Finnish entrance "Jezebel" rock-pop veterans The Rasmus earned 38 points on Saturday night in the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, including 26 points from the audience.
Founded in Helsinki in 1994, The Rasmus was one of Finland’s most internationally successful bands of the early 2000s.
After a five-year recording break, the band has staged a kind of comeback this year featuring a new guitarist. Emilia ‘Emppu’ Suhonen. However, their performance was modest and ranked fourth in last place with the Czech race out of 25 races.
"Getting to the finals alone has been a pleasure and an honor for us, so we are certainly not disappointed with the ranking! Weโre happy with the winner, and since we got to experience all of this awesome journey, we can say it went well," the band said in a press release.
"This year we have a lot more awesome, such as playing at the summer festival in Finland, a European tour, a new record and a book," they added.
The band will play a dozen gigs in Finland and Estonia in July and August. This will be followed by a European tour starting in Germany in October and ending in London in early November.
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Yle News interview with singer Lauri Ylรถnen called for support for Ukraine’s entry, "Stefania" Kalush Orchestra.
In an unusual movement, the bands held an open-air performance in Turin last weekend, singing together a mix of their ESC tracks.
Ukrainian night
The Kalush Orchestra won Saturdayโs final by a wide margin, riding a wave of public support to achieve the emotional victory that the countryโs president welcomed. Volodymyr Zelensky.
The bandโs frontman appealed on behalf of the city of Mariupol and its Azovstal factory at the end of their live performance.
"Please help Ukraine, Mariupol. Help Azovstal right now," Oleh Psiuk shouted from the stage in English.
The European Broadcasting Union, which is organizing the competition, said no action would be taken against the band because it had used the stage to make a statement.
Based in part on popular sympathy for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, the Kalush Orchestra was a clear favorite in an annual competition of about 200 million TV audiences.
The winners will traditionally host the event next year, and Ukraine hopes to do so in 2023.
This is the third time Ukraine has won the competition. Kiev last hosted the event in 2017, when a Russian singer was banned from entering after traveling directly from Russia to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Due to the logistical complexity of the event, the 2023 competition can be held elsewhere, even if Ukraine is at peace by next spring. The second-placed UK and others have already offered to host a competition involving some 40 countries, including Israel and Australia.
Source: The Nordic Page