Monster Band Wins One for Finnish Tourism

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“What would happen if our favourite horror film characters Freddie Krugger, Michael Myers (Halloween) and Jason (Friday 13th) took a break from their hectic killing spree's, put down their weapons of murder, had a few beers and picked up musical instruments?” asks NoiseRecords.com.

Their answer? Lordi.

Lordi is a Finnish heavy metal band who dress in monster costumes, and have recently won the 51st Eurovision Song Contest in Athens with their song, “Hard Rock Hallelujah.”

This was quite a surprise, for Eurovision usually awards catchy pop and big ballads -- Abba was a past winner. “How weird is this? How cool is this?” said lead singer, who is also called Lordi. “Think about it, a rock band just won a pop song contest. This is weird, strange, interesting. We won the contest, looking like this. It just goes to show that Europe is not such a bad place.”

Artists from 37 countries took part in Eurovision this year; including for the first time Armenia. Votes were cast during a ten-minute voting window at the end of the Final. A centralized pan-European televoting platform allowed viewers from the 38 European countries to cast votes via telephone and SMS. The system was coordinated and developed especially for the contest by German-based telecom service provider digame.

With their heavy metal attitude and their scary demon costumes, the band has been accused by some conservative Greek organizations of promoting Satanism, however they affirm that they have no connection with the occult. "We have nothing to do with Satan worshipping or anything like that - this is entertainment," Lordi said.

Because Lordi prevailed, Finland has won the right to host next year’s contest, which Finnish tourism professionals hope will fuel tourism to the country. "Lordi and their song, Hard Rock Hallelujah, have certainly helped strengthen Finland's position on the rock music map," said Anne Lind, director of the Finnish Tourist Board.

She adds that Finland has a lot to offer music lovers. "Whether they want the heavy sounds of rock or the more intimate strains of a string quartet, they will not be disappointed," said Lind. "After all, we have nearly 80 mainstream music festivals taking place through the summer, and a whole host of other events which combine to celebrate summer in Finland."

Just for kicks, I went to their official website and listened to the three songs they posted there. Now, I’m not much of a heavy metal fan, but I kind of liked the songs. And, since I’m a big fan of silly lyrics (Thomas Dolbly’s Aliens Ate My Buick is my favorite album and I love Weird Al Yankovic), I found lyrics such as, “The devil is a looser and he’s my bitch,” to be a hoot!

NoiseRecords.com describes Lordi this way: they look like “they have escaped from the cast of an Evil Dead movie" and sound "like a cross between KISS and Rob Zombie” and that “this is the most fun you can have without incurring a lengthy sentence in prison.”

Apparently, “Lordi are a household name in their native Finland with over 50,000 sales and a #1 single with "Would you love a Monsterman" from their debut album "Get Heavy" released in 2002,” according to NoiseRecords.con. You can watch the video for this song and two other at their website. I have to admit that “Would you love Monsterman” was favorite of the selection provided.

For More Information:
Noise Records Lordi Page: www.noiserecords.com/lordi/bio.html
Lordi’s Official Website: http://www.lordi.org

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