Finland will select tonight and today�s papers have obviously a lot about Euroviisut on their pages. The main focus is on the favourites and both Lovex and Hanna Pakarinen have been interviewed with some comments from the other contestants as well. Let�s see what is the pre-final atmosphere amongst the favourites. And then there is the news from Ireland as well….

Lovex

The biggest favourite to win tonight is Lovex. The lead singer Theon seems relaxed despite the fact he has been off singing over a monthdue toa throat operation. “I had a cyst in my throat and it was operated just to be sure. It didn’t go as planned and I have been very ill for a month and have lost ten kilos. I was breathing through a tube and it may have damaged my voice” he says. “But I am very happy. Our album has just sold gold in Finland and next week we are off to Germany for some PR gigs followed by Austria and Switzerland. I hope we will have a lot of fans in Turku in the hall as well.” He names Hanna Pakarinen as Lovex main rival. “On the other hand there might be surprises. Who knows if all Jukka Kuoppamäki fans will vote only tonight instead of the polls?”

Hanna Pakarinen

The other favourite Hanna Pakarinen admits being very nervous. “It hit me on Monday. I’m so nervous but it will be great. All my family will be in Turku and dozens of fans. My stage show and dress have been completely changed since the semi final”. She names Lovex, Laura, Johanna Kurkinen and Beats and Styles as her strongest rivals tonight. Mikko Tukiainen from Sony BMG Finland (also Lordi’s record company) promises full backing to Hanna if she wins, and believes Hanna can break through also abroad.

Laura

Many papers have tried to turnEuroviisut into a match betwenn Hanna vs Laura, but Laura says she isn’t taking it too seriously. “If Hanna wins it will be wonderful. My choreography is the Liza Minnelli classic from Cabaret also used by Madonna. I will concentrate on not hurting anyone with the chairs and I will not be wearing a wig tonight!” she laughs. “If I win, I can only promise to sing even better in Helsinki and maybe undress some more!”

Predictions and comments

Iltalehti has set up its own jury including Riki Sorsa (Finland 1981 with Reggae OK) and they gave the best points to Johanna Kurkela: "Beautiful melody, charming singer. When one could still succeed in Eurovision without circus this could have been a winner". They predict she will end up 10th to 12th along with Jani & Jetsetters and Kentala. Second best votes were given to Laura: "Well thought show package that a few years ago would have been a sure winner". Prediction 7th to 9th.

The jury thinks the top three will be Hanna Pakarinen, Lovex and Humane. Places 4th to 6th go to Beats and Styles, Katra and Thunderstone.

Ilta-Sanomat has its own jury, too, including Geir Rönning (Finland 2005 with Why). Geir’s favourite is Johanna Kurkela and he believes she will reach the top three. Composer and Idols judge Kim Kuusi also names Johanna Kurkela as top favourite but believes Hanna Pakarinen will win.

Useless trivia and gossip:

Katra and Lovex’s guitarist Vivian celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary today. They have a 2-year-old daughter Illusia. “In the end the plagiarism scandal only amused me” she says. “In the semi final I had a sore throat, tonight everything should be fine!” Jann Wilde is afraid of bird flu. “It was very hard to find the feathers for my dress for the bird flu. And when I stopped and thought about it, it was very scary!” he says. Jukka Kuoppamäki’s son Aarni will report Euroviisut for the German Stern magazine.

Ireland

The fact that a Finnish song was competing in Ireland last night didn’t escape from the Finnish media and even Helsingin Sanomat dedicated a half page profile on Matti Kallio and his song The thought of you. As we know now his song didn’t win after all.

Esctoday.com will be covering the Finnish final live for you so stay tuned!