Lordi: From Zeroes to Heroes

Before the Finnish heavy metal band Lordi won the Eurovision Song Contest in May with its anthem “Hard Rock Hallelujah,” its many critics warned that the latex-wearing monster mutants would embarrass Finland, inspire Satanic worship and scare children by blowing up Barbie dolls on stage.

But after ending Finland’s 40-year losing streak at the Eurovision contest, the world’s biggest celebration of pop music kitsch, the demonic quintet has been transformed from national scourges into national heroes — suggesting that the winner still takes all, even in self-effacing Finland and even when the winners dress like Gothic trolls.

The lionizing of the former outcasts has reached such surreal heights that there are plans in the works for a Lordi postage stamp, Lordi action figures, a Lordi comic book series, Lordi commemorative coins and Lordi the movie — a horror film starring the band members as themselves.

President Tarja Halonen, once lobbied by horrified Finns to withdraw Lordi from Eurovision, recently praised its retractable Satan wings and slasher-film inspired lyrics as “Finnish quality work.” Pepsi has begun advertising its drinks in Finland with the slogan “Hard Drink Hallelujah,” and Finnish magazines are publishing cut-out Lordi monster masks that children can wear at school.

Town officials in Rovaniemi, home of Lordi’s lead singer, near the Arctic Circle, recently renamed a large central square after Lordi and built a wall of fame with the band’s handprints.

Previously derided for polluting the morals of Finnish youth, the band’s drummer, Kita, has had a youth center named after him in his hometown, Karkkila, in south Finland.

Mantasala, the birthplace of Amen, the band’s guitar-playing mummy, has paid homage by erecting an abstract rock sculpture called “Hard Rock” near his old high school.

Finnish observers say the Lordi fever is part of a general sense of cultural assertion as Finland grows into its role as the holder of the revolving presidency of the European Union, basks in its high-tech economy and sheds any complexes it might have about what it means to be Finnish.

Even Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen is solidifying his heavy metal credentials: he was recently photographed with the band, his pinky, index finger and thumb raised in a rock-music salute.

“We are now seen as the miracle of the north, the land of Nokia and high-tech, one of the most competitive economies in the world, and a country that is rocking and rolling,” said Alex Stubb, a Finnish member of the European Parliament.

Tomi Putaansuu, the band’s leader and lead singer, has a theory about Lordi’s sudden rehabilitation.

“Being a hero is easy: you just have to win the Eurovision Song Contest, apparently,” Mr. Putaansuu said recently. “Until a few weeks ago the whole nation was against us totally — they did not want us to represent Finland. Now all the magazines in Finland are printing Lordi masks for children. There’s not much logic going on inside. But let’s face it, people are stupid.”

Kita said Lordi members could barely believe their red-demon eyes after trouncing other eccentric acts, including an overly confident Lithuanian band that sang, “We are the winners of Eurovision! / We are! We are!”; a German country music ensemble consisting of rigidly smiling men in 10-gallon hats; and a Croatian lyricist who crooned, “Hop, hop, hop, hop / come on, my chicken.” “We have changed the way people view what it means to be Finnish, and those people who didn’t believe in us have been forced to go into hiding,” said Kita, who once composed church music for children.

Mark Fry, director of marketing at Sony BMG in Finland, Lordi’s record label, said the band had broken conventional marketing paradigms in Finland by showing that eccentricity could be as successful an export as hockey or reindeers.

Since the band won Eurovision, Mr. Fry said, companies from candlestick manufacturers to chocolate makers have jockeyed to cash in on Lordi. In Finland, Esso gas stations advertise hot dogs with the slogan “Hard Dog Hallelujah,” and an outdoor furniture company wants to market garden gnomes modeled after the band members.

“Lordi is a marketer’s dream because they have a positive shock effect on consumers and have a fan base that ranges from teenagers to hard-rocking grannies,” Mr. Fry said. “It may change the way Finnish, and Scandinavian, companies market themselves because Lordi has shown that being different can be a strength.”