Eurovision has taken place under a darkening cloud of geopolitics in recent years, with Israel’s continued involvement sparking criticism and even boycotts . Nevertheless, it remains the world’s biggest platform for kooky, eccentric and downright bonkers acts.

But one of this year’s favourites is taking to the stage with a defiant fightback.

For 2026, Finland has paired up singers Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius , who had never met before their Eurovision journey began last year. Parkkonen has been in the spotlight since 2008, when the now 36-year-old won the Finnish TV series Idols, but Lampenius’s story – first of triumph, then unjust condemnation and long overdue redemption – began decades earlier.

Born into a Swedish-Finnish family, the musician, now 56, was a child protégé who began performing as a singer with her musical parents at the age of three.…