Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979

Eurovision Song Contest 1979
Eurovision Song Contest 1979
Country	Finland
National selection
Selection process	National final
Selection date(s)	10 February 1979
Selected entrant	Katri Helena
Selected song	"Katson sineen taivaan"
Selected songwriter(s)	Matti Siitonen; Vexi Salmi;
Finals performance
Final result	14th, 38 points
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Finland was represented by Katri Helena, with the song "Katson sineen taivaan", at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 31 March in Jerusalem. "Katson sineen taivaan" was chosen as the Finnish entry at the national final organised by broadcaster Yle and held on 10 February. This was the first of Katri Helena's two Eurovision appearances for Finland, after she had finished runner-up in three previous national finals (1969, 1972 and 1978).

Before Eurovision[]

National final[]

The final was held at the Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki, hosted by Marjatta Leppänen. Six songs took part, with the winner chosen by a 30-member jury containing a mix of music industry professionals and TV viewers.

Other participants included Finnish Eurovision representatives Markku Aro (1971) and Kirka (1984).^[1]

Final – 10 February 1979
Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Seidat	"Hei, tännepäin"	78	6
2	Markku Aro	"Sano Susanne"	94	5
3	Yvonne Gräsbeck	"Hyvästi ystäväin"	113	2
4	Katri Helena	"Katson sineen taivaan"	140	1
5	Kirka, Anna and Muska	"Aikuiset anteeksi antaa"	95	4
6	Pepe Willberg	"Päivä tuskin päättyis kauniimmin"	110	3

At Eurovision[]

On the night of the final Katri Helena performed 5th in the running order, following Ireland and preceding Monaco. At the close of voting "Katson sineen taivaan" had picked up 38 points, placing Finland 14th of the 19 entries.^[2] The Finnish jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Israel.^[3]

Voting[]

Points awarded to Finland^[4]
Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points	Switzerland
7 points	Greece Italy
6 points	Luxembourg
5 points	France Germany
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Points awarded by Finland^[4]
Score	Country
12 points	Israel
10 points	Switzerland
8 points	Italy
7 points	United Kingdom
6 points	Ireland
5 points	Netherlands
4 points	Luxembourg
3 points	Germany
2 points	Portugal
1 point	France

References[]

^ ESC National Finals database - Finland 1979
^ "Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
^ ESC History - Finland 1979
^ ^a ^b "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

External links[]

(in Finnish) Full national final on Yle Elävä Arkisto

[1] ESC National Finals database - Finland 1979

[2] "Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[3] ESC History - Finland 1979

[1979detailed-4] "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

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