Finland: Vesala and Mmiisas to Host UMK 2022!

Finnish national broadcaster, Yle has revealed Vesala and Mmiisas as hosts of  Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2022.

Vesala is the stage name of Paula Vesala who started off her career as a member of a band PMMP. In 2015 she started to perform as a soloist and she released an album named Vesala which went platinum and reached number 1 on the Finnish Albums Chart in 2016. She will also be performing as the interval act in the final with the choreography by Natasha Lomm.

“At UMK, I kind of went all in, because I doesn’t feel like I’m a presenter. But I look forward to great performances at UMK and most of all the moment when we get to ask the international juries for points.”

Miisa Rotola Pukkila, better known as Mmiisas, is a Youtuber and influencer. Since starting her Youtube channel in 2013, she currently has 380,000 subscribers and 440,000 Instagram followers, making her one of the biggest influencers in Finland.

“When I heard about the possibility of presenting, I burst into tears and the ground went from under my feet. This is an incredibly great opportunity for me and as a Eurovision fan it is great to get to experience UMK on the ground. I am fascinated by the magical atmosphere of live broadcasts.”

Both presenters have been following Eurovision for a long time. Vesala explains:

“I’ve been watching Eurovision since I was a child. I also attended shows like Popstars, as music shows have always fascinated me. Sometimes I still watch Katri Helena’s perfomance of “Katson sineen taivaan” from 1979. It’s a perfect performance! I also remember 1985 fondly, as I recorded it on a VHS tape.”

Mmiisas added:

“For me, Eurovision is the highlight of spring and a sign of the beginning of summer. I got excited about Eurovision properly at the age of 11 after Lordi won. At home, we always watch together and give scores to all of the participants. The most impressive of all was “Molitva” by Marija Šerifović.”

Vesala and Mmiisas are both looking forward to what they promise to be a spectacular show. Vesala said:

“I have been following Finland’s Eurovision qualifiers for decades with slightly different feelings. Eurovision was once considered a death kiss for a career, but now it is of interest to everyone. I am proud of UMK’s production team, who has made the show high-quality and interesting. It’s amazing how this has become such a great event!”

Mmiisas also praised the competitors and the show:

“I’ve been enjoying the competing songs every day since they were released. I am sure this will be the most amazing edition of UMK ever!”

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2022 will be broadcast on television and radio with commentary in six languages. The commenatators are:

• Mikko Silvennoinen (Finnish)
• Johan Lindroos and Eva Frantz (Swedish)
• Katri Norrlin and Jani Kareinen (English)
• Margit Alasalmi and Pertti Seppä (Plain-language Finnish)
• Levosti Tvaltvadze (Russian)
• Linda Tammela (Northern Sámi)
• Heli Huovinen (Inari Sámi)

This will be the first year that UMK will have commentary in Sámi languages. Northern Sámi is the most spoken of the Sámi languages, with between 15,000 and 20,000 spread across Norway, Sweden and Finland. About 2,000 Northern Sámi languages live in Finland. Inari Sámi has 400 speakers and is the only Sámi language to be spoken exclusively in Finland. Revival efforts are currently helping the language to gain more speakers.

The UMK 2022 entries are:

• Cyan Kicks – Hurricane
• Bess – Ram pam pam
• The Rasmus – Jezebel
• Younghearted – Sun numero
• Olivera – Thank God I’m an Atheist
• Tommi Läntinen – Elämä kantaa mua
• Isaac Sene – “Kuuma jäbä” 

The UMK grand final will take place on Saturday, 26 February, 20:00 CET and will be broadcast on Yle TV1, Yle Areena and Yle radio channels.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding UMK and the finnish representative for Eurovision 2022!

Source: Yle