Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät Biography

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (English: Pertti Kurikka's name day), also known as PKN, is a Finnish punk rock band, formed in 2009 in a charity workshop for adults with developmental disabilities. They are the main focus of the Finnish documentary film The Punk Syndrome. In 2015, they qualified for the finals of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, which they later won; they represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 but got knocked out in the semi-final.

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät began in a workshop run by Lyhty, a charity for adults with developmental disabilities. In 2004, Pertti Kurikka, the future guitarist of the band, met organizer Kalle Pajamaa of Lyhty. Pajamaa, who remains manager of the band today, noticed Kurikka's potential and sought to establish a band based upon him.They worked on the band's formation over the next five years, and in 2009 the band made its debut.

In 2009, Finnish director Pekka Karjalainen sought music performed by people with disabilities for the film Vähän kunnioitusta, which tells the story of a young girl with a learning disability aspiring to live an independent and normal life. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät is featured in the film with their first-ever demo: "Kallioon!".The song became a hit, and the band soon discovered that they had a following outside the circle of disabled people.

In 2012, their fame grew as they were the main subject of The Punk Syndrome, a Finnish documentary film. The documentary, depicting the band's story from its outset to their first European tour, earned them a following in Scandinavia and Germany.

In 2014, the band performed in a charity concert with Mr. Lordi of the Finnish rock band, Lordi. The charity concert was held in Rovaniemi on 23 May 2014 for benefit of the mentally-disabled community of Mozambique and the Lapland Metkat Association. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät's bold and unusual take on Eurovision has been compared to that of Lordi, Finland's 2006 Eurovision entry and the winner of that year's contest.

The band entered Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, Finland's national selection for Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Aina mun pitää".They entered the contest in order to raise awareness for people with Down's Syndrome. On 7 February 2015, the band was one of the three acts from the first-semi finals to advance to the finals. On 28 February 2015, the band won Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2015, thereby becoming Finland's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria in May 2015. PKN will be the first punk band to compete in the Eurovision.

PKN's Eurovision bid has been noticed by the international media and covered, for instance, by the BBC, The Guardian, VICE and the Associated Press.

Posti issued a PKN stamp on 11 May 2015, eight days before the first Eurovision semi-final in Vienna
Source: wikipedia.org
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