Finnish violent pop band Blind Channel have revealed that Finnish broadcaster YLE and the EBU attempted to change their staging at last year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

The band represented Finland when the contest was staged in Rotterdam in 2021 and secured their country a top 10 result with sixth place.

Their energetic performance was memorable owing to the inclusion of near constant pyrotechnics and spectacular light shows. But in an interview on the latest episode of The Euro Trip the band revealed that both YLE and the EBU tried to make changes to the staging.

Speaking to presenter Rob Lilley and guest interviewer Bella Qvist, Blind Channel frontman Niko Moilanen said: “We battled with the Finnish broadcasting company [YLE] because they wanted to change our show. And the EBU… they wanted to change our show.

“We said ‘we are keeping this the way it is’. They wanted to take some of the pyros away and change our clothing, but we said ‘this is our vibe, this is what we do’.”

Joel Hokka from the band added: “Because we were so sure of what we were doing we could make the most of it, and that is exactly what we did.”

Blind Channel’s staging was unaltered after demands from YLE and the EBU and the band secured Finland’s best result at the contest since Lordi’s triumph in Athens in 2006.

During the interview Hokka also gave his advice to the acts participating in UMK later this month with the view to be Blind Channel’s successor as Finland’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest.

“Be sure about what you are going to do, otherwise you are going to get destroyed.”

Image Credit: EBU / Thomas Hanses