The time of year where we throw caution to the wind and leave even the tiniest shred of actual musical taste at the door is once again upon us. That’s right; it’s Eurovision time!

In the UK, we seem to have become increasingly bitter about the whole contest. Like a rather errant child, we are sulking because we haven’t won the competition in a while; close to a mere 20 years. Worse than that, we haven’t even scraped into the top 5 since 2009 and that’s shocking for a nation that prides itself on its musical ability.

We seem to have tried everything to improve our standing with our European brethren from sending Blue, to trying to rock the novelty with Scooch but we never quite seem to hit the mark.

The UK’s steady decline in the rankings of the competition has left the way open for smaller, less musically intimidating countries to put forward their best and so far, it seems to be shaping up to be an interesting year.

Finland recently announced that their entry this year will be punk band PKN who set themselves apart from other entries because the band is made up of members who all have a learning disability.

Finland has become well known for their love of putting the underdog forward to compete for them in the competition. Back in 2006, Hard Rock band Lordi competed for Finland and won; becoming the first Finnish entry and subsequently the first Hard Rock band to have won the competition. This year’s entry seems to be trying to emulate that success.

PKN’s Eurovision song is called Aina Mun Pitaa (I Always Have To) and the lyrics talk about life’s everyday frustrations including doing chores, something that we can all relate to and this makes the band extremely accessible. They have made it clear that they are trying to inspire people with similar disabilities to the members of the band with singer Kari Aalto saying: "Every person with a disability ought to be braver. He or she should themselves say what they want and do not want."

Bassist Sami Helle went on to say: "We are rebelling against society in different ways, but we are not political. We are changing attitudes somewhat, a lot of people are coming to our gigs and we have a lot of fans. We don't want people to vote for us to feel sorry for us. We are not that different from everybody else – just normal guys with a mental handicap."

It can only be a good thing that this band is putting themselves forward to represent people with disabilities in a positive light. What will make or break their Eurovision effort is how they are portrayed in the media. The members themselves have said that they don’t want to be perceived any differently to any other band but sometimes the media just can’t help but patronise those who are seen to be at a disadvantage.

Aside from the talent that the band possesses, part of the reason they were voted to represent Finland was inevitably because they are different. If this is handled insensitively by the media and they are singled out because they are different then the whole statement that they are making by entering the competition on the same footing as everyone else becomes a moot point.