkola[a] | 2 |
Songs eliminated in the semi-final
editThe songs eliminated in the semi-final were:[2]
| Artist | Song |
|---|---|
| Laila Kinnunen | "Jossain meren rannalla" |
| Brita Koivunen | "Pikku piccolo" |
| Ritva Mustonen | "Kun kevät saapuu" |
| Kai Lind | "Pistäydyn naapurissa" |
At Eurovision
editOn the evening of the final Laila Kinnunen performed "Valoa ikkunassa" 4th in the running order, following Austria and preceding Yugoslavia. At the close of voting the song had received 6 points (2 from Italy and the United Kingdom and 1 from Denmark and France), placing Finland joint 10th (with Monaco and the Netherlands) of the 16 entries. The Finnish jury awarded its highest marks (3) to Luxembourg and Monaco.[3]
Voting
editEach participating broadcaster assembled a ten-member jury panel. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.
Notes
edit- ^ Lyricist unknown
References
edit- ^ ESC National Finals database - Finland 1961
- ^ "Finnish Semi-final 1961".
- ^ "ESC History - Finland 1961". Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Cannes 1961". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.