Finland: Record Number of Viewers for UMK 2025

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This year’s broadcast of the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) on Saturday night drew a record number of viewers, according to a press release from Yle.

According to Finnpanel, the Finnish national final was watched by an average of 1.48 million viewers on the day of the broadcast. The broadcast reached a total of 2.27 million people in Finland.

Both numbers are all-time records for UMK.

This year also saw more votes cast than ever before, with a total of 342,543. Of these, 274,004 were cast via the app, while 68,539 were cast by phone and SMS. Viewers could vote for their favorite artist for free via the Yle app or for a fee via SMS or phone call.

Erika Vikman won UMK 2025 with the song “Ich komme“. Erika’s victory means that she will succeed Windows95Man as Finland’s representative at Eurovision 2025. She will perform in the second half of the second semi-final on May 15th.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the latest news!

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Eurovision 2025 Betting Odds: Four-Way Battle at the Top – Tight Margins!

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February, the most crucial month of the pre-Eurovision season, is finally here! With national selections happening every week and more competing entries for Eurovision 2025 being revealed, it’s time for one of Eurovisionfun’s most beloved and discussed segments—our betting odds analysis—to return!

While fans gear up for an intense Eurovision month, bookies have already been hard at work. With several betting companies already offering odds on the winner of Eurovision 2025, let’s take a look at how things stand so far.

Four Countries in a Tight Race for Victory

The first “Super Saturday” of the year has shaken up the betting rankings. With 12 out of 37 songs confirmed for Eurovision 2025, Sweden currently leads the odds. Once again, Sweden is among the biggest favorites to win, with SVT and Swedish Eurovision fans hoping for a record-breaking eighth victory.

A key reason behind Sweden’s strong position is the participation of Måns Zelmerlöw in Melodifestivalen. The 2015 Eurovision winner has significantly boosted Sweden’s momentum. Bookmakers currently place Sweden’s odds between 5.0 and 6.5.

However, three other countries are closely trailing Sweden, and its top spot is far from secure.

2nd – Israel

Israel, which previously held the top spot, has now dropped to second place. The selection of Yuval Raphael and her emotional backstory initially caused Israel’s odds to plummet, making it an early favorite. However, its momentum has slowed down. Betting odds for Israel’s victory now range between 5.5 and 10.0.

3rd – France

France is steadily gaining ground. The selection of Louane, one of the country’s most renowned artists, has created huge anticipation. Her Eurovision 2025 entry will be revealed in a spectacular event—during the halftime of the France vs. Scotland rugby match at Stade de France on March 15. This high-profile unveiling has led bookmakers to slash France’s odds, which now stand between 8.0 and 10.0.

4th – Finland

Finland is rising fast in the rankings! Last night’s dominant victory by Erika Vikman with “Ich Komme” at UMK 2025 has caused a major shift in betting odds. Finland is currently the only top contender with a song that fans have already seen performed live. Odds for a Finnish victory range between 6.0 and 14.0.

5th – Italy

Completing the top five is Italy, which remains a strong contender. The country’s impressive track record in recent years, combined with a star-studded lineup at the upcoming Sanremo Festival, has boosted confidence in its chances. Italian odds currently range between 11.0 and 13.0.

The Rest of the Top 10

  • 6th – Belgium (Odds: 5.0 – 15.0) Dropped from 1st place after selecting Red Sebastian.
  • 7th – Ukraine (Odds: Up to 17.0) Lost ground after selecting Ziferblat at Vidbir 2025.
  • 8th – Estonia (Odds: Up to 23.0) Tommy Cash’s “Espresso Macchiato” is making waves.
  • 9th – Czechia (Odds: Up to 23.0) Adonxs impressed with an acoustic version of “Kiss Kiss Goodbye”.
  • 10th – Germany (Odds: Up to 23.0) NDR is promising its strongest national final in years.

Will the betting markets predict this year’s winner correctly, or are we in for a huge surprise?

Let us know in the comments! ⬇️

Finland: Erika Vikman to represent the country at Eurovision 2025 with “ICH KOMME”

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The grand final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2025, Finland’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, has concluded in Tampere. Six artists competed for the coveted opportunity to represent Finland in Basel. At the end of the night, Erika Vikman emerged victorious with her song “ICH KOMME”.

The show

Opening act

Windows95man and Henri Piispanen kicked off the show with, “What’s My Name” and “Paperclip”. They then introduced the six contestants before delivering “New Rules”, the track that secured their UMK victory and Finland’s representation in Malmö last year.

 

The competing entries
    1. Costee – “Sekaisin“

    1. Neea River – “Nightmares“

    1. Goldielocks – “Made Of“

    1. VIIVI – “Aina“

    1. Nelli Matula – “Hitaammin hautaan“

    1. Erika Vikman  – “ICH KOMME“

Interval acts

Sanni, tonight’s co-host and one of Finland’s most well-known pop singers, performed a medley of her most popular songs, including “Rooman”, “Prinsessoja Ja Astronautteja”, “Mielenmaisemat”, “Jacuzzi”, and “2080-Luvulla”.

Voting results

The outcome was determined by a combination of jury and public votes.

The jury, accounting for 25% of the final result, comprised representatives from seven countries:

  • Croatia | 12 points awarded to Erika Vikman
  • Netherlands | 12 points awarded to Goldielocks
  • Lithuania | 12 points awarded to Goldielocks
  • San Marino | 12 points awarded to Nelli Matula
  • Spain| 12 points awarded to Goldielocks
  • Estonia | 12 points awarded to Erika Vikman
  • Switzerland | 12 points awarded to Erika Vikman

The detailed jury results were as follows:

  1. Goldielocks – “Made Of“ – 74 points
  2. Erika Vikman  – “ICH KOMME“ – 68 points
  3. Nelli Matula – “Hitaammin hautaan“ – 50 points
  4. Costee – “Sekaisin“ – 40 points
  5. VIIVI – “Aina“ – x points – 38 points
  6. Neea River – “Nightmares“ – 24 points

Following the jury votes, the televote results were announced, carrying the most significant weight in determining the winner (75% of the final result):

  1. Erika Vikman  – “ICH KOMME“ – 362 points
  2. Goldielocks – “Made Of“ – 229 points
  3. VIIVI – “Aina“ – 100 points
  4. Nelli Matula – “Hitaammin hautaan“ – 88 points
  5. Neea River – “Nightmares“ – 60 points
  6. Costee – “Sekaisin“ – 43 points

The full results of UMK 2025 were as follows:

  1. Erika Vikman  – “ICH KOMME“ – 430 points
  2. Goldielocks – “Made Of“ – 303 points
  3. Nelli Matula – “Hitaammin hautaan“ – 138 points
  4. VIIVI – “Aina“ – x points – 138 points
  5. Neea River – “Nightmares“ – 84 points
  6. Costee – “Sekaisin“ – 83  points

This marks a significant moment for Vikman, who narrowly missed out on winning UMK in 2020. Now, five years later, she will take the Eurovision stage, hoping to give Finland a higher result  from last year’s 19th-place finish by Windows95Man. – What is your opinion on Finland’s Eurovision 2025 entry?

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates on Europe’s biggest music competition.

 

Finland: The Grand Final of UMK 2025 Takes Place Tonight!

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The moment has arrived! Finland is set to choose its representative for the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place this May in Basel, Switzerland. The grand final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2025 will be held tonight in Tampere, with six artists competing for the coveted Eurovision ticket.

The Finalists

These are the six artists battling it out for victory at UMK 2025:

  1. Costee – “Sekaisin“
  2. Neea River – “Nightmares“
  3. Goldielocks – “Made Of“
  4. VIIVI – “Aina“
  5. Nelli Matula – “Hitaammin hautaan“
  6. Erika Vikman  – “ICH KOMME“

How the Winner Will Be Chosen

The UMK 2025 winner and Finland’s Eurovision 2025 representative will be determined through a combination of public and jury voting.

  • 75% of the final result will be decided by the Finnish public.
  • 25% will come from an international jury panel.

This voting system gives the Finnish audience the biggest say in who will represent their country in Basel!

Hosts & Show Details

️ Venue: Nokia Arena, Tampere
Hosts: Jasmin Beloued & Sanni
Start Time: 21:00 CET
Where to Watch: Live on Yle’s official website, with options for English commentary or no commentary.

Finland at Eurovision 2024

Last year, Windows95man won UMK 2024 and went on to represent Finland in Malmö with No Rules. Despite delivering an unforgettable performance, Finland finished 19th in the Grand Final with 38 points.

Can Finland improve its result in 2025 and return to the Eurovision top spots? We’re about to find out!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates on Finland’s Eurovision 2025 journey!

Finland: Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu rehearsal clips released!

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Through the day, the general rehearsal of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2025, Finland ‘s national final for Eurovision 2025, took place at Nokia Arena, and Yle, the country’s public broadcaster, released a part of each artist’s rehearsal!

With the show taking place tomorrow, Yle released through UMK’s social media, a first taste of what we will see in the national final.

You can see clips from the rehearsals in the video below:

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2025

UMK 2025 will once again take place with only one round, the Grand Final.  Seven songs will compete on stage at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, with the winner being determined by the public vote at a rate of 75% and a 25% from an international jury.

You can listen to the seven songs below:

  1. costee — “Sekaisin”
  2. NEEA RIVER — “Nightmares”
  3. Goldielocks — “Made Of”
  4. VIIVI  — “Aina”
  5. Nelli Matula — “Hitaammin Hautaan”
  6. Erika Vikman — “ICH KOMME”

The previous winner of UMK and Finland‘s representative at Eurovision 2024 was Windows95man with the song “No Rules” which took 19th place in the Grand Final:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Finnish participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, in Basel!

Eurovision 2025: The Semi-Final Allocation Draw Results!

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Basel with a very nice event hosted a few minutes ago the draw for the semi-finals of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest.

The analyzes of the fans and not only, have been on fire for a few minutes now. Since the theories based on the pre-history of the countries in the competition, it is a first insight into how passable the qualification to the final is or not. In other words, it’s time to make our predictions, about who will go through to the final and who are the favorites to say goodbye to Basel early…

The presenters and the handover ceremony

Leading today’s allocation draw were Jennifer Bosshard and Jan van Ditzhuijzen, who guided us through this pivotal Eurovision tradition.

In addition to determining which countries will perform in each semi-final, today’s ceremony marked the official handover of the Eurovision insignia from last year’s host city, Malmö, to Basel. Attending the event were Carina Nilsson, the President of Malmö City Council, and Conradin Cramer, Basel’s City Council President.

Draw Procedure

Big 5 and Switzerland

With the big winner of last year’s competition, Switzerland, directly in the final, along with the Big 5 (UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain), the first part of the draw determined the semi-final that the direct finalists would vote for.

Will vote in the 1st Semi-Final:

  • Switzerland
  • Italy
  • Spain

Will vote in the 2nd Semi-Final:

  • Germany
  • France
  • United Kingdom

In the semi-final that the six aforementioned countries were drawn to broadcast and vote for, the video from their dress rehearsal will also be shown. This was done at Eurovision 2016 for the first time, for reasons of equal exposure of the countries directly in the final and the countries that qualify from the semi-finals. Essentially, viewers see each entry twice during the shows.

Semi-Final Allocation Draw

The allocation draw for the two semi-finals had two parts. In the first part the 31 countries participating in the semi-finals were drawn in which of the two they will compete in. Fifteen countries will compete in the first semi-final and sixteen in the second semi-final.

In the second part, each country learned whether it will appear in the first or second half of the semi-final in which it will compete. The exact order of appearance will be determined by the EBU and the show’s producers at a later date.

1st Semi-final (May 13):

1st Half

  • Sweden
  • Ukraine
  • Slovenia
  • Iceland
  • Estonia
  • Poland
  • Portugal

2nd Half

  • Netherlands
  • Azerbaijan
  • Albania
  • San Marino
  • Belgium
  • Cyprus
  • Croatia
  • Norway

2nd Semi-Final (May 15):

1st Half

  • Austria
  • Lithuania
  • Armenia
  • Montenegro
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Australia
  • Latvia

2nd Half

  • Czechia
  • Israel
  • Malta
  • Finland
  • Denmark
  • Luxembourg
  • Georgia
  • Serbia

Basel will host the 69th Eurovision Song Contest from 13 to 17 May at the St. Jakobshalle. The motto of this year’s event, as chosen by the organisers, is “United by Music“, retaining the motto first chosen for the contest in Liverpool in 2023.

You can see the draw again through the link below:

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Eurovision 2025!

Finland: Running order and change in the voting for UMK!

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The voting for the Finnish national final for Eurovision, UMK will change this season! This year the audience can start voting for their favorite artists right after the first performance begins. The aim is to allow even more music fans to influence the selection of the UMK winner and Finland’s next Eurovision representative.

We remind you that according to the UMK rules, the winner will be decided by a combined audience vote (75% weight) and an international jury of professionals (25% weight). The UMK final will take place on February 8 at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.

UMK executive producer, Anssi Autio says about the changes in the voting:

It’s the Finnish voters, above all, who decide the winner and Finland’s next Eurovision representative. By extending the voting time, we want to give voters more time to support their favorite, and we also hope to achieve the largest vote count in UMK history this year.

The association Mieli Ry will get the proceeds of the UMK voting. Miely Ry works on mental health, supporting young people by chat, wherever they may be, without referrals or fees. The funding will be used to improve youth’s mental health in schools and leisure activities.

Running Order

The running order for the UMK will be as follows:

  1. costee
  2. NEEA RIVER
  3. Goldielocks
  4. VIIVI
  5. Nelli Matula
  6. Erika Vikman

The UMK final will be held in Nokia Arena, Tampere, on February 08, 2025, at 8 pm CET.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more news and updates about Europe’s favorite music festival!

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Eurovision 2025: The allocation pots for the Semi-Final draw!

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The Semi-Final Allocation Draw for Eurovision 2025, will take place tomorrow January 28 at 12:30 CET live from Basel, alongside a ceremony which sees the Host City insignia pass from previous hosts Malmö, to current host Basel.

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Finland: One Morning Left Excluded from Finland’s UMK Music Contest!

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In Finland’s annual music competition, UMK, which determines the country’s representative for Eurovision, the Finnish metalcore band “One Morning Left”, will no longer participate.

In more detail, Finland’s public broadcaster, Yle excluded the band from the competition due to a contract violation. Following discussions between “One Morning Left” and Yle, both parties agreed that the band’s withdrawal was the most appropriate decision.

The executive producer of UMK, Anssi Autio, commented as follows:

Unfortunately, the band One Morning Left will not appear in this year’s UMK, as it did not fully comply with the competition’s rules. This decision also involved the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, set by the EBU, which clearly state that such a violation constitutes an unequivocal obstacle to Eurovision participation.

 

The UMK 2025 competition, where Finland’s representative for Eurovision 2025 will be chosen, will culminate on February 8 at Nokia Arena in Tampere. After the exclusion of “One Morning Left”, six artists will now take the stage. According to UMK rules, it is not necessary to replace the band that withdrew with a new contestant.

SOURCE: Yle

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Finland: UMK 2025 artists react to each other’s songs

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Finnish broadcaster YLE has posted on their Official Youtube channel their now traditional reaction video with the 2025 UMK artists reacting to each other’s songs.

Find out who called Erika Vikman “the Cicciolina lady”, who brought a puppy with her for the reaction, who gave us the drums reaction and who said “Slay” the most in this reaction:

Seven artists are competing to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest:

NEEA RIVER – “Nightmares”
Nelli Matula – “Hitaammin Hautaan”
costee – “Sekaisin”
VIIVI – “Aina”
One Morning Left – “Puppy”
Goldielocks – “Made Of”
Erika Vikman – “ICH KOMME”

The UMK grand final will take place on Saturday, 10 February, 20:00 CET at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland and will be broadcasted on Yle TV1, Yle Areena and Yle radio channels.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more news and updates about Europe’s favorite music festival!

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