 The
extraordinary success of a wild rock band in the annual Eurovision
Song Contest has turned a little-known group from Finland into a
tourist attraction. The Finnish Tourist Board has capitalized on the
win by the heavy metal monsters, Lordi, by promoting a special
concert and cut-price tours for Eurovision aficionados.
The band’s success is being haled as a major boost for tourism to
their home country. The budget airline, Ryanair, has also joined in
the fun and is offering 10,000 tickets for payment only of taxes and
service charges on its route to Tampere in Finland.
On the back of their runaway Eurovision Song Contest success in
Athens, Lordi are to perform a triumphant home-coming concert in
Helsinki’s market square on Friday evening. There will also be an
opportunity to hear them play at next month’s Sauna Open Air Metal
festival in Tampere from June 8–10.
“Lordi and their song, Hard Rock Hallelujah, have certainly
helped strengthen Finland’s position on the rock music map. They
join an array of top-caliber bands such as Him, Nightwish and Rasmus
whose music enjoys world-wide acclaim,” said Anne Lind, director of
the Finnish Tourist Board.
She added that it was a particularly proud moment to witness the
United Kingdom viewers awarding maximum 12 points to the Finnish
monster rock band. “Now we want to welcome as many visitors as
possible to Finland, to sample our music for themselves,” she says.
The Eurovision Song Contest is usually known for its display of
bland Euro-pop music but last weekend Lordi broke the mould and went
on to break all records in the votes they got from millions of
television viewers using SMS text and phone voting.
Several pubs and clubs in London held Eurovision parties on the
night of the contest, with fans assembled to watch the show on big
TV screens. Many people turned out in fancy dress and sported
national flags, but in a spirit more of humorous cynicism than
appreciation of fine new music.
The show is usually an extravagant cheesy spectacle with
predictable voting patterns. This year’s contest did not disappoint,
with Cyprus giving maximum votes to Greece and vice versa, and all
the Balkan countries voting for each other’s songs. There have been
some serious successes in previous Eurovision contests – Abba first
made their name internationally through Eurovision.
But the emergence of Finland’s entry as a possible winner this
year was a surprise and the possibility that Lordi might run away
with the top score became clear early on in the voting process as
one country after another awarded them top marks.
The unexpected success means that Helsinki will host the
Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, and the Finnish Tourist Board have
made it known that they will take full advantage of it in promoting
Finland’s tourist offer, especially to the British.
“Whether they want the heavy sounds of rock or the more intimate
strains of a string quartet, they will not be disappointed. After
all, we have nearly 80 mainstream music festivals taking place
through the summer, and a whole host of other events which combine
to celebrate summer in Finland,” said Anne Lind.
“At the other extreme, of course, is the silence of the Finnish
countryside and the wonderful opportunity to be at one with nature.
A summer break in Finland offers time and space to relax and
rejuvenate amid the lakes, forests and fells which provide some of
Europe’s most stunning scenery.
”We are also looking forward to hosting a fabulous Eurovision
Song Contest event in Finland in 2007. This is sure to be a big lure
for visitors to the city.”
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