Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961


Finland was represented by Laila Kinnunen, with the song '"Valoa ikkunassa", at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 18 March in Cannes, France. Finland was one of three countries making their Eurovision debut in 1961 and "Valoa ikkunassa" was chosen as the first Finnish entry at the national final organised by broadcaster Yle and held on 12 February.

Final

The final was held at the Työväenopisto in Helsinki, hosted by Aarno Walli. Four songs took part, having qualified from a radio-only semi-final. The winning song was chosen by an "expert" jury.
DrawArtistSongPlace
1Ritva Mustonen"Portinvartija"3
2Laila Kinnunen"Valoa ikkunassa"1
3Kai Lind"Pikku ikkuna"4
4Christina Hellman"Puuttuva lehti"2

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Laila Kinnunen performed 4th in the running order, following Austria and preceding Yugoslavia. At the close of voting "Valoa Ikkunassa" had received 6 points, placing Finland joint 10th of the 16 entries. The Finnish jury awarded its highest marks to Luxembourg and Monaco.

Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

Points awarded to Finland

Points awarded by Finland