| Year: | 1989 |
| Country: | Finland |
| Preselection: | National final |
| Preselection Date: | 4 February 1989 |
| Entrant: | Anneli Saaristo |
| Song: | La dolce vita |
| Final Result: | 7th, 76 points |
Finland was represented by Anneli Saaristo, with the song "La dolce vita", at the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 6 May in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The final was held on 4th February 1989 at the Kultturitalo in Helsinki, hosted by Tarja Koskela. Ten songs took part with the winner chosen by an "expert" jury. Other participants included former Finnish representatives Kirka (1984) and Sonja Lumme (1985).[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anneli Saaristo | "Oi äiti maa" | Petri Laaksonen, Veli-Pekka Lehto | 74 | 3 | |
| 2 | Mervi Hiltunen | "Kan det vara kärlek" | Harri Koivuniemi, Claire Witick-Mäkelä | 72 | 4 | |
| 3 | Kirka | "Hiljaissuuta" | Kisu Jernström, Kassu Halonen, Vexi Salmi | 62 | 5 | |
| 4 | Meiju Sivas | "Rauhaton sydän" | Risto Asikainen, Meiju Suvas | 24 | 10 | |
| 5 | Tanja-Lotta Räikkä | "Huominen Eurooppa" | Gösta Sundqvist | 39 | 8 | |
| 6 | Anneli Saaristo | "La dolce vita" | Matti Puurtinen, Turkka Mali | 110 | 1 | |
| 7 | Kim Lönnholm | "Minä olen muistanut" | Edu Kettunen | 52 | 7 | |
| 8 | Sonja Lumme | "Rakkauden laulut" | Pepe Willberg, Kirsti Willberg | 62 | 5 | |
| 9 | Cris Owen | "Vad finns kvar" | Cris Owen, Marita Lindquist | 103 | 2 | |
| 10 | Marjorie | "Kahden juhla" | Kaj Westerlund, Ilkka Vesterinen | 31 | 9 |
| Detailed Jury Votes | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Billy Carson | Jody Beveridge | Jyrki Hämäläinen | Raila Kinnunen | Vilma Vainikainen | Heikki Kemppainen | Hanna Reponen | Jouko Konttinen | Benny Törnroos | Maria Hänninen | Kirsi Nevanti | Total | |
| 1 | "Oi äiti maa" | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 74 | |
| 2 | "Kan det vara kärlek" | 10 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 72 | |
| 3 | "Hiljaissuuta" | 5 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 62 | |
| 4 | "Rauhaton sydän" | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 24 | |
| 5 | "Huominen Eurooppa" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 39 | |
| 6 | "La dolce vita" | 12 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 110 | |
| 7 | "Minä olen muistanut" | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 52 | |
| 8 | "Rakkauden laulut" | 4 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 62 | |
| 9 | "Vad finns kvar" | 5 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 103 | |
| 10 | "Kahden juhla" | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 31 | |
On the night of the final Saaristo performed 14th in the running order, following Austria and preceding France. As the title suggests, "La dolce vita" was a song with strong Mediterranean influences and proved more appealing to international juries than most Finnish entries to this point. At the close of voting it had received 76 points, placing Finland 7th of the 22 entries, the country's highest placement of the 1980s and best finish since 1975.[2] The Finnish jury awarded its 12 points to Denmark.[3]
Full national final on Yle Elävä Arkisto