Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany and selected their entry through Euroviisut 2011, organised by Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio. The final was broadcast Full HD 1080p via the Yle HD channel.
Before Eurovision
Euroviisut 2011
Euroviisut 2011 was the national final that selects Finland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals on 14, 21 and 28 January 2011 and the final on 12 February 2011. The semi-finals were held at the Yle Studios in Helsinki, and the final was held at the Holiday Club Caribia in Turku. All shows were hosted by Jaana Pelkonen and Tom Nylund.
Format
A total of fifteen songs competed, with five songs competing in each semi-final and the top three entries qualified to the final. A Yle jury also selected a wildcard entry from the remaining non-qualifying entries from the semi-finals to qualify to the final. The results for the semi-finals were determined exclusively by a public vote, while the results in the final were by the public vote in two rounds: the first round selected the top three songs and the second round selected the winner.
Competing entries
A submission period was opened by Yle which lasted until 31 August 2010. A panel of experts appointed by Yle selected twelve entries for the televised shows and fifteen entries for the online wildcard round from the 277 received submissions. Like last year, the winner of the Finnish tango contest Tangomarkkinat, Marko Maunuksela, received a direct invitation to compete in the national final. The competing entries for the semi-finals and online selection were announced on 30 September 2010. For the online selection, a public SMS vote was open until 15 October 2010. Cardiant, Father McKenzie and Saara Aalto were revealed as the three entries with the most votes, and thus advanced to the national final.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final show took place on 14 January 2011 and the top three from the five competing entries qualified to the final based on the results of a public vote. "Synkän maan tango" performed by Marko Maunuksela, "Luojani mun" performed by Johanna Iivanainen and "Rapture in Time" performed by Cardiant qualified to the final.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final show took place on 21 January 2011 and the top three from the five competing entries qualified to the final based on the results of a public vote. "Da Da Dam" performed by Paradise Oskar, "Sydämeni kaksi maata" performed by Milana Misic and "Good Enough" performed by Father McKenzie qualified to the final.
Semi-final 3
The third semi-final show took place on 28 January 2011 and the top three from the five competing entries qualified to the final based on the results of a public vote. "Täältä maailmaan" performed by Sami Hintsanen, "Blessed With Love" performed by Saara Aalto and "Pamela" performed by Stala & So. qualified to the final. The Yle jury wildcard was awarded to an entry from this semi-final: "Dancing in the Dark" performed by Eveliina Määttä.
Final
The final was held on 12 February 2011, where the nine entries that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals, and a wildcard entry selected by a jury, competed. The winner was selected over two rounds of televoting. In the first round, the top four entries were selected to proceed to the second round, the superfinal: "Da Da Dam" performed by Paradise Oskar, "Good Enough" performed by Stala & So. and "Good Enough" performed by Father McKenzie. In the superfinal, "Da Da Dam" performed by Paradise Oskar was selected as the winner with 46.7% of the votes.
At Eurovision
Finland competed tenth on the first semi-final of the contest, on 10 May, and qualified for the final, placing third with 103 points. In the final, on 14 May, Finland competed first and placed twenty-first with 57 points. The Finnish jury was the second one to have released their points for the grand final, you can see how they were given below:
