Why did Lordi win?

In the 2006 Eurovision song contest Lordi did what almost no-one expected: They won, and by a wide margin, setting the record of most points in the history of Eurovision so far (292 points).

Why did this happen, against all expectations? There are many reasons. Many of these reasons are quite obvious, but some of them perhaps not quite so.

Lordi first shocked many Finns by being selected to represent Finland in the Eurovision contest. Some of the shock was caused by (unfounded) religious prejudice. Most of the shock was simply a feel of shame: How can we send such a band to such a serious high-culture contest as Eurovision? Many Finns feared that we would just end up being the laughing stock of all Europe, even all the world, that we would get laughed out of the contest altogether.

Then, as the semi-finals approached, Lordi started hitting the headlines of the papers of many countries, probably causing quite a lot of amazement and amusement at first. Probably also some shock. Surely many people thought that it was quite an amazing curiousity, but certainly not a serious contender for the competition. Perhaps some odd stunt.

But things started changing even for most people who had never heard of Lordi or even didn't care so much about metal music. Instead of being some dark satan-worshipping obscure blackmetal band, Lordi resulted to actually have quite a charisma which had nothing to do with satanism and all to do with pure heavymetal entertainment. Once people started to see through the masks, so to speak, they actually got charmed with a rather charismatic and unique persona.

Besides all the obvious differences to the other contestants, there's one thing which set Lordi apart from most of the others. This is a bit hard to explain, but it could perhaps be best described with one word: Honesty.

Some of the contestants, such as the Lithuanian ones, had composed a song specifically aimed at the Eurovision contest. Most of the contestants had developed their performance to try to appeal the Eurovision spectators (most of which consisted in using half-naked women as dancers). Some even tried to gain publicity by making scandalous stunts (such as Iceland).

That all feels opportunistic, artificial and a bit dishonest.

However, this is one thing which set Lordi apart from most of the others: They went there just as themselves, without making compromises or changing anything in their ways or principles. They did not try to appeal specifically to Eurovision viewers by doing some stunts designed specifically for that event. They just were and acted like they normally do.

Naturally Lordi got lots of press, but not because of anything they did specifically for the Eurovision event, but just by being who they are. They didn't change anything in themselves nor in their performance to try to appeal anyone. It doesn't matter if they perform in a small club in a small city in Finland or in a TV contest watched by 100 millions of viewers: They just went there and did what they always do and what they are good at, without compromises, without artificial changes, without letting anyone dictate them what to do and what not to do.

I believe that it's this naturality, this honesty that appealed many people, consciously or subconsciously. They didn't go there to lick the viewers' boots, they went there to have fun, as they go to any concert no matter where it is. Once people started seeing "behind the masks" they found this kind of honesty and they got charmed.

People were quite tired of all the plastic performances, developed specifically for eurovision, all the bland dance music and bubble-gum pop, all of which seemed as artificial and fake as a breast implant. Lordi was a refreshing change to all this with their honesty, with their uncompromised performance, with their stage charisma.

Of course this is not the only reason why they won. Big part of it was, of course, their musical style. Hard rock was a nice and refreshing alternative to all the ballads and pop. Heavy metal enthusiasts all around Europe, who previously couldn't care less about the contest, probably developed a big interest in this Eurovision contest specifically because of Lordi. Finally something interesting.

Part of that was, of course, the sense of rebellion: Voting Lordi was like expressing your opinion about Eurovision. It was like saying "this is what we want, not some bland pop music". If enough people could get this message across, Eurovision could perhaps change forever. And they succeeded. By a wide margin.

I bet the impression many people had about Lordi changed from "what the heck?!?" to "cool!" in the process of this whole event, even if they didn't care so much about heavy metal music nor monster-masked bands. Many prejudices were probably eradicated.

Of course Lordi's song was quite good too. It might not have won if it had been performed by a "regular" band (even if they used half-naked women), but let's admit it: Eurovision is not only about the songs but also about the show, the performance and the stage charisma, and Lordi excelled in all of them.

It was a rather surprising and marvelous thing that the press in general had a positive attitude towards Lordi despite a few prejudiced protests by some.

Lordi got Europe by total surprise. Perhaps now Eurovision will finally change for the best.

Europe, be scared indeed.