The winner of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2012 - and subsequently Finland's entry for Baku - is Pernilla Karlsson, a 21-year old handball player who sent in her song as a bit of a joke. Out of three superfinalists, the Finnish televoters went for the soft ballad in Swedish.
This is a good choice on so many levels.
Pernilla was the strongest vocalist in the line-up and she managed to fill her song with emotion and a depth that surpassed the linguistic border in Finland.
Six percent of Finland's population speak Swedish as mother tongue and - to speak frankly and bring some politics into this competition - have not always had a smooth ride in the public eye or been universally popular.
The big thing isn't really that the winner is performed in Swedish - the overwhelming thing is that one of the best songs is not chanceless just because it is sung in Swedish. You see the difference, right?
It is also quite priceless that when we finally get to hear Swedish sung at Eurovision after an absence of fourteen years, the song comes from Finland and not Sweden.
Win or lose in Baku, who knows? And tonight that doesn't matter. Tonight everything is just beautiful, tolerant and på svenska.
Pernilla Karlsson - När jag blundar (Finland 2012)
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