# Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975

Finland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 with the song "Old Man Fiddle", composed by Kim Kuusi, with lyrics by Arthur Ridgway Spencer, and performed by the band Pihasoittajat. The Finnish participating broadcaster, Yleisradio (Yle), selected its entry through a national final.

## Before Eurovision

The Finnish national selection consisted of four semi finals and a final. It was the first year the Finnish selection shows were broadcast in colour.

### Semi finals

Four songs were performed in each semi-final and a professional jury chose two songs from each semi final to qualify for the final. After the semi-finals, a wildcard was also chosen for the final.

#### First semi final

Semi-final 1 – 4 January :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriters | Qualified |
| 1 | Maarit | "Mätämakee" | Seppo Paakkunainen [fi] (m.), Ritva Paakkunainen (l.) | Yes |
| 2 | Dans | "Hei lähde maailmaan" | Esko Linnavalli [fi] (m.), Erkki Liikanen (l.) | Yes |
| 3 | M. A. Numminen | "Voittolaulu" | Jorma Panula (m.), M. A. Numminen (l.) | No |
| 4 | Ritva Oksanen [fi] | "Suuri naapuri" | Antti Hyvärinen [fi] (m.), Jukka Virtanen (l.) | No |

#### Second semi final

Semi-final 2 – 11 January :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriters | Qualified |
| 1 | Pepe Willberg | "Ovi elämään" | Markku Johansson [fi] (m.), Vexi Salmi (l.) | Yes |
| 2 | Marjatta Leppänen [fi] | "Naisen vuosi" | Jaakko Salo [fi] (m.), Jukka Virtanen (l.) | Yes |
| 3 | Kari Fall [fi] | "Maailman tie" | Kaj Backlund (m.), Monica Aspelund (l.) | No |
| 4 | Heikki Kinnunen | "Hyljätyn laulu" | Kaj Chydenius (m.), lyricist unknown | No |

#### Third semi final

Semi-final 3 – 18 January :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriters | Qualified |
| 1 | Danny | "Seikkailija" | Kari Kuuva [fi] (m. & l.), Jyrki Hämäläinen (l.) | Yes |
| 2 | Pihasoittajat | "Viulu-ukko" | Kim Kuusi (m.), Hannu Karlsson (l.) | Yes |
| 3 | Mon-Ami | "Fasten Seatbelts" | Lasse Mårtenson (m.), Jukka Virtanen (l.) | No |
| 4 | Jukka Kuoppamäki | "Hyvästi ystäväni" | Jukka Kuoppamäki (m. & l.) | No |

#### Fourth semi final

Semi-final 4 – 25 January :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriters | Qualified |
| 1 | Vesa-Matti Loiri and Sivupersoonat | "Laulu" | Eero Koivistoinen (m.), Juha Vainio (l.) | Yes |
| 2 | Kirka and The Islanders [fi] | "Oh, New York rakkain" | Carita Holmström (m.), Raul Reiman [fi] (l.) | Yes |
| 3 | Agit Prop | "On jotain mikä yhdistää" | Henrik Otto Donner (m.), Pentti Saaritsa [fi](l.) | Wildcard |
| 4 | Tapani Kansa | "Luonnollisuus" | Rauno Lehtinen (m. & l.) | No |

### Final

Yle held the national final on 8 February at its television studios in Helsinki. It was hosted by Apeli Halinen. The winner was chosen by regional juries.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
| 1 | Pihasoittajat | "Viulu-ukko" | Kim Kuusi (m.), Hannu Karlsson (l.) | 379 | 1 |
| 2 | Marjatta Leppänen [fi] | "Naisen vuosi" | Jaakko Salo [fi] (m.), Jukka Virtanen (l.) | 196 | 9 |
| 3 | Agit Prop | "On jotain mikä yhdistää" | Henrik Otto Donner (m.), Pentti Saaritsa [fi] (l.) | 228 | 7 |
| 4 | Maarit | "Mätämakee" | Seppo Paakkunainen [fi] (m.), Ritva Paakkunainen (l.) | 205 | 8 |
| 5 | Dans | "Hei lähde maailmaan" | Esko Linnavalli [fi] (m.), Erkki Liikanen (l.) | 256 | 6 |
| 6 | Vesa-Matti Loiri and Sivupersoonat | "Laulu" | Eero Koivistoinen (m.), Juha Vainio (l.) | 308 | 3 |
| 7 | Danny | "Seikkailija" | Kari Kuuva [fi] (m. & l.), Jyrki Hämäläinen (l.) | 368 | 2 |
| 8 | Pepe Willberg | "Ovi elämään" | Markku Johansson [fi] (m.), Vexi Salmi (l.) | 279 | 4 |
| 9 | Kirka and The Islanders [fi] | "Oh, New York rakkain" | Carita Holmström (m.), Raul Reiman [fi] (l.) | 265 | 5 |
The winning song "Viulu-ukko" was performed in Finnish in the national selection shows but it was translated into English for the international Song Contest as "Old Man Fiddle".

## At Eurovision

On the night of the final Pihasoittajat performed 15th in the running order, following Monaco and preceding Portugal. The Finnish entry was conducted by Ossi Runne. At the close of voting, Finland picked up 74 points and placed 7th of the 19 entries.
Among the members of the Finnish jury were Tero Lehto, Merja Nyström, Ari Montonen and Hilkka Sokura.

### Voting
## Sources

* Viisukuppila- Muistathan: Suomen karsinnat 1975 (in Finnish)
* Finnish national final 1975 on natfinals
* ↑ "How Did Eurovision Get the 12 Points System?". YouTube.
* 1 2 "Results of the Final of Stockholm 1975". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 November 2021.