With 292 points, Lordi snagged the most points ever in Eurovision history. Russia placed second with 248 points and Bosnia-Hertsegovina came in third with 229 points. Twenty-three other countries also participated in the finals.
Lordi received 12 points from all of the Nordic countries, Estonia, Poland, Britain and Greece. Only Armenia, Monaco and Albania did not give points to the Finnish band.
The contest was broadcast live across Europe with an estimated 100 million viewers and some 25,000 visitors and journalists travelling to Athens for the event.
Lordi Thanks Europe for its Open Mindedness Lordi caused a media circus even before the competition started with their monster masks and hard rock music. According to the lead singer Mr. Lordi, the win was not only for the band and Finland, but also for rock music. He thanked Europeans for their open-mindedness during a press conference. "What this has shown is that there are different styles of music than just pop and rock," said Mr Lordi. "That should be the goal of Eurovision." He also welcomed everyone to the next Eurovision in Finland. Win Celebrated in Finland’s Streets Hundreds of people gathered in Helsinki’s Market Square to celebrate the win. In Lordi’s hometown of Rovaniemi in Lapland, celebrations were peaceful. President Tarja Halonen also offered her congratulations to Lordi after the competition. Celebrations in Helsinki on Friday The band's official celebration has been moved from Monday to Friday. Festivities will take place in Helsinki, but the exact location is still undecided. Lordi returns from Athens on Sunday. The press will meet with the band on Monday at 5 p.m. in Helsinki, but TV cameras will not be able to film the band which does not make appearances in civilian clothing. YLE24