A full-scale replica of the Eurovision stage has been built inside a studio at Yle, the Finnish national broadcasting company, in Helsinki. Linda Lampenius, 56, and Pete Parkkonen, 36, are in a good mood.
They’re in demand – not just in Finland, but increasingly across Europe. We ask them about their first impressions of each other, and about what it feels like just before you step onto the stage. The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the world’s largest live music events.
Tell us about your first meeting.
Linda: One day I was in a studio with a team working on a song, and we needed the best male singer. The producer called you.
Pete: Antti Riihimäki called and asked if I was interested in making a song with Linda Lampenius. I was like, “How about tomorrow?” And it actually happened the very next day.
What were your first impressions?
Pete: It was fun. I was like, “This song needs to be about ice and fire.”
Linda: And my team said, “Hey, we just said that!”
Pete: It kind of clicked very fast.
Linda: We started talking about dogs, because we both have dogs. And then we went back to the song.
Linda Lampenius cites violinist Itzhak Perlman and pop stars Prince and Michael Jackson among her influences.
The duo practised their stage show in Helsinki in April ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna in May.
Pete Parkkonen is a fan of Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Lenny Kravitz.
Both artists were already well known in Finland before joining forces. Lampenius is internationally recognised as a classical violinist and became a global media personality in the 1990s, even appearing on the TV show Baywatch.
Parkkonen rose to fame in 2008 after becoming a finalist on the Finnish version of the TV singing competition Idols and has since released several successful albums.
They had never met before writing “Liekinheitin” (Flamethrower) together with Vilma Alina Lähteenmäki, Lauri Halavaara and Antti Riihimäki and entering Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (New Music Competition), the contest that decides who will represent Finland in Eurovision.
How would you describe the song “Liekinheitin”?
Linda: Fire and ice. Lots of feeling and emotion.
Pete: It is an amazing song.
Linda: It is very strong.
Pete: Straightforward.
Linda: Like a rollercoaster.
What’s your earliest Eurovision memory?
Linda: For me it was in the 1970s. We watched it at home. Even if my parents were at the theatre in the evening [both parents were in show business], I always watched Eurovision.
Pete: I don’t remember the first one, but I remember my dad loving Modern Talking – even though they didn’t make it to the finals.
Linda: Which year was that? In 1984?
Pete: Can’t be. I was born in 1990.
(They laugh.)
“Have you tried archery?” Lampenius asks Parkkonen. “You look like you are from Robin Hood, you know, a champion or older knight.”
“Okay let’s do that,” Parkkonen says.
“Liekinheitin” combines virtuosic violin, pop vocals and stage effects, including real flames.
Eurovision brings together performers and fans from across Europe and beyond. The 2025 edition attracted 166 million viewers worldwide.
What makes you most nervous about Eurovision?
Pete: Nothing about the song. I’m excited when we are about to go onstage, one or two minutes before the show. We know it’s going to be fully booked; there’s going to be 10,000 people there. I’ve heard the audience is loud.
Linda: There will be so much love. So many different people, but everybody loves the same thing.
Do you have a pre-show ritual?
Pete: For me, it’s breathing. Concentrating on breathing.
Linda: Usually, if I play in a concert, I like to be by myself. I hope we have some privacy.
Pete: We hype each other up – tsempata in Finnish.
Linda: But a more calm, Finnish [type of] “hype it up.”
(Both laugh again.)
Pete Parkkonen has a background in pop rock music while Linda Lampenius started her classical music career as a child.
The duo have spent months rehearsing the song and its choreography. What began as a first meeting in the studio in August 2025 has turned into a close working partnership.
Any last-minute warmups?
Pete: Trying to get my heartbeat down before it gets really fast again.
Linda: Warming up is the most important thing. For the body, for breathing and singing, and for me because I have to run in high heels. Otherwise, it might not end well.
Who’s the better runner?
Linda: Him, of course.
Pete: But in high heels, her.
Linda: Because I have been rehearsing.
(Laughter.)
What if you swapped roles? If Linda had to sing and Pete had to play the violin?
Linda: Oh my…
Pete: She could sing! But when she tried to show me how to play [violin], my body was very sensitive to the sounds. So, it was kind of hell for me when I was trying to play. It hurt.
Linda: It wasn’t really beautiful, no.
Pete: I would need a room to practise for ten years.
Linda: But I would not dare to sing, either.
If Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius win the Eurovision Song Contest, they will go wild with joy – and so will the rest of Finland.
Finland has seen strong Eurovision results in recent years, with Käärijä finishing second in 2023 and Windows95man drawing international attention in 2024. Many still remember Lordi’s 2006 victory with “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” Could this be Finland’s moment again?
How would you dance if you won Eurovision?
Linda: We have a cool one. What was it?
Pete: Two-stepping around.
Linda: If we win, we might not do that.
Pete: I would explode.
Linda: If I do it here, my children will kill me. But if we win, I’m going to go nuts. That’s a deal.
Text and photos by Emilia Kangasluoma, May 2026
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
