'LORDI Square' In Finnish City Of Rovaniemi Draws Amusement From Locals
June 5, 2006Finland's Helsingin Sanomat has issued the following report:
While the home town of heavy band LORDI — the Finnish city of Rovaniemi, located on the Arctic Circle — is proud of the winners of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, the citizens feel that the decision to name a square after the band is an overstatement, albeit a fun idea.
The decision to change the name of Rovaniemi's Sampo Square to Lordi Square, made by the City Board a week ago, spawned some controversy in the city, and led to a heated debate in the media.
"The City Board has apparently gone crazy over the victory in the competition", laughs Niina Larikka.
She feels that the idea of changing the name is fun, even though it is completely crazy, and suspects that it will take some time before people get used to the new title.
In Larikka's view, the square should be made more LORDI-like — not just by name. "How about a LORDI statue? We could then place a student cap on the head of the statue on May Day Eve amidst the traditional revelries."
Sulo Tapio suspects that the whole naming idea is just an advertising stunt. "The City Board expects that the name of the band will attract tourists," Tapio assumes. He believes that the citizens will continue using the old name also in the future.
Read the rest of the article at www.hs.fi.
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