Finland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "Reggae OK", composed by Jim Pembroke, with lyrics by Olli Ojala, and performed by Riki Sorsa. The Finnish participating broadcaster, (Yle), selected its entry through a national final.
(Yle) invited 15 composers for the competition. The semi-final was held on 29 January 1981, hosted by Erkki Pohjanheimo. From the 15 songs eight finalists were chosen by postcard voting, of which a total of 265,573 were sent. The finalists were announced on 6 February 1981. The winner of the postcard voting was "Titanic" performed by Frederik.
The full semi-final results were supposed to be revealed after the final, but due to the complaints and negative reception about the final's results, Yle eventually did not reveal them.
The final was hosted by Erkki Pohjanheimo, at Yle Studio 2 in Helsinki, which took place on 21 February 1981. The winning song was selected by an expert jury, two of which included former Finnish Eurovision contestants Marion Rung and Lasse MÃÂ¥rtenson. Each juror distributed their points as follows: 1âÂÂ3, 5 and 8 points.
On the night Sorsa performed eighth (following and preceding ). Sorsa was accompanied by as a keyboardist and an accordionist, as a drummer, Risto Hankala as a bassist and a backing vocalist, and and Jim Pembroke as guitarists and backing vocalists. For the first time in 15 years regular Finnish conductor Ossi Runne did not conduct the Finnish entry (instead he was providing the Yle television commentary) and was instead conducted by Otto Donner. At the close of voting "Reggae OK" had picked up 27 points, placing Finland in 16th place out of 20. The Finnish jury awarded its 12 points to .