A punk band from Finland have been chosen to represent their country at this year’s Eurovision song contest.
PKN (Pertti Kurikka’s Nameday) whose members have Down’s syndrome and autism, received the most votes on a selection show at the weekend and will be the first-ever punk band to appear at the event, which this year takes place in Vienna in May.
They’ll play their 85-second track Aina Mun Pitaa (I Always Have To) and they are now among bookmakers’ favourites to win the contest.
Speaking before their weekend win, bassist Sami Helle said he wanted people to judge them on their music and not focus on their disabilities.
He told the Guardian: “We are rebelling against society in different ways, but we are not political. We are changing attitudes somewhat – a lot of people are coming to our gigs and we have a lot of fans.
“We don’t want people to vote for us to feel sorry for us, we are not that different from everybody else – just normal guys with a mental handicap.”
The band were formed in 2009 by Lyhty – an nonprofit organisation which provides housing and educational services along with workshops for adults with learning disabilities. They were also the subject of 2012 documentary The Punk Syndrome.
In 2006, rockers Lordi won the competition with the track Hard Rock Hallelujah.
