Eurovision Song Contest 1975
Country Finland
National selection
Selection processNational final
Selection date(s)8 February 1975
Selected entrantPihasoittajat
Selected song"Old Man Fiddle"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Kim Kuusi
  • Arthur Ridgway Spencer
  • Hannu Karlsson
Finals performance
Final result7th, 74 points
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1974 • 1975 • 1976►

Finland was represented by Pihasoittajat, with the song "Old Man Fiddle", at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 March in Stockholm.

Before Eurovision

The Finnish national selection consisted of four semi finals and a final. It was the first year the Finnish selection shows were broadcast in colour.

Semi finals

Four songs were performed in each semi-final and a professional jury chose two songs from each semi final to qualify for the final. After the semi-finals, a wildcard was also chosen for the final.

First semi final

Semi-final 1 – 4 January
Draw Artist Song Songwriters Qualified
1 Maarit "Mätämakee" Seppo Paakkunainen (m.), Ritva Paakkunainen (l.) Yes
2 Dans "Hei lähde maailmaan" Esko Linnavalli (m.), Erkki Liikanen (l.) Yes
3 M. A. Numminen "Voittolaulu" Jorma Panula (m.), M. A. Numminen (l.) No
4 Ritva Oksanen "Suuri naapuri" Antti Hyvärinen (m.), Jukka Virtanen (l.) No

Second semi final

Semi-final 2 – 11 January
Draw Artist Song Songwriters Qualified
1 Pepe Willberg "Ovi elämään" Markku Johansson (m.), Vexi Salmi (l.) Yes
2 Marjatta Leppänen "Naisen vuosi" Jaakko Salo (m.), Jukka Virtanen (l.) Yes
3 Kari Fall "Maailman tie" Kaj Backlund (m.), Monica Aspelund (l.) No
4 Heikki Kinnunen "Hyljätyn laulu" Kaj Chydenius (m.), lyricist unknown No

Third semi final

Semi-final 3 – 18 January
Draw Artist Song Songwriters Qualified
1 Danny "Seikkailija" Kari Kuuva (m. & l.), Jyrki Hämäläinen (l.) Yes
2 Pihasoittajat "Viulu-ukko" Kim Kuusi (m.), Hannu Karlsson (l.) Yes
3 Mon-Ami "Fasten Seatbelts" Lasse Mårtenson (m.), Jukka Virtanen (l.) No
4 Jukka Kuoppamäki "Hyvästi ystäväni" Jukka Kuoppamäki (m. & l.) No

Fourth semi final

Semi-final 4 – 25 January
Draw Artist Song Songwriters Qualified
1 Vesa-Matti Loiri &
Sivupersoonat 		"Laulu" Eero Koivistoinen (m.), Juha Vainio (l.) Yes
2 Kirka & The Islanders "Oh New York rakkain" Carita Holmström (m.), Raul Reiman (l.) Yes
3 Agit Prop "On jotain mikä yhdistää" Henrik Otto Donner (m.), Pentti Saaritsa (l.) As a wildcard
4 Tapani Kansa "Luonnollisuus" Rauno Lehtinen (m. & l.) No

Final

The final took place on February 8 at the YLE TV Studios in Helsinki. It was hosted by Apeli Halinen. The winner was chosen by regional juries.

Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Place Points
1 Pihasoittajat "Viulu-ukko" Kim Kuusi (m.), Hannu Karlsson (l.) 1st 379
2 Marjatta Leppänen "Naisen vuosi" Jaakko Salo (m.), Jukka Virtanen (l.) 9th 196
3 Agot Prop "On jotain mikä yhdistää" Henrik Otto Donner (m.), Pentti Saaritsa (l.) 7th 228
4 Maarit "Mätä make" Seppo Paakkunainen (m.), Ritva Paakkunainen (l.) 8th 205
5 Dans "Hei lähde maailmaan" Esko Linnavalli (m.), Erkki Liikanen (l.) 6th 256
6 Vesa-Matti Loiri and Sivupersoonat "Laulu" Eero Koivistoinen (m.), Juha Vainio (l.) 3rd 308
7 Danny "Seikkailija" Kari Kuuva (m. & l.), Jyrki Hämäläinen (l.) 2nd 368
8 Pepe Willberg "Ovi elämään" Markku Johansson (m.), Vexi Salmi (l.) 4th 279
9 Kirka and the Islanders "Oh New York rakkain" Carita Holmström (m.), Raul Reiman (l.) 5th 265
Scoreboard
Song Turku Helsinki Tampere Mikkeli Kuopio Seinäjoki Rovaniemi Total
Viulu-ukko 48 55 54 46 58 57 61 379
Naisen vuosi 25 25 29 33 30 29 25 196
On jotakin mikä yhdistää 22 41 33 31 38 26 37 228
Mätä makee 34 28 30 32 23 29 29 205
Hei lähde maailmaan 42 38 32 38 28 38 40 256
Laulu 43 49 37 45 41 40 53 308
Seikkailija 54 49 55 60 50 53 47 368
Ovi elämään 30 48 42 43 44 39 33 279
Oh, New York rakkain 43 45 35 46 26 29 41 265

The winning song "Viulu-ukko" was performed in Finnish in the national selection shows but it was translated into English for the international Song Contest as "Old Man Fiddle".

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Pihasoittajat performed 15th in the running order, following Monaco and preceding Portugal. The Finnish entry was conducted by Ossi Runne. At the close of voting, Finland picked up 74 points and placed 7th of the 19 entries.

Among the members of the Finnish jury were Tero Lehto, Merja Nyström, Ari Montonen and Hilkka Sokura.[1]

Voting

Sources

  1. ^ "How Did Eurovision Get the 12 Points System?". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Stockholm 1975". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 November 2021.

External links

Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1975
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