Marilyn Manson, Kiss, and a Dash of Leatherface

Lawdy lawdy — Finland has five new musical ambassadors and much of the country is up in arms. What's the problem? Lead singer Lordi sports long black fingernails and has horns on his forehead, that's what. There's also

Kita, an alien-man-beast predator who plays flame-spitting drums inside a cage; Awa, a blood-splattered ghost who howls backup vocals; Ox, a zombie bull who plays bass; and Amen, a mummy in a rubber loincloth who plays guitar.

Abba they ain't. The band Lordi — the Finnish entry in the annual kitschfest known as the Eurovision Song Contest — is sure to set itself apart with its ghoulish appearance alone. As if on cue, the usual suspects have started howling their objections.

First, Finnish religious leaders warned that the Freddy Krueger look-alikes could inspire Satanic worship. Then critics called for President Tarja Halonen to use her constitutional powers to veto the band and nominate a traditional Finnish folk singer instead. Rumors even circulated that Lordi members were agents sent by President Vladimir V. Putin to destabilize Finland before a Russian coup — an explanation for their refusal to take off their freakish masks in public.

Other Finns have fewer reservations, arguing that

Lordi is right at home and that the band's use of flaming dragon-encrusted swords and exploding baby dolls expresses the warrior spirit of the Vikings.

Christian soldiers need not fear; the band maintains its music is closer to gospel than Satan. One of their hit songs is entitled "The Devil Is a Loser."

In any case, the Eurovision contest hasn't promised to be this entertaining since 1998, when Dana International, an Israeli transsexual, took top honors with her song "Diva," only to have rabbis accuse her of flouting the values of the Jewish state.

Comments

[mk]

Who better to represent what people in Finland are actually listening to? The last time I checked one out of every ten Finlanders was either in a satanic death metal band or mastering the pan flute.

[Bill]

Finland, the country that brought us black-metal-polka and "anti-christian folk metal," now has a controversy about a bunch of GWAR wannabes? I wonder if many people in Finland realize that as far as music goes, their nation is already known as a hotbed of extreme metal. In the context of some of the other acts coming out of Finland these days, Lordi seems almost quaint.

[LP]

I think its hilarious and pretty cool. Reminds me of LOTR again, and i laugh more when I hear people complaining about it LOL!