Today, the sad news came to us that Finnish singer Laila Halme passed away. Laila Halme, born Laila Soppi in the Finnish town of Jääski, was a Finnish singer and actress. She began her career in the 1950, singing in several orchestras. Her first single “Kaunis rakkaus” was released in 1959. In 1960, she released several singles and EP’s at the Philips label. In 1961 she debuted as an actress in two films: “Penkki” and “Tähtisumua”.
In 1963, she participated in Euroviisut, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “Olen mikä olen”. She became 3rd, while the song “Muistojeni laulu” won and Irmeli Mäkelä was chosen to sing it in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, Finnish broadcaster YLE decided to let Laila Halme sing it in the international final. She did not receive any point at all. A year later, Laila Halme represented Finland in the festival of Sopot in Poland. She released a couple of singles but left showbusiness in 1967. We only saw her back in 1987, when she hosted Euroviisut. Her son Jussi Halme is also a singer, he took part in Euroviisut in 1990.
Laila Halme was 87 years old.
Eurovision 2026 reactions: joy, relief and disappointment after semifinal
📷 EBU/Corinne Cumming The Eurovision 2026 reactions started immediately after Tuesday night’s first semi-final in Vienna. Greece, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Moldova, Israel, Serbia, Croatia, Lithuania and Poland qualified for Saturday’s Grand Final. Portugal, Georgia, Montenegro, Estonia and San Marino did not make it through. Since Eurovision does not reveal the full semi-final ranking until later, the “winners” of the night are the ten qualifiers. Qualifiers celebrate their Grand Final place Greece’s Akylas reacted emotionally in comments reported by Greek newspaper LiFO. “Greece, we did it,” he said, adding that he was “so, so happy” and proud after reaching the final. Sweden’s Felicia also sounded relieved. In a message to Aftonbladet, she said the performance felt “incredible” and that she was now “very excited to win.” Belgium’s ESSYLA called her qualification “so insane” and “so incredible” in a filmed Instagram reaction. Moldova’s Satoshi also reacted on Instagram, saying that “Moldova is on duty” and that he felt full of happiness. Lithuania’s Lion Ceccah gave one of the most personal reactions. Speaking to LRT, he said the moment brought his feelings back after a long period of pressure: “You want to qualify so badly.” Poland’s Alicja Szemplińska also thanked fans after qualifying, saying: “We did it! We really did it!” and promising that the final would bring even more effort. Finland’s UMK account kept it short and clear: “Suomi etenee lauantain viisufinaaliin,” meaning Finland is moving on to Saturday’s final. Serbia’s Eurovision account posted: “See you in the finals! Vidimo se u finalu!” In Croatia, tportal described LELEK’s reaction as pure disbelief and celebration, with hugs and jumping after their name was announced. Non-qualifiers thank fans and look back Portugal’s Bandidos do Cante responded with gratitude. On Instagram, they thanked everyone who followed their Eurovision adventure and said they left with the certainty that Alentejo could not have been better represented. Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã confirmed that Portugal stayed in the semi-final with “Rosa”. Georgia’s Bzikebi kept their message brief, posting “Thank you all!” on Instagram. Montenegro’s Tamara Živković had earlier thanked everyone listening to and supporting her song, while Vijesti reported after the show that she missed the final. Estonia’s Vanilla Ninja were also eliminated; national broadcaster ERR reported that Estonia did not qualify. San Marino’s SENHIT, who performed “Superstar” with Boy George, also focused on gratitude. Her social media message thanked fans for their love and support. The Eurovision 2026 reactions therefore showed two sides of the same night: qualifiers quickly switched to Grand Final mode, while the non-qualifiers framed Vienna as an intense but valuable experience.
