| Year: | 1986 |
| Country: | Finland |
| Preselection: | National final |
| Preselection Date: | 22 February 1986 |
| Entrant: | Kari Kuivalainen |
| Song: | Never the End |
| Final Result: | 15th, 22 points |
Finland was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, held in Bergen, Norway.
The final was held on 22 February 1986 at the Yle's Studios in Helsinki, and was hosted by journalist Kari Lumikero. The votes of an "expert jury" decided the winner, being "Päivä kahden ihmisen" performed and composed by Kari Kuivalainen. The voting was rather tight and Kuivalainen won by only one point over the second-placing entrant.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirka and Kim Lönnholm | "Aitoa taikaa" | Kisu Jernström, Kassu Halonen, Edu Kettunen | 74 | 3 | |
| 2 | Tulip | "Tanssin aurinkoon" | Jukka Siikavire, Jussi Tuominen | 22 | 9 | |
| 3 | Irina Milan and Eija Ahvo | "Applause" | Esa Nieminen, Irina Milan | 53 | 5 | |
| 4 | Kirka | "Uusiin taivaisiin" | Edu Kettunen | 88 | 2 | |
| 5 | Sonja Lumme | "Tappavat kyyneleet" | Jim Pembroke, Jukka Virtanen | 48 | 6 | |
| 6 | Gruppo Jokke | "Kaamoksen maa" | Jokke Seppälä, Siru Seppälä | 37 | 7 | |
| 7 | Kim Lönnholm | "Rautataivas" | Esa Kaartamo, Pekka Pohjola | 64 | 4 | |
| 8 | Kari Kuivalainen | "Päivä kahden ihmisen" | Kari Kuivalainen | 89 | 1 | |
| 9 | Danny | "Ninja" | Veikko Samuli, Raul Reiman, Jyrki Hämäläinen | 31 | 8 |
| Detailed Jury Votes | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Black Mike | Total | |||||||||||
| 1 | "Aitoa taikaa" | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 74 | |
| 2 | "Tanssin aurinkoon" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 22 | |
| 3 | "Applause" | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 53 | |
| 4 | "Uusiin taivaisiin" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 88 | |
| 5 | "Tappavat kyyneleet" | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 48 | |
| 6 | "Kaamoksen maa" | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 37 | |
| 7 | "Rautataivas" | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 64 | |
| 8 | "Päivä kahden ihmisen" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 89 | |
| 9 | "Ninja" | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 31 | |
Kuivalainen performed nineteenth on the night of the contest, following Denmark and preceding Portugal. Before performing in Bergen, one line of the song was changed, and the title "Päivä kahden ihmisen" ("Day of two people") was changed to "Never the End." At the close of the voting it had received 22 points, placing 15th in a field of 20 competing countries.[1]