Finland sets a new record

85 seconds - that's the length of the Finnish entry this year, which makes it the shortest song ever to be performed on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. It's performed by a truly exceptional band. "The members of our band are four middle-aged, mentally handicapped men. The music is, of course, Finnish punk." – Sami Helle, one of the artists, explains the story behind the band. 

Pertti Kurikka, the band’s guitarist and front man, writes the lyrics with vocalist Kari Aalto and composes the music. The other two members of the band are bassist Sami Helle and drummer Toni Välitalo.

So, how do they create their songs? "Pertti writes riffs for the songs but doesn’t always know how to play them. Sami teaches Pertti and Pertti gets pissed off", that's how the band describes the process themselves.

Backstage with PKN

When they arrived backstage at the Wiener Stadthalle, Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät seemed relaxed and in good spirits. Kari went to shake hands and make friends with other singers already - he met Vahe Tilbian, one of the members of Genealogy from Armenia.

At the same time, Pertti was practicing his English: "Number one", he said. "We want to be number one in Eurovision", he added in his native Finnish language.

Background: About their music

Kari writes lyrics, sings and talks. He loves motorcycles, hates pedicures and lives in a club home in the wealthy neighbourhood of Töölö. Kari describes the group home and its depressing surroundings in his lyrics: “I live in a group home in Töölö, but I don’t like it because the area is too quiet. People in Kallio are nicer and there are records stores and bars. In Kallio I see drunks, drug addicts, rock musicians and police officers every day. It takes a couple of minutes to write lyrics for a song, and I find the subjects in society and the way I look the world.