24-595: The Allisons were an English pop duo consisting of Bob Day (born Bernard Colin Day; 2 February 1941 – 25 November 2013) and John Alford (born Brian Henry John Alford, 31 December 1939 – Died 2023). They were marketed as being brothers, using the surname of Allison. The Allisons represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 with the song " Are You Sure? ". They came second with 24 points. The song
48-506: A result that would be surpassed with " Dark Side " by Blind Channel , which came sixth in 2021 , and later with " Cha Cha Cha " by Käärijä , which won the public vote and came second overall in 2023 , the latter of which is Finland's second best result to date. Yleisradio (Yle) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest . It has participated in
72-501: A second place for Käärijä in 2023 , the latter of which is Finland's second best result to date. All of Finland's entries were in English between 1973 and 1976 , and since 2000 (with the exceptions of 2008 , 2010 , 2012 , 2015 and 2023); both of these periods allowed submissions in any language. Finland's entries in 1990 and 2012 were in Swedish , which is an official language in
96-504: The 'Allisons' name alive. Additionally, in the 1970s and 1980s Alford was joined by other "brothers" — Mike "Allison" and Tony "Allison". By the 1990s, Day and Alford regularly reunited to perform on the oldies circuit. The Allisons' final public performance was at the "Tales from the Woods" British R'n'Roll Heritage Show #8 at The Borderline Club in London, 2012. A clip from that show can be found on
120-532: The 'Tales From The Woods' YouTube channel Bob Day died on 25 November 2013, aged 72, after a long illness. Eurovision Song Contest 1961 The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest . Once again, the contest was held in the French seaside city of Cannes , which had also hosted the 1959 edition . Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF),
144-637: The Eurovision Song Contest Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since its debut in 1961 . The Finnish participant broadcaster in the contest is Yleisradio (Yle), which has often selected its entrant with a national final, since 2012 known as Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu . The country won the contest for the first – and to date only – time in 2006 with " Hard Rock Hallelujah " performed by Lordi . The country's best result before then
168-460: The Mediterranean sea and the outside of the venue during the first seconds of the show. Like in 1959 , the stage was designed by Gérard Dubois. It was notably larger than in previous years and featured a central staircase decorated with flowers, leading up to a terrace flanked by trees, so that the entire stage gave the impression of a Mediterranean garden. Dubois first made a scale model of
192-539: The contest - three more than in the previous edition; Finland , Spain and Yugoslavia all competed for the first time this year. The winner was Luxembourg with the song " Nous les amoureux ", performed by Jean-Claude Pascal , written by Maurice Vidalin, and composed by Jacques Datin, with the United Kingdom finishing in second place for the third consecutive year. The event took place in Cannes , France, following
216-454: The contest representing Finland since its sixth edition in 1961. Before its 2006 victory, Finland was considered by many to be the under-achiever of the contest. Prior to 2006, it had placed last a total of eight times, three times with nul points . Finland's entry in 1982 , " Nuku pommiin " by Kojo , was one of only fifteen songs to score no points since the modern scoring system was implemented in 1975 . Due to poor results, Finland
240-457: The contest was again held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on Saturday 18 March 1961, becoming the first contest to take place on a Saturday evening, a tradition that has continued ever since (with the exception of 1962). The show was directed by Marcel Cravenne [ fr ] and again hosted by Jacqueline Joubert , who had also hosted in 1959. Sixteen countries participated in
264-506: The contest, and a total of 16 countries broadcasting the event. No official accounts of the viewing figures are known to exist. An estimate given in the French press ahead of the contest was 40 million viewers all over Europe. Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below. 43°33′12″N 7°01′20″E / 43.55333°N 7.02222°E / 43.55333; 7.02222 Finland in
SECTION 10
#1732851074897288-457: The contest; Benny had previously represented Belgium in the 1959 contest with the song " Hou toch van mij ", while Brockstedt represented Norway for the second consecutive year, having performed " Voi Voi " the previous year. Marcel Cravenne [ fr ] directed the show, the director of photography was Maurice Barry [ fr ] . Roger Valat served as technical director. Six TV cameras were used, including one showing
312-428: The first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision song, the one minute and 27 seconds " Aina mun pitää " performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät . Finland reached the final for the first time in four years in 2018 , with Saara Aalto placing 25th. After a non-qualification in 2019 with Darude and Sebastian Rejman , Blind Channel placed sixth in 2021 , followed by a 21st place for The Rasmus in 2022 and
336-570: The nation's victory at the 1960 edition with the song " Tom Pillibi ", performed by Jacqueline Boyer . The selected venue was the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès , built in 1949 to host the Cannes Film Festival and located on the Promenade de la Croisette along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea . Due to the growth in the film festival a new building bearing the same name
360-483: The public. It is noticeable that during the voting, Luxembourg gave the UK eight points, and Norway also gave Denmark eight points. It was the largest number of points given to a country by a single jury since 1958, when Denmark provided France with nine points. Such a high number of points obtained by a country would not be achieved until 1970, when Ireland would receive nine points from Belgium. Each participating broadcaster
384-545: The stage in Paris, then went to Cannes and chose the trees together with André Racot , head of the Cannes municipal gardens, paying attention that the trees were not too dark-colored for the TV cameras. The flower pots were then added on the day of the show so that they were fresh and unaltered by unsuitable temperature and light conditions. Initial plans foresaw that the greenroom was part of
408-534: The stage so that artists stayed on the stage after having performed. However, this idea finally was not realised in the live show. The draw to determine the running order took place on 16 March 1961 at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes. It was presented by Jacqueline Joubert , assisted by two children aged six and four. Rehearsals started on 16 March 1961. The contest was held on 18 March 1961, beginning at 22:00 ( CET ) and lasted 1 hour and 30 minutes. The event
432-410: Was achieved with "Tom Tom Tom" by Marion Rung in 1973 , which placed sixth. Finland has finished last in the contest eleven times, receiving nul points in 1963 , 1965 , and 1982 . Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004 , Finland has failed to reach the final eight times. In 2014 , the country had its best result in eight years with "Something Better" by Softengine finishing 11th,
456-593: Was hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert , who had previously presented the previous contest held in France in 1959. The interval act was a ballet performance under the title "Rendez-vous à Cannes" with music written by Raymond Lefèvre and performed by Tessa Beaumont and Max Bozzoni [ fr ] . The winner was Luxembourg represented by the song " Nous les amoureux ", composed by Jacques Datin , written by Maurice Vidalin [ fr ] and performed by Jean-Claude Pascal . This
480-560: Was opened in 1982, with the original building renamed as the Palais Croisette and subsequently demolished in 1988. It also hosted the 1959 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Interest in the competition began to grow across Europe as three new countries participated for the first time: Finland , Spain , and Yugoslavia . Both Belgium 's Bob Benny and Norway 's Nora Brockstedt made their second appearances at
504-672: Was released as a single on the Fontana label, and climbed to number 1 on the UK NME pop chart, while in the chart compiled by the Official Charts Company the song spent six weeks at number 2 and a further three weeks in the top 4. "Are You Sure" sold over one million records , earning a gold disc . In Germany the single reached number 11. Despite a couple of minor follow-up hits , the duo disbanded in 1963. Alford initially tried songwriting, but he and Day teamed up for short tours to keep
SECTION 20
#1732851074897528-489: Was relegated from taking part in 1995 , 1997 , 1999 , 2001 and 2003 . In 2006, Finland won the contest with " Hard Rock Hallelujah " by the band Lordi , an entry that stood out from the Europop that had dominated the competition. The song scored the highest number of points in the history of the contest, with 292, a record that was later broken by Norway's Alexander Rybak in 2009 . In 2015 , Finland finished last in
552-410: Was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers. The local press reported a total number of 14 commentators for
576-664: Was the first of an eventual five contest victories that Luxembourg would go on to achieve. After the show, a supper for the participating delegations was held at the Salon des Ambassadeurs of the Casino municipal [ fr ] . Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1961 contest are listed below. Each country had 10 jury members who each awarded 1 point to their favourite song. The jury members were television viewers representing
#896103