On Saturday night they delivered a high-energy performance in front of a sold-out crowd inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live. But ahead of that the guys and gal of The Rasmus cozied up to us in the press room to discuss their journey to Eurovision 2022. 

Finland’s ESC act have a long and storied history, having charted around the world and over multiple decades. They’ve got massive stage experience and know how to make venues big and small their own. But what will they do inside Pala Olimpico this May?

I asked the band whether they would keep their staging from the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu.  The answer was a resounding no.

“Definitely something different — we have a new idea,” says lead singer Lauri Ylönen.

About the same time bandmate Aki Hakala grabbed one of the massive balloons they carried throughout the press day and tapped me on the head several times, whispering “here’s a clue.”

Will they fly? Will they pop out of a bubble? Is the black-and-yellow colouring simply a reference to the stage lights? No idea, but Lauri continues.

“Boom, boom, boom. We have a new idea. We really want to show the joy of playing together, the chemistry we have together — we want to underline that even more.”

We asked our Instagram and Twitter followers what they think the balloon hint means.

@lucy.of.the.sky: “They will fill the stage with helium balloons.”

@nataliemassloch: “Maybe they are going to fly at some point in their performance?”

@steverichardstrowman: “They will build a house, put a lot of balloons attached to it, and will fly like Armenia MV and the movie Up. The house will go so high they will BLOW THE ROOF UP LIKE ROCK AND ROLL LEGENDS DO!!!!”

@therasmus_mylife: “I really don’t know what they meant. It’s a curious fact. The truth is that their balloons caught my attention. Our Finnish boys always think of everything and leave nothing to chance.”

Writing on Twitter, Daniel suggested it simply means they will keep their black and yellow staging from Finland. While Watch ESC said, “They will be high af?” We’ll assume he’s talking about heights…

What do you think the black and yellow balloons mean? Let us know in the comments box below. 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs)

22 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Hebbuzz
Hebbuzz
1 year ago

The Rasmus might have multiple decades of experience, still the lead singer struggles singing the verses. In the chorus its getting slightly better , with a lot of help from the backing(track)s

Ritmu
Ritmu
1 year ago

2010 – Folk music
2011 – Guitar ballad
2012 – Ballad in Swedish
2013 – Pop
2014 – Rock
2015 – Punk-rock
2016 – Pop & RnB
2017 – Indie ballad
2018 – Pop
2019 – EDM
2020 – Ballad
2021 – Violent pop
2022 – Rock

Even after all this, people blame that it’s always a rock song grom Finland. The only song that created some hype prior to the contest was Monsters, so this fandom is a bit too pop biased.

There is a light guiding my way
There is a light guiding my way
1 year ago
Reply to  Ritmu

Oh so that’s one of the reasons Finland is one of my favourite ESC countries! The diversity of their entries!

Doris
Doris
1 year ago

Can Finland send other than nordic rock ?
Last good song from Finland was in 2012, already 10 years !

Nils
Nils
1 year ago
Reply to  Doris

Without Finland, we would have had whole contests without a single proper rock song. Also, everytime they decide to send anything but rock, they seem to get punished for it. Whether it’s ‘Blackbird’, Sara Aalto, Darude, ‘Työlki ellää’ or ‘När jag blundar’ (and except for Darude, all of these were alright, if not even excellent).

Alex
Alex
1 year ago
Reply to  Nils

We get punished by the jury no matter what we send even if the public likes us (See: Työlki Ellää 5th in Televote) ?

Thallo
Thallo
1 year ago
Reply to  Doris

Finland does rock well, just like Sweden does pop well and Cyprus does bangers well.

If they’re good at it, and it represents their culture, why not?

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
1 year ago

This is gonna be BIG!!!

Lambert
Lambert
1 year ago

Rasmussen wanted to make it accessible for a larger audience, so they ended up with a song without soul..and balls.

Lambert
Lambert
1 year ago
Reply to  Lambert

The Rasmus …

Rufl
Rufl
1 year ago

I like this a lot and they sure know how to hold a concert, last time I saw them was in Vienna!

Im so fab
Im so fab
1 year ago

I like them, but please don’t cringe this up. Finland can be a surprise NQ if they don’t play safe.

Bandido
Bandido
1 year ago
Reply to  Im so fab

The songs 2022 are overall so bad, that Jezebel is above average compared to them. Even it’s dated, but at least catchy!

ete sech
ete sech
1 year ago
Reply to  Im so fab

idk, I wouldn’t like them to fail. But, at the same time, if that means Finland will lose fear of choosing something other than rock, well…

Ivar
Ivar
1 year ago

I loved “Dark side” last year! ‘’Jezebel” leaves me more indifferent. I will be surprised if Finland climbs very high this year.

Nils
Nils
1 year ago
Reply to  Ivar

I’d say ‘very high’ is an unrealistic goal with this song, but if they don’t mess up, The Rasmus should get a decent and respectable result. My guess would be somewhere in between 9th and 13th.

Ivar
Ivar
1 year ago
Reply to  Nils

I think your guess is overly optimistic

Branko86
Branko86
1 year ago

Wasn’t the staging already revealed by the Dutch production team chief member? Props and a lot of flying in the air or something like that?

Essie
Essie
1 year ago

Ram pam pam song and video is great, but the live performance was disappointing. I hope Bess comes back next year.

Ebba
Ebba
1 year ago

Will be voting Finland since they were the first country to put direct action on Russia’s participation this year, also I’ve liked their entry a lot this year. Rock but on the softer side, that goes well with people who don’t like it to be too heavy!

Ritoli
Ritoli
1 year ago

So they will throw balls in black and yellow to the audience, wow .. so Russia 2013 …

Im so fab
Im so fab
1 year ago
Reply to  Ritoli

At least when Finland sings about peace, they mean it. Probably…