Russia Wins 53rd Eurovision Song Contest
With 272 points, Russia's Dima Bilan won the contest with the pop ballad Believe.
In Lordi-style, the Finnish band employed pyrotechnics while performing their song "Missä miehet ratsastaa" ("Where Men Ride").
Jarkko Ahola, the band's lead singer, was hopeful before the competition.
"The goal is always to place as high as possible. Of course one should be sensible and see what happens. But in the end it's in the hands of the voters. It's really difficult to say what the people will like," Ahola said.
The quartet's members refer to themselves as "warriors" and usually perform shirtless. The group was formed in 2003 in the Tampere area, releasing its first album two years later. "Missä miehet ratsastaa" is the first single from its third album, which came out in March.Strict Security Competing for the first time as a separate country in 2007, Serbia earned the right to host the 53rd annual ESC when its entry, Marija Serifovic won with "Molitva". This melodramatic ballad was a stark contrast to the 2006 winner, "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by the tongue-in-cheek Finnish 'monster metal' band, Lordi.
According to YLE's Kjell Ekholm, Finnish member of the European Broadcasting Union's board, security is much tighter in Belgrade than it was when the ESC was held in Helsinki a year ago. Due to unrest in Serbia related to Kosovan independence, each country's representatives are always accompanied by armed guards.