Eurovision 2026: Meet Finland's Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen and their song Liekinheitin

We profile the 2026 entry from Finland including details on the artist, song, how it was chosen, odds, fan reaction and how the nation has fared at Eurovision.

After a dismal run in the late 2010s, with a 25th placing being their best result between 2015 and 2019, Finland has found its mojo in the 2020s to become one of the best performing Eurovision countries this decade.

Finland has qualified at every Eurovision contest this decade, with the high coming in 2023 when Käärijä finished runners-up with Cha Cha Cha after storming to a televote landslide.

Last year Erika Vikman finished 11th with Ich komme.

Finland's best Eurovision result remains Lordi's victory in 2006 with Hard Rock Hallelujah.

Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkonnen are currently tipped by the bookmakers to gain Finland's second ever Eurovision victory.

You can find out more about Linda and Pete and their song below!

2026 entry: Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkonnen - Liekinheitin

• Finland will perform 7th in semi-final 1

• My Eurovision Scoreboard ranking: 1st

• Odds to win ranking: 1st

(Rankings as of 8 April 2026)

About the artists

Linda Lampenius is a classical concert violinist who was born on 26 February 1970 in Helsinki to a Swedish-speaking Finnish family. She is a dual citizen of Finland and Sweden.

A child prodigy, Linda began performing the violin from the age of seven in concert halls around the world, and with The Helsinki strings.

The height of Linda's success came in the 1990s when she released the first of her four solo albums Linda Lampenius in 1997.

Linda has collaborated with many famous artists including Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jim Steinman and now Pete Parkkonen!

Pete was born on 8 February 1990 in Pihtipudas, Finland. He first came to prominence in 2008 by coming third in Finnish Idol.

Pete was the first artist from his season of Idol to release an album. Titled First Album it topped the Finnish charts. Pete has released four solo albums, the same number as Linda.

His most successful singles before his Eurovision entry were Girl in a Uniform and Mitä mä teen which peaked at 5 and 3 in the Finnish singles charts respectively.

Liekinheitin is currently topping the Finnish charts.

About the song

Liekinheitin is sung entirely in Finnish and translates to "flamethrower" in English. It is a pop-rock song that heavily features Linda's violin playing.

The song describes a destructive but addictive relationship that is juxtaposed between rational thought and insatiable impulse. It can be broken up in three parts: awareness, immersion then resignation.

In the opening lines of the song Pete is already aware that he "should leave" this relationship as his love interest treats him badly. But in the final line of the opening stanza Pete sings this poor treatment "feels so good."

The multi-faceted juxtaposition prevalent throughout the song is best elucidated in the lines in the chorus "I'm playing with fire, how could I freeze the way I feel? ... Oh so hot, yet cold as ice, you are ... a flamethrower."

In the second stanza Pete immerses himself in this relationship, even though he knows the emotional machoism that is being inflicted on him as highlighted in the lines "can a person die of heat? ... you give me burns of third-degree."

The final repetition of the chorus emphasises Pete's resignation that he is trapped in his relationship as emphasised in the lines "I should be wiser, I should leave but I'm still playing with fire."

How were Linda and Pete chosen for Eurovision?

Linda and Pete competed in Finland's 2026 Eurovision national selection Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) on 28 February 2026.

They began their collaboration on their UMK entry after songwriter Antii Riihimäki contacted Pete after the former had already began writing the song with Linda.

Competing against six other acts, Linda and Pete had a landslide victory topping both the jury and televote. They received 55.80% of the televote equating to 492 points, beating the previous record held by Käärijä. They scored 570 points overall - a UMK record.

Finland will compete in semi-final 1 of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest on 12 May 2026 in Vienna.

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