All songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 have been selected. During the weeks between the national final season and the actual Eurovision Song Contest, we will introduce all 39 entries in random order. Part thirteen of the series is dedicated to the Finland entry.

Basic information

Performers:	Kuunkuiskaajat
Song:	Työlki ellää (One can also make a living by working)
Language:	Finnish (partly performed in Karelian dialect)
Music:	Timo Kiiskinen
Lyrics:	Timo Kiiskinen
Draw:	5th in the first semi final

The song

Työlki ellää is a folkloristic song inspired by old Finnish poetic runo songs and gypsy music. Through the lyrics, the performers tell the audience what they sing when they in various different moods – and it turns out that it is always the same song, which bears a truism about life and work:

Mitä minä laulan kun olen onneton Mitä silloin sävelteni kannettava on Mä laulan Paista päivä, kulje kunnon kuu Työlki ellää Mut kaupal rikastuu

What do I sing when I am unhappy? What do my melodies carry then? I am singing Sun shine, moon go your way One can also make a living by working But it's business that makes you rich

The performers

The duo Kuunkuiskaajat consists of Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen. Susan Aho is a puppeter, who works at the Nukketeatteri Sampo, which is known for mixing puppet shows with music and poetry. However, she has also obtained a Master degree at the Folk Music department of the Sibelius Academy. She has worked with many different bands, most notably with Värttinä but also with the groups Odysseia, Metsänväki and Rotunaiset. She is from Espoo in Southern Finland but also has Romany roots. Johanna Virtanen has studied music at the Central Ostrobothnian Conservatory in Kokkola and she is currently continuing her studies at the Sibelius Academy. She is also a professional vocal coach for children and she plays harmonium, kantele and 2-row accordion.

Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen are both currently members of the very successful Finnish folk music group Värttinä, which was founded in 1983. Both can be heard on the band's most successful album to date, Miero, which peaked at number five in the Finnish charts in 2006. The band has toured in various parts of Europe and they are among Finland's most popular live acts. The group is known for performing all their songs in the Karelian dialect. Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen starting performing as a duo after suggestions from the audience on one of their tours. They call themselves Kuunkuiskaajat, which means Moon Whisperers. They planned to release their first album in August 2009, but it was postponed, when they decided to enter the Finnish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in order not to release their entry before 1st October.

They took part in the Finnish national final 2010 with the song Työlki ellää. They qualified for the national final, which they won in the super final round having previously finished second in the first round of voting. Työlki ellää will be the second Finnish entry not to be performed in English since the language rule was abolished.

The songwriter

Timo Kiiskinen is a singer and songwriter, who was born in Southern Savonia. He has released various studio albums so far as well as a greatest hits compilation and an album of songs for children. He has also performed with a band called Soivat Kivet. He says about himself on his website that his songs "are always accompanied by grief". He does not know why this is happening, but he thinks it may be congenital.

The national final

The Finnish national final was held over four weeks. A total of fifteen songs competed in the three semi finals and ten of them qualified for the final. Nine were chosen by televoting and a tenth song was added as a jury wildcard. Those ten songs were narrowed down to three in the final before the eventual winners were chosen in the "super final". Eläkeläiset won the first round of voting but only finshed third in the super final. Kuunkuiskaajat were the winners ahead of Nina Lassander.

Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Finlandentered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 andhas been a frequent competitior since despitenever finishing in the top five for a very long time.This suddenly changed in 2006, when Lordi won the contest for Finland in Athens.The last three participations ended outside the top ten again (and at the very bottom of the scoreboard in the final last year), but stillthe country has not been missing a final since 2006.

Toivotamme Suomelle ja Kuunkuiskaajatlle onnea ja menestystä Oslossa!
Vi önskar Finland och Kuunkuiskaajat lycka till och ett bra resultat i Oslo!

Videos

Performance in the national final/Official preview video:

Promotional video (This was not submitted as official preview video):

Another song, Maailman majoilla:

Live performance by Värttinä in a Finnish TV show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mfHxvuM6fs

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Greek entry.

Previous parts of this series:

1. Ireland
2. Belarus
3. Albania
4. Denmark
5. Russia
6. Bulgaria
7. Switzerland
8. FYR Macedonia
9. Armenia
10. Spain
11. Poland
12. Croatia