Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986

Finland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 with the song "Never the End", written and performed by Kari Kuivalainen. The Finnish participating broadcaster, Yleisradio (Yle), selected its entry in the contest through a national final.

Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986
Eurovision Song Contest 1986
Participating broadcaster	Yleisradio (Yle)
Country	Finland
Selection process	National final
Selection date	22 February 1986
Competing entry
Song	"Never the End"
Artist	Kari Kuivalainen
Songwriter	Kari Kuivalainen
Placement
Final result	15th, 22 points
Participation chronology
◄1985 • 1986 • 1987►

Before Eurovision

National final

Yleisradio (Yle) invited nine composers for the competition. The national final was held on 22 February 1986 at its studios in Helsinki, hosted by Kari Lumikero [fi]. The winner was chosen by expert jury. Each juror distributed their points as follows: 1–8 and 10 points. The winner was "Päivä kahden ihmisen" performed and composed by Kari Kuivalainen. The voting was rather tight and Kuivalainen won by only one point over the second-placing entrant.^[1][2][3][4]

Final – 22 February 1986

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Points	Place
1	Kirka and Kim [fi]	"Aitoa taikaa"	Kisu Jernström [fi], Kassu Halonen [fi], Edu Kettunen [fi]	74	3
2	Tulip	"Tanssin aurinkoon"	Jukka Siikavire [fi], Jussi Tuominen [fi]	22	9
3	Irina Milan [fi] and Eija Ahvo [fi]	"Applause"	Esa Nieminen [fi], Irina Milan	53	5
4	Kirka	"Uusiin taivaisiin"	Edu Kettunen	88	2
5	Sonja Lumme	"Tappavat kyyneleet"	Jim Pembroke, Jukka Virtanen	48	6
6	Gruppo Jokke	"Kaamoksen maa"	Jokke Seppälä [fi], Siru Seppälä	37	7
7	Kim Lönnholm	"Rautataivas"	Esa Kaartamo [fi], Pekka Pohjola	64	4
8	Kari Kuivalainen	"Päivä kahden ihmisen"	Kari Kuivalainen	89	1
9	Danny	"Ninja"	Veikko Samuli [fi], Raul Reiman [fi], Jyrki Hämäläinen	31	8

Detailed Jury Votes

Draw	Song	Black Mike	P. Dammert	M. Fagerlund	P. Helin	R. Kinnunen	K. Klockars	J-P Koikkalainen	T. Liete	K. Liuhala	E. Melakoski	R. Sarmanto	Total
1	"Aitoa taikaa"	8	6	7	7	6	3	10	7	6	6	8	74
2	"Tanssin aurinkoon"	1	1	1	1	1	1	8	3	1	3	1	22
3	"Applause"	2	5	5	4	5	7	3	5	5	7	5	53
4	"Uusiin taivaisiin"	7	8	8	6	10	8	6	8	10	10	7	88
5	"Tappavat kyyneleet"	3	4	4	2	4	10	1	4	4	8	4	48
6	"Kaamoksen maa"	4	3	3	3	3	4	5	2	3	4	3	37
7	"Rautataivas"	6	7	6	8	7	5	4	6	7	2	6	64
8	"Päivä kahden ihmisen"	10	10	10	10	8	6	2	10	8	5	10	89
9	"Ninja"	5	2	2	5	2	2	7	1	2	1	2	31

At Eurovision

For the contest, the song's title "Päivä kahden ihmisen" was changed to "Never the End", and one line of the song was changed. Kuivalainen performed nineteenth on the night of the contest, following Denmark and preceding Portugal. Kuivalainen was accompanied by Kati Bergman, Rele Kosunen [fi], Anita Pajunen [fi] and Jokke Seppälä [fi] as backing vocalists.^[5] At the close of the voting it had received 22 points, placing 15th in a field of 20 competing countries.^[6]

Voting

Points awarded to Finland[7] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points  Belgium 7 points 6 points  Iceland 5 points 4 points 3 points  Cyprus  Germany 2 points 1 point  Netherlands  Turkey

Points awarded by Finland[7] Score Country 12 points  Belgium 10 points  United Kingdom 8 points  Ireland 7 points   Switzerland 6 points  Austria 5 points  Sweden 4 points  Luxembourg 3 points  Netherlands 2 points  Germany 1 point  Spain