LORDI Mainman Talks EUROVISION

LORDI mainman Mr. Lordi (a.k.a. Tomi Putaansuu) recently spoke to Inside Bay Area about winning the prestigious 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with the band's "Hard Rock Hallelujah" anthem. The song swept Eurovision with 292 points, the highest score in its history.

"Traditionally, Eurovision entries all sound like Barry Manilow, with lots of violins," Mr. Lordi says of the annual song fest that first launched ABBA with a "Waterloo" win. "So we didn't think we'd win — we just thought we'd get some free promotion for an album that was coming out. But after we won, people started calling the TV stations and broadcasting company, saying, 'This can't be right — you have to recount the votes!' But it was sad but true — we won. After all these people had tried their best to stop us. And we'd told all hose people who promised to go to Sweden, 'Hey, we'll come help you pack and then wave goodbye to you as your boat leaves.'

"But guess what? Once we got back, suddenly all those people had disappeared. In Finland, there was nobody against us anymore. So in one night, for LORDI, everything changed. And our fans in Finland were wide awake."

Read more at www.insidebayarea.com.