Finns shocked by Eurovision band
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Lordi's antics have caused a furore in Finland (photo: YLE)
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Finland's controversial entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest - a heavy metal band called Lordi (The Lord) - has upset many Finns.
The band members wear scary masks, which they refuse to take off, and the lead singer wields a chain-saw.
Their song Hard Rock Hallelujah is a radical departure from the folk songs usually associated with Eurovision.
Finnish online chatrooms are full of comments from people concerned about their country's reputation abroad.
Some Finns have even asked the president to intervene.
But Lordi was a people's choice: their hit got more than 42% of the votes cast by televoting in the Finnish final.
Devil's advocate?
Lordi, influenced by the American hard rock band Kiss and its lead singer Gene Simmons, has not escaped allegations of links with Satanism.
Rumours have been fuelled by the group's refusal to give television interviews, to take off their masks or reveal their real names.
But in other media interviews, the rockers have stressed their tongue-in-cheek attitude to entertainment. As if to prove the point, they had a hit in Finland with a song called The Devil Is A Loser.
Hailing from Arctic Lapland, Lordi became a phenomenon in Finland with a platinum-selling debut album, Get Heavy, in 2002.
Their compilation album The Monster Show has been released in more than 20 countries.
The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Greece on 20 May.
Father Mitro Repo, an Orthodox Christian clergyman in Helsinki, described the band's use of the name "Lordi" as "sacrilege".
"I think it's a stupid joke of Finland," he told the BBC's World Today programme, commenting on the country's Eurovision choice.
"Lord have mercy on us Finnish people now," he said, adding that the choice appeared to be a protest by youngsters annoyed that Finland had failed to score highly in Eurovision.
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FINLAND - LORDI
For their 40th attempt to win the Eurovision Song Contest, the Finnish people have chosen metal act Lordi to represent them in Athens.
The five-piece will perform Hard Rock Hallelujah clad in gruesome costumes and monstrous masks.
They refuse to appear in public out of costume, while their grotesque make-up takes three hours to apply.
The band are so protective of their rock alter-egos, their real names remain a secret.
Finland's Lordi proclaim the coming of the "Arockalypse" with their song
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They are known as Amen the unstoppable mummy, Enary the manipulative valkyrie, Kalma the biker-zombie and Kita the alien manbeast.
Kita has the "combined strengths of all the beasts known to man", while he and the others are led by Lordi (The Lord).
With lyrics such as "wings on my back, I got horns on my head, my fangs are sharp and my eyes are red, not quite an angel or the one that fell, now choose to join us or go straight to hell," Finland's choice has prompted some marginal controversy.
Lordi's "Day of Rockoning" will be in the Eurovision semi-final on 18 May, where they hope to attract enough votes to propel them into the grand final.
In 2005, Norway entered a glam rock act to make a splash at the contest - they qualified for the final where they finished ninth.
Lordi: Not your father's Finnish Eurovision entry
By Dan Bilefsky
New York Times News Service
Published April 24, 2006
HELSINKI, Finland --
They have 8-foot retractable latex Satan wings, sing hits such as "Chainsaw Buffet" and blow up slabs of smoking meat on stage. So members of the band Lordi expected a reaction when they beat a crooner of love ballads to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest next month in Athens, the competition that launched Abba and Celine Dion.
But the heavy-metal monster band did not imagine a national identity crisis.
First, Finnish religious leaders warned that the Freddy Krueger lookalikes could inspire satanic worship. Then critics called for President Tarja Halonen to use her constitutional powers to veto the band and nominate a traditional Finnish folk singer. Rumors even circulated that Lordi members were agents sent by President Vladimir Putin to destabilize Finland ahead of a Russian coup--an explanation for why they refused to take off their freakish masks in public.
The fury also spread in Greece, winner of last year's Eurovision and, therefore, the host of this year's, where an anti-Lordi movement called Hellenes urged the Finnish government "to say `no' to this evil group."
The lead singer, Lordi, a former film student who goes by his real name, Tomi Putaansuu, when not wielding a blood-spurting chainsaw, is philosophical about the uproar.
The affair, Putaansuu says, has exposed the insecurity of a young country whose peculiar language is spoken by only 6 million people worldwide and whose sense of identity has been dented by being part of the Swedish kingdom and the Russian empire until gaining independence in 1917. Most Finns, he adds, would rather be known for Santa Claus than heavily made-up monster mutants.
"In Finland, we have no Eiffel Tower, few real famous artists, it is freezing cold and we suffer from low self-esteem," said Putaansuu, who, as Lordi, has horns protruding from his head.
As he stuck out his tongue menacingly, his red demon eyes glaring, Lordi was surrounded by Kita, an alien-man-beast predator who plays flame-spitting drums inside a cage; Awa, a blood-splattered ghost who howls back-up vocals; Ox, a zombie bull who plays bass, and Amen, a mummy in a rubber loincloth who plays guitar.
Dragging on a cigarette, Putaansuu added, "Finns nearly choked on their cereal when they realized we were the face Finland would be showing to the world."
Often derided as a showcase of kitsch, Eurovision is one of the most watched television programs in the world. It pits pop groups from Europe and the Middle East against one another, with the winner decided by more than 600 million viewers.
It is not the first time the contest, which began in 1956, has spawned discontent. Last year's Ukrainian entry song was rewritten after being deemed too political by government officials in Kiev because it celebrated the Orange Revolution. When Dana International, an Israeli transsexual, won in 1998, rabbis accused her of flouting the values of the Jewish state.
But not everyone in this Nordic country of 5 million views the monster squad as un-Finnish. Some Finns say Lordi is right at home and that the band's use of flaming dragon-encrusted swords and exploding baby dolls expresses the warrior spirit of the Vikings.
Alex Nieminen, a Finnish ad executive, argues that the band embodies Finnish self-assertion after decades of isolation.
"Lordi represents a rebellion by Finns who are saying, `Hey we are not all the Nokia-wielding people the government would like you to think we are,"' Nieminen said.
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Finland Squirms as Its Latest Export Steps Into Spotlight
Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva, for International Herald Tribune
The band Lordi won a nationwide competition to represent Finland at the Eurovision song contest this year.
By DAN BILEFSKY
Published: April 24, 2006
HELSINKI, Finland — They have eight-foot retractable latex Satan wings, sing hits like "Chainsaw Buffet" and blow up slabs of smoking meat on stage. So members of the band Lordi expected a reaction when they beat a crooner of love ballads to represent Finland at the Eurovision song contest in Athens, the competition that was the springboard for Abba and Celine Dion.
But the heavy-metal monster band did not imagine a national identity crisis. First, Finnish religious leaders warned that the Freddy Krueger look-alikes could inspire Satanic worship. Then critics called for President Tarja Halonen to use her constitutional powers to veto the band and nominate a traditional Finnish folk singer instead. Rumors even circulated that Lordi members were agents sent by President Vladimir V. Putin to destabilize Finland before a Russian coup — an explanation for their refusal to take off their freakish masks in public. The fury also spread in Greece, winner of last year's Eurovision and therefore the host of this year's contest, where an anti-Lordi movement called Hellenes urged the Finnish government "to say 'no' to this evil group." One young Finn calling himself Suomi (Finland in Finnish) wrote to a newspaper Web log saying, "If Lordi wins Eurovision, I am leaving the country." The lead singer, Lordi — a former film student who goes by his real name, Tomi Putaansuu, when not wielding a blood-spurting electric chain saw — is philosophical about the uproar. The affair, Mr. Putaansuu says, has exposed the insecurity of a young country whose peculiar language is spoken by only six million people worldwide and whose sense of identity has been dented by being part of the Swedish kingdom and the Russian empire until gaining independence in 1917. Most Finns, he adds, would rather be known for Santa Claus than heavily made-up monster mutants. "In Finland, we have no Eiffel Tower, few real famous artists, it is freezing cold and we suffer from low self-esteem," said Mr. Putaansuu, who, as Lordi, has horns protruding from his forehead and sports long black fingernails. As he stuck out his tongue menacingly, his red demon eyes glaring, Lordi was surrounded by Kita, an alien-man-beast predator who plays flame-spitting drums inside a cage; Awa, a blood-splattered ghost who howls backup vocals; Ox, a zombie bull who plays bass; and Amen, a mummy in a rubber loincloth who plays guitar. Dragging on a cigarette, Mr. Putaansuu added, "Finns nearly choked on their cereal when they realized we were the face Finland would be showing to the world." Often derided as a showcase of kitsch, Eurovision is one of the most watched television programs in the world. It pits pop groups from all over Europe and the Middle East against one another, with the winner decided by popular vote by more than 600 million viewers. It is not the first time the contest, which began in 1956, has spawned discontent. Last year's Ukrainian entry song was rewritten after being deemed too political by government officials in Kiev because it celebrated the Orange Revolution. When Dana International, an Israeli transsexual, won in 1998 with her hit song "Diva," rabbis accused her of flouting the values of the Jewish state. But not everyone in this Nordic country of five million views the monster squad as un-Finnish. Some Finns say that Lordi is right at home and that the band's use of flaming dragon-encrusted swords and exploding baby dolls expresses the warrior spirit of the Vikings. Alex Nieminen, a Finnish ad executive, says the band harks back to the Hakkapeliittas, the legendary Finnish cavalry unit that fought as part of the Swedish army in the 17th century. He argues that the slasher film imitators embody Finnish self-assertion after decades of isolation. "Lordi represents a rebellion by Finns who are saying, 'Hey we are not all the Nokia-wielding people the government would like you to think we are,' " Mr. Nieminen said. On the eve of the vote, fans in ghoulish monster outfits held Lordi parties from Helsinki to Lapland and sent text messages urging everyone from grandmothers to young metal heads to "Change the face of Finland!" Lordi won the right to go to Athens with its Kiss-inspired anthem "Hard Rock Hallelujah" and its lyrics, "Wings on my back/I got horns on my head/my fangs are sharp/and my eyes are red." The Finns' fascination for Lordi may reflect their eternal hope after coming in last at Eurovision eight times. Some Finns rank that humiliation with their nation's appeasement of the Soviet Union or losing in hockey to Sweden. Finns blame their losing streak on the fact that contestants have typically sung in their mother tongue, a famously difficult Uralic language where words with three umlauts are not uncommon. " 'Finland, zero points' has become a source of deep embarrassment in the nation's psyche," Ilkka Mattila, the country's leading music critic, said. "So Lordi's success must be understood as a vote by people who feel we have nothing to lose." Finns are so uncomfortable with themselves, says Alexander Stubb, a Finnish member of the European Parliament, that when they meet someone for the first time, they stare at their own feet. Then, after 10 years of friendship, they stare at the other person's feet. But there is little risk that anyone, Finnish or otherwise, will stare at Lordi's furry platform demon boots, he adds, noting that Lordi could embarrass Finland when it takes over the European Union presidency in July. Timo Soini, leader of "Ordinary Finns," a traditionalist political party from rural Finland, says Lordi has attracted criticism because Finns are so thin-skinned about how others perceive them. "Finns are suspicious when they see someone new come to play in their sandbox," Mr. Soini said. "And that is particularly the case when that someone looks like a monster." While other boys in Lapland were playing hockey, Mr. Putaansuu played with his Barbie doll and began experimenting with makeup. In film school he became obsessed with horror films and the heavy metal bands Kiss and Twisted Sister. Like his fellow metal heads, Mr. Putaansuu hoped that transgression would sell big. But he says it took 10 years to get a record deal because Finnish labels were so turned off by the band's appearance. Under their masks, the band members are quintessential Finns. Awa, the ghost, is a soft-spoken blond who wears glasses and studied classical music. Even Mr. Putaansuu, who wears a black leather jacket when not sporting serpent lapels, says his music is closer to gospel than Satan. After all, one of the band's hit songs is "The Devil Is a Loser." "Even if we lose the contest, we have already won," Mr. Putaansuu said. "Many Finns would rather have sent someone boring and acceptable than to be represented by freaks like us."
Finn Eurovision hopes "don't want to burn in hell"
Thu Apr 27, 2006 12:55 PM BST 
By Stephen Brown STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Song contest entrants are rarely forced to deny that they worship the devil, but Finland is hoping that heavy rock band Lordi's fiendish lyrics and bloody stage act can redeem its dismal record at Eurovision. Christian groups in Finland and in Greece, which hosts the televised contest in May, denounce the band as Satanists and the Greek Consumers' Union wants them banned. Lordi's devil worship denials are not helped by their outfits -- horns, skeleton and zombie masks, creeping flesh, mummy bandages, studs and huge platform-soles -- or lyrics like "Wings on my back and horns on my head/My fangs are sharp and my eyes are red".
But band leader Lordi, with red eyes, horns on his forehead and cheeks, silver armour and a cape lined with reindeer fur, told Reuters it was "insulting being judged by the way you look. Our lyrics mention the devil, but that's just rock'n'roll. "If we had to choose between the devil and God, we'd choose God. We don't want to burn in hell," he said in an interview on a visit to Stockholm on Thursday, in a record label's office strewn with costumes, make-up and hamburgers. "Some of our fans on the Internet do have nicknames like Lordi666, but after we brought out 'The Devil is a Loser' four years ago lots of Christians adopted us," said singer and lyricist Lordi, whose real name is Tomi Putaansuu. Putaansuu is a 32-year-old horror movie buff who has been dressing up as a monster since he was seven. He knows the band will be out of place in a contest that is historically the domain of clean-cut pop from the likes of ABBA, Cliff Richard and Johnny Logan.
Continued...
Finland sends in the heavy metal mob for its Eurovision challenge
Tuesday April 25, 2006
The Guardian
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Raising hell: Lordi
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The trauma of losing the Eurovision Song Contest can do funny things to a country. In Finland, where the words "nul points" are burned into the national psyche, they have decided to take radical action and appoint hard-rocking death metal band Lordi as their Eurovision entry for 2006. A far cry from the breezy folk tunes and ultra-safe pop of traditional Eurovision fare, Lordi have scored hits with songs such as Blood Red Sandman. They wield chainsaws on stage, and never perform or give interviews without wearing their rubber fright masks. Lordi's Eurovision entry, Hard Rock Hallelujah, opens with the lines, "The saints are crippled on this sinners' night/ Lost are the lambs with no guiding light", and goes on to celebrate something called "the day of rockoning".
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, the choice of Lordi has been greeted with dismay by religious groups both in Finland and abroad. A group of Greek protesters known as the Hellenes have called on the Finnish government to intervene: "We ask the Finnish Commission of the Eurovision Song Contest to cancel the procedure and choose another song. This evil and satanic Finnish band is not welcome in Greece." (This year's contest will take place on May 20 in Athens). Lordi's supporters argue that the band could hardly make Finland's Eurovision record any worse. Since the country began competing in 1961, it has never troubled the top five, and on three occasions Finnish contestants have come home with the dreaded zero point score. "It's been a total failure, it is truly a national trauma to us," says Kimmo Valtanen, the managing director of Sony BMG Music Finland, Lordi's record label. Lordi's lead singer, Mr Lordi (real name: Tomi Putaansuu) vehemently denies that his band are satanists. "We have absolutely nothing to do with devil worship," he says. "I mean, Hard Rock Hallelujah! Would a satanic band write a song title like that? No. Our second single was called The Devil Is a Loser. Although we are not a gospel band, either." Putaansuu, an Arctic Laplander, cites classic hard rockers Twisted Sister, Kiss and Alice Cooper among his influences, and admits that he will be surprised and disappointed if his band is eliminated from the competition. "We are bringing rock credibility to the Eurovision song contest," he insists. "I always said that it doesn't matter where you perform. If you do a good painting, it should look the same whether it's on the wall of a museum or if it's on the wall of your toilet."
Finland gets bloody minded
Matthew Campbell
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FED up with their “losers” tag at the Eurovision song contest, the usually nondescript Finns can hardly avoid being noticed this year. They will be represented by a group of men in repulsive monster masks, one of them wielding a blood-spurting chainsaw.
The heavy-metal band Lordi like to blow up slabs of meat on stage and are a departure from the wholesome fare more generally associated with a contest that launched the careers of Abba and Celine Dion.
And it’s a far cry from 1970, when Dana’s sickly-sweet All Kinds of Everything took the plaudits. Rather than “Snowdrops and daffodils, butterflies and bees”, Lordi’s entry, Hard Rock Hallelujah, includes “I got horns on my head, my fangs are sharp and my eyes are red”.
Finland’s religious leaders are among a growing army of critics who have warned that the monster mutants with giant retractable wings could inspire devil worship. But vocalist Tomi Putaansuu, a former film student who calls himself Lordi, denies any satanic leanings, despite the horns and black, 6in-long fingernails.
“Enjoying the music of evil-looking creatures isn’t the same as condoning evil,” he said. “We have the same aesthetic as horror films. The scarier the film, the more fun it is. And rock music should be all about fun.” The band never remove their masks in public.
Finland’s president, Tarja Halonen, has been urged to veto the choice and send a traditional Finnish folk singer to the contest instead. Even the Greek hosts are starting to have second thoughts — an anti-Lordi movement called Hellenes has appealed to the Finnish government to “say no to this evil group”.
Yet many Finns are attracted by the monsters. Lordi’s members include Amen, a mummy in a rubber loincloth, and Kita, an alien predator who plays flame-spitting drums from inside a cage. There is speculation that their use of flaming, dragon-encrusted swords appeals to latent warrior Viking instincts.
Besides, they can hardly do much worse than previous Finnish entries. Finland has come last a humiliating eight times in the contest. | |
Lordi (Finland) 'Hard rock hallelujah' 25-1 Excited to see death metal make its debut in Eurovision? Of course you are. The most controversial of the contestants, Lordi are a cross between Kiss, a devil worshippers' convention, and a messy Wolverhampton goth's bedroom. Specialising in giant 'Satan wings' and blowing up slabs of meat on stage, they increase the 'terror factor' by wearing rubber masks that are supposed to represent creatures from the underworld, but actually resemble tuna pizzas left to melt in the midday sun. Lordy, indeed. The band members never let you see them without their masks on, either to protect their mystique or to hide the fact they are not masks after all. Depending on how you look at it, their sound is either Black Sabbath gargling with the blood of virgins, or Marilyn Manson coughing politely to get service in a newsagent's. Clearly, Finland looked at its dismaying (non qualifying/nul point) Eurovision record and figured it was time to shake things up a bit, with grown men wearing Halloween costumes bought from some Finnish version of Woolworth's. In real terms, Lordi are about as scary as the Fimbles, though their lyrics might lose them the church vote ('Wings on my back/Got horns in my head/My fangs are sharp/My eyes are red'). Cliff Richard might find some scenes disturbing.
Who shall reign as overlord of the Eurovision contest?
Sean Carrie, National Post
Published: Monday, May 08, 2006
In one memorable episode of the regrettably short-lived British-Irish sitcom Father Ted, Father Ted, Father Dougal and their song My Lovely Horse are selected as Ireland's entry in the Eurosong competition. Horse's music and lyrics (featuring such evocative imagery as: "Where are you going/With your fetlocks blowing/In the wind?") aren't exactly high art, but that's not what Eurosong calls for, standing in, as it does, for the annual carnival of schmaltz known as the Eurovision Song Contest.
Via a televised competition among the ostensible cream of the continent's crooners, Eurovision has, for 50 years now, been mainlining treacle into the music world's brachial artery. In doing so, the contest has for better or worse (OK, largely for worse) shone a spotlight on such eventual megastars as ABBA and Celine Dion (trilling for the Swiss). Because of Eurovision's reach and influence, denizens of a number of countries apparently take the contest extremely seriously; the Finns, for one, are currently agonizing over the fact that their entry is a death-metal band called Lordi -- one whose lead singer refers to himself as "the unholy overlord of tremors" and "the bastard son of a thousand megalomaniacs." And, in 1998, Israel was in a froth over being represented by a transvestite.
But for many others, the contest is appreciated largely for its camp value. Britons, for their part, see Eurovision with a far sight more irony than do many of their cross-Channel brethren. There, the contest is viewed as so predictable that its results are a popular subject for drinking games (drain your glass if a singer makes a peace sign!). It's also a popular subject for British bookies, and the 2.5-to-1 odds-on favourite when the candidates take the stage later this month in Athens is 49-year-old Greek warbler Anna Vissi and her song Everything. (The lyrics are priceless.) Next up, at 5 to 1, is Sweden's Carola and Evighet, and close on her heels, at 6-to-1, is Romania's Mihai Traistariu, whose Tornero sounds for all the world like Ricky Martin-meets-Haddaway. Britain's entry, an anthemic bit of white-as-white-can-be hip hop called Teenage Life by Daz Sampson, is a longer shot at 14 to 1. And as for Lordi, the Finnish "on-treaders?" Helsinki may be dismayed to hear that their Hard Rock Hallelujah is given a mere one-in-33 chance of holding Europe's heart in its twisted grip.
© National Post 2006
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Lord have mercy on us Finnish people now
