It’s Eurovision this weekend, and the highlight this year seems to be Finland, who have entered a death metal band called Lordi (the Lord). As the BBC reports, there are five band members whose real names are apparently a mystery but “are known as Amen the unstoppable mummy, Enary the manipulative valkyrie, Kalma the biker-zombie and Kita the alien manbeast”; vocals are by Lordi, whose real name Wikipedia actually gives as Tomi Putaansuu. And these are not just here for Eurovision: the Wikipedia entry for the group Lordi also reveals that they have four albums (one a compilation for the UK market) under their belt and have already shed three members, two of them apparently still in the line up according to the BBC. Who knows?
Sadly, Finland do not have an automatic bye to the final like the UK, so they have to get through the semi final on Thursday. As a BBC licence-payer I won’t be able to see it as it’s on BBC3. But never mind. May the predictions of Monty Python not come true this year:
You’re so sadly neglected
And often ignored,
A poor second to Belgium,
When going abroad.
In addition, Acid for Blood has some pictures drawn from flickr and a video from YouTube. The BBC of course also has audio of the song (Hard Rock Hallelujah) which I have still not actually heard.
What a magnificent thing. Death metal in Eurovision. It’s slightly disappointing that it’s not black metal, but I suppose you can’t have everything. Apparently Lordi are a proper famous metal band who have played at Wacken, too.
I’ve just listened to it. It’s not exactly Sepultura (they have keyboards for one thing), but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it has Eurovision catchiness and the makings of the tune. I might actually vote this time.