Finland was represented by
Riki Sorsa and the song "Reggae OK" at the
1981 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 April in
Dublin. Sorsa won the rights to represent Finland on the 21 February.
Before Eurovision
National final
The final was hosted by Finnish television producer and singer
Erkki Pohjanheimo, at
Yleisradio Studio 2 in
Helsinki. Eight songs were selected from the semi-final which took place on January 28. The winning song was selected by a national jury, two of which included former Finnish Eurovision contestants
Marion Rung and
Lasse Mårtenson.
On the night Sorsa performed eighth (following
Yugoslavia and preceding
France). For the first time in 15 years regular Finnish conductor
Ossi Runne did not conduct the Finnish entry (instead he was providing the
YLE television commentary) and was instead conducted by
Otto Donner. At the close of voting "Reggae OK" had picked up 27 points, placing Finland in 16th place out of 20.[1] The Finnish jury awarded its 12 points to
Switzerland.