Athens - First they shocked many of their countrymen with gruesome masks, jets of flame and a chain-wielding singer - then controversial Finnish hard-rock band Lordi went on to win one of the world's biggest music contests.
Band Lordi from Finland celebrates their victory in the Eurovision Song Contest at the OAKA's Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Saturday 20 May 2006. EPA/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU
After 24 countries took to the stage in the 51st Eurovision show late Saturday in Athens, European viewers voted for Lordi's Hard Rock Hallelujah in a radical departure from the catchy pop tunes, folk songs and emotional ballads usually associated with Eurovision.
Russia was second with Dima Bilan's Never Let You Go, and Bosnia- Herzegovina entrant Hari Mata Hari was third.
Romania's Mihai Traistariu finished fourth, and Carola from Sweden, the pre-contest favourite of bookmakers and a 1991 winner, came fifth.
Host country Greece's popular artist Anna Vissi could only manage ninth out of 24 countries with her song Everything.
There were no shutouts, but Malta's Fabriyio Faniello came last with one point.
Other contenders included a German country and western band, Israeli gospel and a Latvian a cappella group.
Initially shocking many people in the traditionally Christian Orthodox host country with their scary masks, which Lordi members refuse to take off in public, even the Greeks ended up giving the outrageous group top points for a total of 292.
Finland had never before won a Eurovision Song Contest, and even before making their presence in Athens the band upset many Finns with their outrageous behaviour, many even requesting the president to intervene for fear of a national humiliation.
But Lordi was the people's choice with their hit receiving more than 42 per cent of the votes in Finland's domestic contest, and is now the pan-European choice - with many countries in southern and northern Europe giving the band top points.
Spain, Moldova, Denmark, Sweden and Estonia each gave the band the top score with 12 points.
Lordi, influenced by the American hard-rock band Kiss, has been plagued by allegations of links with Satanism.
Originally hailing from arctic Lapland, Lordi became a phenomenon in Finland with the platinum-selling debut album Get Heavy in 2002. Since then, the band has scored Finnish hits with albums The Monsterican Dream and The Arockalypse.
'We have the aesthetic as horror films,' lead singer Lordi has said. 'The scarier the film, the more fun it is. And rock music should be all about fun.'
Eager to entertain the more than 18,000 fans in the sold-out Olympic basketball stadium and more than 100 million viewers who watched the event from 40 countries, performers dressed in masks and long gowns took the stage during the intermission in an ancient Greek Ode.
Still basking in the glory of the 2004 Olympics, where they impressed audiences by bringing the history and authenticity of the Games back to its homeland, Greek organizers spared no expense for the Eurovision Song Contest, with more than 2,000 journalists and 3,000 police officers in attendance.
Athens won the right to host the show after Helena Paparizou triumphed at Eurovision a year ago in Kiev with her hit My Number One.
Since performers first took to the stage in 1956, the event has been marketed around the premise of European nations competing against each other in pursuit of pop-music glory.
The competition has served as a stepping stone for Sweden's ABBA, which won in 1974 with Waterloo, and Canada's Celine Dion, who won for Switzerland in 1988.
The event, often mocked by serious music critics as kitsch for the masses, gets hugely television ratings across Europe. Voting is conducted by phone and text message.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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