Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961

Eurovision Song Contest 1961
Eurovision Song Contest 1961
Country	Finland
National selection
Selection process	National Final
Selection date(s)	12 February 1961
Selected entrant	Laila Kinnunen
Selected song	"Valoa ikkunassa"
Selected songwriter(s)	Eino Hurme; Sauvo Puhtila;
Finals performance
Final result	10th, 6 points
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Finland was represented by Laila Kinnunen, with the song "Valoa ikkunassa", at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 18 March in Cannes, France. Finland was one of three countries (along with Spain and Yugoslavia) making their Eurovision debut in 1961 and "Valoa ikkunassa" was chosen as the first Finnish entry at the national final organised by broadcaster Yle and held on 12 February.

Before Eurovision

National final

The final was held 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]

**Finnish National Final - 12 February 1961**
Draw	Artist	Song	Place
1	Ritva Mustonen	"Portinvartija"	3
2	Laila Kinnunen	"Valoa ikkunassa"	1
3	Kai Lind	"Pikku ikkuna"	4
4	Christina Hellman	"Puuttuva lehti"	2

Songs eliminated in the semi-final

Artist	Song
Laila Kinnunen	Jossain meren rannalla
Brita Koivunen	Pikku piccolo
Ritva Mustonen	Kun kevät saapuu
Kai Lind	Pistäydyn naapurissa

^[2]

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Laila Kinnunen performed 4th in the running order, following Austria and preceding Yugoslavia. At the close of voting "Valoa ikkunassa" 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

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

Points awarded to Finland^[4]
Score	Country
2 points	Italy United Kingdom
1 point	Denmark France

Points awarded by Finland^[4]
Score	Country
3 points	Luxembourg Monaco
2 points	Norway
1 point	Denmark France

References

^ 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.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Results of the Final of Cannes 1961". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.

[1] ESC National Finals database - Finland 1961

[2] "Finnish Semi-final 1961".

[eschistfra61-3] "ESC History - Finland 1961". Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2010.

[1961detailed-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Results of the Final of Cannes 1961". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.

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v t e Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu
Participation	1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ~~2020~~ 2021 2022 2023 2024
Artists	Saara Aalto ~~Aksel~~ Markku Aro Ami Aspelund Monica Aspelund Nina Åström Beat Blind Channel Boulevard Carita CatCat Darude Edea Kim Floor Fredi Laila Halme Kristina Hautala Jarkko and Laura Jasmine Käärijä Kaija Katri Helena Laila Kinnunen Kirka Viktor Klimenko Koivisto Sisters Kojo Kari Kuivalainen Kuunkuiskaajat Laura Vesa-Matti Loiri Lordi Sonja Lumme Lasse Mårtenson Norma John Ann-Christine Nyström Hanna Pakarinen Päivi Paunu Paradise Oskar Pave Pernilla Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät Pihasoittajat The Rasmus Sebastian Rejman Geir Rönning Vicky Rosti Marion Rung Anneli Saaristo Sandhja Krista Siegfrids Jari Sillanpää Seija Simola Softengine Riki Sorsa Teräsbetoni Waldo's People Windows95man
Songs	"Aava" "Addicted to You" "Aina mun pitää" "Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus" "Aurinko laskee länteen" "Blackbird" "Bye Bye Baby" "Cha Cha Cha" "Da Da Dam" "Dark Side" "La dolce vita" "Eläköön elämä" "Fantasiaa" "Fri?" "Hard Rock Hallelujah" "Hengaillaan" "Huilumies" "Hullu yö" "Jezebel" "Katson sineen taivaan" "Keep Me Warm" "Kuin silloin ennen" "Kun kello käy" "Laiskotellen" "Lapponia" "Leave Me Alone" "A Little Bit" "Look Away" ~~"Looking Back"~~ "Lose Control" "Marry Me" "Missä miehet ratsastaa" "Monsters" "Muistathan" "Muistojeni laulu" "När jag blundar" "Nauravat silmät muistetaan" "Never the End" "Niin kaunis on taivas" "No Rules!" "Nuku pommiin" "Old Man Fiddle" "Playboy" "Pump-Pump" "Reggae OK" "Sata salamaa" "Sing It Away" "Something Better" "Takes 2 to Tango" "Tie uuteen päivään" "Tipi-tii" "Tom Tom Tom" "Tule luo" "Työlki ellää" "Valoa ikkunassa" "Varjoon – suojaan" "Why?" "Yamma, yamma"
Note: Entries scored out signify where Finland did not compete

v t e Eurovision Song Contest 1961
Countries	Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Italy Luxembourg Monaco Netherlands Norway Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Yugoslavia
Artists	The Allisons Lale Andersen Conchita Bautista Bob Benny Nora Brockstedt Dario Campeotto Betty Curtis Colette Deréal Franca di Rienzo Greetje Kauffeld Laila Kinnunen Lill-Babs Jimmy Makulis Jean-Paul Mauric Jean-Claude Pascal Ljiljana Petrović
Songs	"Al di là" "Allons, allons les enfants" "Angelique" "April, april" "Are You Sure?" "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" "Estando contigo" "Neke davne zvezde" "Nous aurons demain" "Nous les amoureux" "Printemps, avril carillonne" "Sehnsucht" "September, gouden roos" "Sommer i Palma" "Valoa ikkunassa" "Wat een dag"