Lordi, the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest winners, have received their invitation to annual the Finnish President's Reception as was widely expected after delivering the country's first win but unfortunately, they are highly unlikely to attend due to the dress code.
Every year on 6th December, Finland celebrates their Independence Day. One of the key events of the celebration is the President’s Reception at the Presidential Palace. It is an extremely popular event, with about 2.000 guests, broadcast on TV with an estimated audience of 2 million Finns.
It is only natural that Lordi would be invited to this major event but the official dress code is very clear “tuxedo or dark suit only”, costumes of any kind are not included. Apart from the rigid dress code, there is also the issue of security that makes matters worse. That means that Lordi will not be allowed to wear their masks, something they do not seem to be willing to do at any cost.
There is a tremendous lot of speculation and discussion on Finnish media at the moment. In an online poll conducted by popular newspaper Iltalehti about half of the public wants Lordi to attend the party unmasked, while 30% want them to remain masked and a 20% blames the President as she should have known that they would not consent and she should have not invited them anyway.
