Finland 1996


The Finnish selection, called Euroviisut ja Emma, took place on February 3rd.


The winner is sung by Jasmine
Entrants;

Report by Jari-Pekka Koikkalainen and Erkki Rantakari

The votes were given over telephone. The organisers of the event were expecting at most 150 000 votes during the evening, but when the lines were opened there were 300 000 people trying to get through simultaneously. This caused a shutdown in the telephone system and the lines had to be closed. At least 700 000 people tried to give their votes during the evening.

Because of this it was decided that the winner was not to be announced during that evenings event and the vote was continued until Monday 8 am. By then there were 218 000 votes given.

The winner, Jasmine, is a 20 year old gipsy woman and her song is "Southern European stylish with some country spirit"
Additional note by Geoff Harrison - easily the best on the night, a catchy song that ought to make it to Oslo

Thanks to Erkki and Jari-Pekka