Ahead of their appearance at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Finland’s Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen have released the orchestral version of their competing entry.
As part of Eurovision’s “A Little Bit More!” series on YouTube, Finnish representatives Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen have released “Liekinheitin” (Orchestral Version). They follow Montenegro and Lithuania who have also recently released an orchestral version of their competing entries.
Linda and Pete will perform in 7th position in the first semi-final on May 12.
Who Are Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen?
Linda Lampenius, formerly known as Linda Brava, was born on February 26, 1970 to a Swedish-speaking family in Helsinki. She began performing at the age of three as a singer with her parents. She started studying the violin at the age of five and began giving solo and orchestral performances a few years later. At the age of eight, she joined the Helsinki Junior Strings orchestra and, as a teenager, toured North America, Europe, and Asia. She has performed as a soloist with many orchestras around the world.
Pete Parkkonen was born on February 8, 1990 in Pihtipudas in central Finland. He is of partial Martinican descent through his paternal grandfather. His brother, Ville Eetvartti, participated in the first edition of UMK in 2012. Parkkonen first came to public attention after finishing third in the fourth series of Idol in 2008.
Find out more about the duo here:
Finland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. They debuted alongside Spain and Yugoslavia. Finland has finished last in the contest on 10 occasions and has received ‘nul points’ three times. It wasn’t until 2006 that Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi represented the country in Athens with the song “Hard Rock Hallelujah” scoring 292 points, a record total at the time.