The band's members refuse to be photographed or even interviewed without their monster costumes. (Reuters) Click to read the lyrics

ATHENS – The Finnish masked, horned quintet heavy metal band Lordi won late Saturday, May 20, the Eurovision, the world's most-watched song contest, the first win for Finland in the contest's 51-year history.

"How weird is this," the band's bat-winged lead singer, known as Mr. Lordi, told a televised news conference after the event, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We're a rock band and we just won a pop song contest."

Lordi scored 292 points from telephone voters in 38 countries with its song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" that both shocked and amused viewers.

Having been voted for by all countries except Albania, Armenia, and Monaco, the band gained the highest number of points in any Eurovision contest to date.

Thirty-five countries participated in the annual contest, with 24 acts making it to Saturday's grand final.

Russia finished second with 248 points while Bosnia came third with 229.

The Eurovision contest was broadcast live across Europe with an estimated 100 million viewers tuning in and some 25,000 visitors and journalists arriving in Athens for the event.

Last year's final in the Ukraine was watched by more than 100 million viewers in 40 countries, three times the number of viewers who watched the final of American Idol, the biggest US television hit.

First held in 1956, the contest is best known for launching the careers of performers such as Abba and Celine Dion.

Although widely associated with kitsch and trite lyrics and dominated by western European countries, Eurovision has seen an eastward shift in recent years, with the addition of nearly a dozen new countries emerging from the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

Three of these countries -- Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine -- won the contest in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

Satanism

Mr. Lordi hailed the result as "a victory for open-mindedness."

He also took the opportunity to insist that his band has nothing to do with Satanism, an accusation leveled by religious groups on the basis of some of their lyrics.

The video-clip for the fire-spewing, firework-exploding entry "Hard Rock Hallelujah" shows the band storming into a school gymnasium, striking dead a group of cheerleaders and raising them again as zombies.

"We have nothing to do with Satan worship," Mr. Lordi said. "This (act) is as serious as horror movies, this is entertainment."

Monster costumes are an integral part of Lordi's publicity image.

The band's members refuse to be photographed or even interviewed without their costumes.

In a brief segment on the BBC reporting about their participation in Eurovision, they were shown lounging beside the pool in full sunlight, while wearing their costumes.

On March 15, the Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat published a photograph of Lordi in civilian clothing, with his face partially showing.

He dismissed this as an insult and an attempt to destroy the "monster image" they have worked 10 years to create.

Any Win

In Finland, young people on the streets of the capital Helsinki welcomed the news of the triumph enthusiastically, reported the Daily Telegraph.

"It's amazing that Finland has finally won something. Though I don't like Lordi myself, it's great! We don't win anything," said Mari Pelli, an 18-year-old childminder.

"I'm very happy that they won. Eurovision is a show for entertainment, not for music," said Mikko Mattila, a 30-year-old student.

"It's not Sibelius, but they have their own way. Lordi is the best," said Satu Puolakka, a 19-year-old student.

By right of victory, Finland will now host the 2007 Eurovision contest.

The choice of Lordi to represent Finland in the contest initially met with some controversy back home, with some critics calling for the president to veto the entry of the band.