The Votes Are In
It was an exciting week and two excellent shows. The vote is in and Finland has its first Eurovision win in 44 tries. Here’s a brief rundown on what some of the numbers mean.

Finland’s Lordi scored a record 292 points—in both the final and semi-final—beating Ruslana’s 2004 record score of 280 points for Ukraine. Only Albania and Monaco blanked Finland. Russia’s Dima Bilan came second with 248 points—still more than Helena Paparizou’s 2005 win for Greece (230). Monaco and Switzerland were the only null points for Dima, who is now tied with Alsou (2000, Solo) for Russia’s best ever result.

Only two of the pre-qualified songs ended up in the top 10 — same as last year. However this year Romania were 4th and Greece 9th; Greece and Malta were 1st and 2nd last year. And sadly this year Malta finished last, with only a single point from Albania. Greece is now the only non-Big 4 country to avoid relegation entirely since 2004. Romania scored points from every country except Monaco and the Netherlands—no other song scored points as widely. It appears likely that Monaco again reverted to a jury rather than a televote. The unlucky qualifiers from this year are Turkey and FYR Macedonia; having finished 11th and 12th in today’s final means they must qualify again next year. All the other qualifiers go automatically through next year.

Long time Eurovision success stories Ireland (9th) and Sweden (5th) both returned from the semi-final and into the top 10 after bad results last year. Newcomer Armenia must be very pleased: their 6th in the semi-final and 8th in the final are an excellent début! And Lithuania, while not the winners, should be proud of their 6th place in the final.

The Big 4 did marginally better than last year…but not well. Germany leapt from 24th in 2005 to 15th this year, but with a song many British fans thought would win it all. The UK moved up from 22nd to 19th (and point-wise from 18 to 28), though they had hopes of a top 10 finish. Spain remained 21st for the second year in a row as their score dropped from 28 to 18. France moved up a single notch to 22nd, while France’s score dropped from 11 to 5: clearly il n’était pas temps for Virginie.

Lordi Interview
Finnish monster rockers Lordi have given their first press conference after bringing Finland an historic first Eurovision Song Contest win, 45 years after the very first Finnish participation. After failing to rise above sixth place in all that time, a first place has been a long time in coming. Altogether, Finland won 8 sets of top marks, 6 sets of 10 points and 6 sets of 8. In a strange twist, Finland scored exactly the same number of points in both the final and the semifinal, topping both tables.

Shortly after the end of the show, Lordi entered the press hall to huge cheers (especially from the Finnish contingent amongst the press!) and the sound of the winning entry Hard Rock Hallelujah. Mr Lordi, flanked by the rest of the group on both sides, took centre stage wearing a traditional blue fur-lined hat.

"How weird is this? How cool is this?! We feel great!" started Mr Lordi. "What a weird experience! We're all the way from Lapland, Finland... Wow, it's nice. I'd like to thank all the hard rock fans, all the Kiss fans, all those who aren't narrow-minded. To think, the Eurovision Song Contest... Think about it!" He continued by singing a jubilant line borrowed from sixth-placed fellow competitors Lithuania: "We are the winners of the Eurovision!" before launching into a question and answer session.

Did you ever dream of winning the Eurovision Song Contest, or was it your worst nightmare?
It doesn't feel like a nightmare! We didn't think about entering the Eurovision Song Contest. The Finnish Eurovision board called us last year to join and we said yes! We thought about it at first then just said: Let's do it! We had an album coming out in February and we looked at it as good promotion. It's weird, it's great...

What kind of impact will this have on the Eurovision Song Contest?
It's a victory for rock music, Finland and Lordi. And for open-mindedness! A lot of Eurovision fans are in minorities, just as we are in a minority. Heavy metal bands think we are rock, rock bands think we are heavy metal. But finally, Finland have won. We hope this shows that there are different genres of music as well as pop and ballad. There's rock, hip-hop... all varieties of music can be in the Eurovision Song Contest. We hope more rock and metal groups are encouraged to join, and maybe over the next few years different kinds of styles can enter the contest.

Could you tell us what is under the masks?
What masks? I started the band 14 years ago, and 12 years ago I had the idea of monsters. These are our working outfits. It's a bit like Father Christmas - if I took off the mask it would spoil the illusion. These are the characters and we leave them on the stage. It builds the mystery: this is Lordi!

Sweden gave you twelve points. Any advice for Carola?
Thank you Sweden! The people love our rock music there, and Carola was great. She was very nice, and she understood that what we are all about is entertainment.

Anna Vissi said that Finland was her favourite. What do you think of Greece's song?
I've already spoken to the Greek media and told them it was my favourite melody. I gave them my compliments! It's not that far from Lordi's style, but maybe with different lyrics.

Are you rockers or Finns, first and foremost?
A Finn is a Finn, and the Finns are proud of us. We're representing Finland, ourselves and rock music! We're equally Finnish and rockers.

What were your expectations before the contest?
We hoped to make the top five, but the top ten would have been great. We aimed to get Finland's best result. Just making the final was great. But rock music, Finland winning... wow!

Have you had any trouble with the ladies?
Ladies run into trouble when they meet us! We spend three hours in make-up to look pretty for them!

How do you plan to capitalise on the victory? What next?
This is just a side-path for us. It sure looks good at the end of the path: victory! We're going to get back to normal now, with rock tours, and the next album. Maybe more people will buy it now. There could be lots more fans.

What can we expect next year?
(Head of delegation) We are proud to host the 2007 contest. It will be a pleasure! I want to thank the Greek hosts for the brilliant show and friendly welcome, I want to thank the hard work of the band: hot under the costumes but very warm beneath their skins! And of course I have to thank the Finnish broadcaster YLE.

What has Helsiki got to offer for next year?
Finns and Greeks have a lot in common; Finns are a deeply honest and hospitable people. Everyone is welcome in Helsinki! Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Will your win change the contest?
We only ask: no copycat acts please! We did this to prove that people can be open minded, and it doesn't matter what you look like. If you like the song, you like it, and if you don't, you don't. You have to look beyond the image.

Does your entry represent the dark or the light side?
I can only stress (for the millionth time) that we have nothing at all to do with satanism and devil worship. There are all these misconceptions... You only have to look at the lyrics of the song to see that it's not about the devil: Hard rock hallelujah. It's as serious as a horror movie, it's entertainment. No one would be stupid enough to choose good over bad; put it this way, who is cooler: Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader?

The contest is popular in Australia; would you be willing to travel that far on tour?
We'd love to visit Australia! Kiss have already done Australian tours too. It wouldn't be too far at all!

Why do you think kids love you?
We're like their action figure toys, their comic book characters. I don't feel a day over twelve! But amongst our fans we have kids, adults, older people - everyone.

You mentioned that you would have a holiday from Monday - is that still on the cards?
I can't see it happening now! How can you be sure? We'll get back home first and see what happens... The contest has been a bit of a holiday compared to touring - we usually do three hours on stage, and here it was just three minutes on stage!

Lordi then left and was promptly mobbed by photographers and press. The band is expected to be at the aftershow party in Euroclub - but will they appear unmasked, and would anyone recognise them if they did?

The Venue
The Olympic Indoor Hall, part of the OAKA complex, hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest! The venue was chosen based on its functionality, unique design and history in hosting major athletic events. The hall played an important role at the time of the 2004 Olympics, hosted in the Greek capital.

The Olympic Indoor Hall was inaugurated in 1995 and revamped for the 2004 Olympics. After the renovation works, the venue was re-opened on 30th June, 2004. The venue, originally used as basketball hall, consists of six levels and has a seating capacity of 18,500, including 2,000 fold-up seats and 300 seats for media. It also has a 500 square meters press centre, a 100 square meters room for press conferences and two offices. However, the main attraction is its impressive roof!

Capacity For the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest: The venue had a seating capacity of approximately 16,000 seats, as the stage, cameras and other technical equipment took quite a lot of space. The 2006 contest hosted the second biggest audience ever; only the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest had a bigger audience.

The Presenters
Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas hosted the semifinal and final of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. Sakis is well-known as the man who brought Greece a third place at the contest with Shake it, while Maria Menounos was starring along with Sean Connery in the movie remake game James Bond 007: From Russia with love. Menounos has been involved with several NBC productions participating as journalist, model and actor. The 28-year old was born in Massachusetts (USA), her parents have Greek origins. In 2002 she joined the NBC show Entertainment Tonight.

Maria Menounos:
Maria MenounosMaria was born on 8 June 1978 in Medford, Massachusetts, USA. She is of Greek ancestry and speaks fluent Greek. Maria started her professional career as a model. In 1996, she became Miss Massachusetts Teen USA. While studying at Boston's Emerson College, she started to work as reporter for Channel One News doing interviews and background stories. It was then that she met the current US President George W. Bush. Channel One News was Maria’s springboard to other jobs in the news industry. In 2002, she started to work for ‘Entertainment Tonight’. Three years later, in 2005, Maria accepted another challenge: she became an actress. She played Eva Adara, in the 2005 James Bond production “From Russia with Love" and she played the role of Sexy Nurse in ‘The Fantastic Four’, attracting the attention of a group of astronauts. TV viewers know her as Jules in ‘One Tree Hill’ or as Glinda in ‘One on One’. As well as acting, Maria continued to host big celebrity events such as the ‘Countdown to the Oscars 2004’. Insiders say that the diamond-studded dress she wore for this occasion was worth more than US$2.5 million.

Sakis Rouvas:
Sakis RouvasSakis Rouvas, born on the Greek island of Corfu, will co-host the 2006 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest live from Athens. Sakis will co-host both the semi-final on 18 May and the grand final on 20 May 2006. Music has always been a part of Sakis’ life but he is also a talented gymnast and has even pole vaulted for the Hellenic National Team. Sakis was discovered in Athens in 1991. His debut single, ‘Par’ta’, was hugely successful. Over the next four years, he won a raft of awards, including Best New Singer, Best Song and Best Stage Performance at the Hellenic Music Awards. Sakis has also played his role in reconciliation efforts with Turkey. In 1997, he performed on stage with Turkish pop star, Burat Kud, in a concert in UN-controlled territory on Cyprus. His efforts later won him the International Ipekci Prize for understanding and co-operation. Nine years after his debut at the ‘Thessaloniki Song Festival,’ Sakis remains one of Greece’s most successful artists. In 2004, we saw Sakis on the Eurovision stage as a performer with his song ‘Shake it’ which finished third with 252 points.

Official Fan Book
This year, the first ever Official Fan Book & Programme Athens 2006 will be released! The hardcover publication of 104 pages contains all information about the 2006 contest in Athens, the 38 participants, the people behind the show and more! Including all the lyrics, the participating artist, the history, the floor plan, the stage etc. Order your program book today and have it at home before the finals. World wide Shipping starting at May 5th 2006. All buyers will be kept informed about new program issues in the upcoming years including the Official Fan Book & Programme binder which will be released in 2007. To place your order visit www.eurovisionshop.tv