The horrific metal-masked rock-thrashing Lordi band from Finland has emerged without competition to win the finals of Eurovision 2006 in Athens.

Lordi meaning "The Lord" have pulled off a smashing victory in a performance in Athens that both bemused and amused viewers. European viewers voted for their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" to earn them 292 points from telephone voters in 38 countries .

Lordi's monster masks, armour and jets of flame had attracted widespread attention even before the opening of the contest - yet many thought they were too outlandish to win.

Though some Finns have protested their Eurovision entry, even asking the president to intervene, Lordi was a real people's choice: their hit got more than 42% of the votes cast by televoting in the Finnish final.

The band members wore scary masks, which they refused to take off, and the lead singer - also called Lordi - wielded a chain-saw.

Their song Hard Rock Hallelujah is a radical departure from the folk songs, catchy pop and ballads usually associated with the Eurovision song contest.

The Finns left Dima Bilan from Russia far behind, with 248 points and the second place with his "Never Let You Go". The Russian performance featured a ballerina emerging from a grand piano.

Bosnia-Herzegovina was in third place with 229 points going to the group Hari Mata Hari singing the melodic "Layla."

Before the show the favourite performer was Swedish Carola, who entered the contest in 1983 and won in 1991.

Influenced by the American hard rock band Kiss and its lead singer Gene Simmons, the Finnish band has not escaped allegations of links with Satanism. Rumours have been fuelled by the group's refusal to give television interviews, to take off their masks or reveal their real names.

Hailing from Arctic Lapland, Lordi became a phenomenon in Finland with a platinum-selling debut album, Get Heavy, in 2002. Their compilation album The Monster Show has been released in more than 20 countries.

Some 18,500 fans packed Saturday the arena in the Olympic stadium complex, with 2,000 journalists and 3,000 police officers on duty. This year's Eurovision contest was broadcast live across Europe to an estimated audience of more than 100 million viewers.

Since 1956, the competition has pitted European nations against one another in pursuit of pop music glory. Previous winners include '60s chanteuse Lulu, Sweden's ABBA - victorious in 1974 with Waterloo, and Canada's Celine Dion, who won for Switzerland in 1988.

Besides all the 24 finalists, another 13 nations were eliminated in Thursday's semi-final. Among them was Bulgaria's balladic performing Mariana Popova. She recorded the country's second year participation at Eurovision after in 2005 the manly band of Kaffe took on the stage. Both entries were unsuccessful to land on the finals.

Ireland has won the most times, with seven triumphs, while the UK, France and Luxembourg have all won five times.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!