Until Lordi's victory in Athens in 2006,
Finland's record at the Eurovision Song Contest was a tale of woe,
lasting for almost half a century, without a single Top 5 result.
Having found the winning formula last year,
Finnish broadcaster YLE decided to repeat it, to choose their entry
for 2007. Twelve songs competed in the Finnish final on
February 17th, in the city of Turku. Over the four previous weeks
the twelve acts competing in the final each performed two potential
entries, with the public selecting their favourite to go forward to
the final.
Because of Finland's victory in Athens, local
interest in this year's selection was especially high and over two
hundred thousand votes were cast in under an hour in the final,
which ran over two rounds, the first reducing the field from twelve
songs to three and the second to choose the winner. In the end the
song chosen to be the host country's entry in Helsinki, gained
almost 50% of the public vote and Hanna Pakorinen and "Leave
Me Alone" was chosen.
Growing up in Eastern Finland near the Russian
border, Hanna started her career by singing in local rock groups by
night and driving a forklift truck at a paper mill by day. Her
lucky break came in 2004 when she took part in the TV talent show
"Idols", the Finnish version of the international hit
format "Pop Idol". It didn't take the Finns long to fall
in love with the talkative and friendly small-town girl with the
big voice.
After Hanna won "Idols" she signed
with Sony/BMG and in June 2004 released her debut album "When
I Become Me". Following on her her victory in
"Idols" the album became a best selling and launched
Hanna as one of Finland's leading recording stars. In September
2005 a second album "Strong" following, including the hit
single "Stronger Without You". Unlike the "flash in
the pan" nature of many singers who have found fame through
casting shows, Hanna's second album consolidated her popularity.
When
YLE announced the artists in contention to represent Finland in
Helsinki at the end of 2006, Hanna was one of the most
recognisable names on the list. At 25, Hanna is now a veteran of
the Finnish music scene, the country's best-selling
English-language solo artist, a huge concert favourite, and one of
Finland's best-loved celebrities. Even after her gold and platinum
award winning albums and countless hit singles she still continues
to grow musically, now becoming a successful songwriter. She was
always one of the favourites to win the ticket to Eurovision and
never hid the fact that she wanted "Leave Me Alone", a
song which she has co-written to be her entry, although some have
suggested that there are stronger songs on her third album
"Lovers" which has been released recently.
Hanna
songwriting partners on "Leave Me Alone are Miikka Huttunen
(born in 1973) and Martti Vuorinen (born in 1980) Composer Miikka
is also a music producer and recording engineer. He has
studied music in the Sibelius-Academy and acoustics in the
Helsinki University of Technology. He's a partner in Neomusic Ltd,
a music production house based in Helsinki. Lately Miikka has
mixed songs for the Finnish Idols and "Strictly Come
Dancing" albums, recorded and mixed an album for a new
Finnish soul band called HUBA and an EP for Sami Pitkämö &
UMO big band. Miikka likes to work with various styles of music
and recently also recorded a classical album for Zagros ensemble.
He has composed music for TV series and commercials and continues
working with songwriter Martti Vuorinen. Miikka enjoys spending
his freetime with his family and playing pump organ and piano in
Alamaailman Vasarat, a famous Finnish world music band.
Composer
and lyricist Martti Vuorinen lives in Helsinki. He spent his
childhood in Kotka in South-eastern Finland singing and writing in
rock bands and studying the violin and piano. Martti also has a
strong background in classical music and received his degree from
the Sibelius Academy. He has signed as a songwriter to the Swedish
company Bonnier Music Publishing and he works mainly in Helsinki
and Stockholm, gaining recognition for his strong pop melodies and
lyrics. Vuorinen is writing for top selling Finnish artists and
this year will see his songs featured on several international
releases. He also writes and sings in his Finnish band Gunk.
With little international promotion and and a
rather annonymous draw position early in the running order, the
Finnish entry will be hoping for a lot of hometown support to help
it register with televoters. Recent results have shown that being
the home country's entry does not guarantee success, with none of
the last three host entries reaching the Top 5. The song has also
not been a huge favourite in internet polls or with the bookmakers.
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FINLAND @ EUROVISION