Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005
Finland was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 by Geir Rönning and the song "Why". The song was written by Mika Toivanen and Steven Stewart.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Finland | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Euroviisut 2005 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-finals: 14 January 2005 21 January 2005 4 February 2005 11 February 2005 Final: 19 February 2005 | |||
| Selected entrant | Geir Rönning | |||
| Selected song | "Why?" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (18th, 50 points) | |||
| Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Singer-songwriter Geir Rønning was born in Norway but has been living in Finland for about ten years now. His international musical career has lasted for over 15 years of which over the years, he has performed with many internationally known artists and musicians. Geir has performed at music clubs and festivals, in charity concerts as well as on TV and radio shows both in Finland and abroad. Geir released his debut album, “Første gang”, in Norway in 1996. Geir has participated in the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest both in Finland and in Norway. In the Norwegian finals, Geir’s best achievement was second position in 1996 with the song “Uten dé”.
Before Eurovision
Euroviisut 2005
Euroviisut 2005 was the national final that selects Finland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. The competition consisted of three shows that commenced with the first of four semi-finals on 14 January 2005 and concluded with a final on 19 February 2005. The five shows took place in different cities across Finland and hosted by Heikki Paasonen and Jaana Pelkonen.
Format
The format of the competition consisted of five shows: four semi-finals and a final. Six songs competed in each semi-final and the top three entries from each semi-final qualified to complete the twelve-song lineup in the final. The results for the semi-finals were determined exclusively by a public vote, while the results in the final were determined by public voting and regional jury voting. Public voting included the options of telephone and SMS voting.
Competing entries
A submission period was opened by Yle which lasted between 2 August 2004 and 1 October 2004. Artists had to hold Finnish citizenship or live in Finland permanently in order for the entry to qualify to compete.[1] A panel of experts appointed by Yle selected sixteen entries for the competition from a record of 503 received submissions, with an additional eight entries being selected from submissions by composers directly invited by Yle to compete.[1][2] The competing entries were presented on 1 December 2004.[3]
| Artist | Song (English translation) | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| A & N | "Miss One-Night Good-Time" | Nalle Ahlstedt, Michael Ringström Nielsen |
| Anna Stenlund | "One More Chance" | Sipe Santapukki |
| Christian Forss | "Everything But Still Nothing" | Patrick Linman, Mats Persson |
| D'Voices | "This Is the Song" | Esa Nieminen, Jari Salonen |
| Elena Mady | "An Actress" | Samuli Laiho |
| Firevision | "The Stars Are On Our Side" | Mikko Tamminen, Arttu Peljo |
| Gary Revel Jr. | "You’re a Star" | Mika Toivanen, Steven Stewart |
| Geir Rönning | "Why?" | Mika Toivanen, Steven Stewart |
| Geir Rönning & Nina Tapio | "My One and Only Love" | Niklas Rosström, Geir Rönning |
| Hanna-Riikka Siitonen | "Forever and a Day" | Hanna-Riikka Siitonen |
| I'Dees | "Yeah, yeah" | Toni Nygård |
| Jennie | "Kiss Me" | Jens Smedman, Janne Hyöty |
| Karoliina Kallio | "I Need Somebody (Like You)" | Maki Kolehmainen, Erik Nyholm, Johan Westmar |
| Kentala | "Deck of Cards" | Harri Kentala, Janne Hyöty |
| Kimmo Kouri | "My Life, My Love" | Jukka Karppinen |
| Linda | "Your Lasting One" | Janne Hyöty, Jerry Lindqvist |
| Momocat | "Europa Europa" | Maki Kolehmainen, Tracy Lipp, Momo |
| Petri Munck | "Melody" | Petri Munck |
| Place-2-Go | "Kissed by a Fool" | Jens Smedman, Patrick Linman |
| Sanna Majuri | "Just One Kiss" | Fanny Bjurström, Janne Hyöty, Mats Tärnfors |
| Teddy vs. MC Chriss | "Unconditional Love" | Ressu Redford, Theodora Holm, Niko Toiskallio |
| Tommi Läntinen | "Mitä vaan" (Whatever) | Toni Nygård, Tommi Läntinen, Heikki Salo |
| Urban Community | "Whole Wide World" | Kristian Maukonen, Milla Alftan, Cheka Kalupala, Sengi Lukangu |
| Wäinötär | "Kihlaus" (Engagement) | Petri Savolainen, Mirka Sirkkanen |
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final show took place on 14 January 2005 at the Sibelius Talo in Lahti. The top three from the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from the public vote. "Yeah, Yeah" performed by I'Dees, "Miss One-Night Good-Time" performed by A & N and "Whole Wide World" performed by Urban Community qualified to the final.
| Semi-final 1 – 14 January 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | I'Dees | "Yeah, Yeah" | 19% | 2 |
| 2 | Hanna-Riikka Siitonen | "Forever and a Day" | 14% | 4 |
| 3 | Place-2-Go | "Kissed by a Fool" | 14% | 5 |
| 4 | A & N | "Miss One-Night Good-Time" | 24% | 1 |
| 5 | Petri Munck | "Melody" | 12% | 6 |
| 6 | Urban Community | "Whole Wide World" | 17% | 3 |
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final show took place on 21 January 2005 at the Paviljonki in Jyväskylä. The top three from the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from the public vote. "Everything But Still Nothing" performed by Christian Forss, "My Life, My Love" performed by Kimmo Kouri and "One More Chance" performed by Anna Stenlund qualified to the final.
| Semi-final 2 – 21 January 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Christian Forss | "Everything But Still Nothing" | 26% | 1 |
| 2 | Geir Rönning & Nina Tapio | "My One and Only Love" | 18% | 4 |
| 3 | Sanna Majuri | "Just One Kiss" | 4% | 6 |
| 4 | Kimmo Kouri | "My Life, My Love" | 22% | 2 |
| 5 | Anna Stenlund | "One More Chance" | 18% | 3 |
| 6 | Momocat | "Europa Europa" | 12% | 5 |
Semi-final 3
The third semi-final show took place on 4 February 2005 at the Caribia Hall in Turku. The top three from the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from the public vote. "Kiss Me" performed by Jennie, "Unconditional Love" performed by Teddy vs. MC Chriss and "An Actress" performed by Elena Mady qualified to the final.
| Semi-final 3 – 4 February 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Linda | "Your Lasting One" | 7% | 6 |
| 2 | Tommi Läntinen | "Mitä vaan" | 12% | 5 |
| 3 | Jennie | "Kiss Me" | 29% | 1 |
| 4 | Teddy vs. MC Chriss | "Unconditional Love" | 21% | 2 |
| 5 | Elena Mady | "An Actress" | 17% | 3 |
| 6 | Gary Revel Jr. | "You’re a Star" | 14% | 4 |
Semi-final 4
The fourth semi-final show took place on 11 February 2005 at the Kulttuurikeskus in Imatra. The top three from the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from the public vote. "Why?" performed by Geir Rönning, "Deck of Cards" performed by Kentala and "The Stars Are On Our Side" performed by Firevision qualified to the final.
| Semi-final 4 – 11 February 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Wäinötär | "Kihlaus" | 14% | 4 |
| 2 | Geir Rönning | "Why?" | 34% | 1 |
| 3 | Kentala | "Deck of Cards" | 16% | 3 |
| 4 | Karoliina Kallio | "I Need Somebody (Like You)" | 12% | 5 |
| 5 | D'Voices | "This Is the Song" | 7% | 6 |
| 6 | Firevision | "The Stars Are On Our Side" | 17% | 2 |
Final
The final took place on 19 February 2005 at the Tampere-talo in Tampere where the twelve entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top six entries were selected to proceed to the second round based on the votes of six regional juries: "Everything But Still Nothing" performed by Christian Forss, "Yeah, Yeah" performed by I'Dees, "Why?" performed by Geir Rönning, "Deck of Cards" performed by Kentala, "An Actress" performed by Elena Mady and "Kiss Me" performed by Jennie. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 points. In the second round, "Why?" performed by Geir Rönning was selected as the winner based on the results from the public vote.
| First Round – 19 February 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Christian Forss | "Everything But Still Nothing" | 13 | 6 |
| 2 | I'Dees | "Yeah, Yeah" | 18 | 5 |
| 3 | Geir Rönning | "Why?" | 19 | 4 |
| 4 | A & N | "Miss One-Night Good-Time" | 12 | 7 |
| 5 | Firevision | "The Stars Are On Our Side" | 0 | 12 |
| 6 | Anna Stenlund | "One More Chance" | 1 | 10 |
| 7 | Kentala | "Deck of Cards" | 38 | 1 |
| 8 | Elena Mady | "An Actress" | 36 | 2 |
| 9 | Teddy vs. MC Chriss | "Unconditional Love" | 10 | 8 |
| 10 | Jennie | "Kiss Me" | 30 | 3 |
| 11 | Kimmo Kouri | "My Life, My Love" | 0 | 12 |
| 12 | Urban Community | "Whole Wide World" | 9 | 9 |
| Detailed Regional Jury Votes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Oulu | Vaasa | Kuopio | Lappeenranta | Turku | Helsinki | Total |
| 1 | "Everything But Still Nothing" | 6 | 1 | 6 | 13 | |||
| 2 | "Yeah, Yeah" | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 18 | |
| 3 | "Why?" | 1 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 19 | ||
| 4 | "Miss One-Night Good-Time" | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | |||
| 5 | "The Stars Are On Our Side" | 0 | ||||||
| 6 | "One More Chance" | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 7 | "Deck of Cards" | 10 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 38 | |
| 8 | "An Actress" | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 36 |
| 9 | "Unconditional Love" | 4 | 6 | 10 | ||||
| 10 | "Kiss Me" | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 30 | |
| 11 | "My Life, My Love" | 0 | ||||||
| 12 | "Whole Wide World" | 1 | 8 | 9 | ||||
| Second Round – 19 February 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Kentala | "Deck of Cards" | 22,403 | 2 |
| 2 | Elena Mady | "An Actress" | 20,207 | 4 |
| 3 | Jennie | "Kiss Me" | 22,276 | 3 |
| 4 | Geir Rönning | "Why?" | 30,648 | 1 |
| 5 | I'Dees | "Yeah, yeah" | 11,741 | 6 |
| 6 | Christian Forss | "Everything But Still Nothing" | 14,733 | 5 |
At Eurovision
Because Finland failed to qualify in 2004 Geir was forced to compete in the Eurovision semi-final, Finland started in 16th position after Hungary and before Macedonia. He came 18th with 50 points failing to qualify to the Grand Final. Therefore, Finland will have to compete in the semi-final again in ESC 2006.
The spokesperson who revealed Finland's votes for other countries was Finland's 2004 entrant Jari Sillanpää.[4]
Points awarded by Finland
Semi final
|
Final
|
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
References
- Bakker, Sietse (2 August 2004). "8 Finnish composers invited by YLE". Esctoday.
- "Finland: More than 500 songs submitted". Esctoday. 7 October 2004.
- "Finland: These are the 24 finalists". Esctoday. 1 December 2004.
- Philips, Roel (2005-05-17). "The 39 spokespersons!". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 2005-12-19. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
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