It was showdown time in Turku's Caribia Hall tonight: ten artists fought for the honour of representing their native country Finland in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. Hosted by Jaana Pelkonen and Tom Nylund, the Finnish nation had a difficult choice to choose from ten different offers - but it was ultimately Paradise Oskar who managed to charm the televoting audience most! They will now perform his song Da Da Dam in the first half of the first Semi-Final of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.
The Finnish final consisted of two round of voting tonight. In the first round of voting, the participants were the following:
Eveliina Määttä - Dancing In the Dark
Sami Hintsanen - Täältä Maailmaan
Milana Misic - Sydämeni Kaksi Maata
Paradise Oskar - Da Da Dam
Cardiant - Rapture In Time
Johanna Iivanainen - Luojani Mun
Father McKenzie - Good Enough
Marko Maunuksela - Synkän Maan Tango
Saara Aalto - Blessed With Love
Stala & So. - Pamela
Paradise Oskar, Stala & So and Saara Aalto had been named by experts, fans and betting agencies to win the Finnish selection prior to the show.
After the first round of voting, a so-called super-final was introduced featuring the three acts that received the highest number of sms- and televotes in the first round (winner in bold):
Paradise Oskar - Da Da Dam 46,7%
Father McKenzie - Good Enough
Saara Aalto - Blessed With Love
Finland has been participating in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1961 and it took the country 45 years till its first victory when Lordi won Europe's favourite TV-show in Athens in 2006.
