Finland: Windows95Man will change name for Eurovision!

Last night, the final of UMK, the Finnish national selection for Eurovision 2024, took place. Seven artists competed for the Finnish representation in Malmö and following the combination of the votes from six international juries along with the TV audience, Windows95Man with their entry “No rules!” emerged as winners.

Windows95Man’s victory in UMK 2024 was somehow unexpected, even for the artists themselves, as the big favorite of the night was Sara Siipola with her song “Paskana”.

Now, following their win there is another challenge to face. According to the rules of the competition, product names and trademarks are not allowed on Eurovision stage. It is also strictly forbidden to mention an established brand name in your entry. In Finland’s case, the duo’s name is “Windows95Man” and their attire consists of a large “Windows” logo, Microsoft’s operating system. Hence, last night’s act is not permitted to be presented to the Eurovision stage, as it violates the competition rules. Moreover, the duo’s name must change. One of the Finnish representatives says that:

Well, now the hard workshop begins. Now let’s start thinking about the name. But the character is here, no matter what it says on the shirt.

Windows95Man’s opinion on Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2024

The artists were asked by an Yle’s journalist whether Israel’s participation will affect their participation in Eurovision 2024. At this point, we would like to remind you that prior to UMK 2024, two contestants, namely Sini Sabotage and Jesse Markin, stated that their Eurovision participation in uncertain due to Israel’s inclusion in Eurovision 2024’s participating countries’ list despite the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

On Israel’s participation, the duo stated that:

We would hope that Israel would not participate. This is a bad situation. There is still time until spring. We hope that the EBU will make the right decisions.

Finland with Windows95Man and “No Rules!” is set to perform on the second half of the first semi-final on May 7.

You can also check out EurovisionFun’s reaction on “No Rules!”, below:

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Source: Yle

Finland: Windows95man will represent the country in Malmö!

Finland’s national selection for Eurovision 2024, UMK, took place tonight at the Nokia Arena, in Tampere .The show was hosted by  Pilvi Hämäläinen, Benjamin and Viivi Pumpanen. Seven artists competed to represent Finland in Malmö. The winner and therefore Finland’s representative, was Windows96man with the song “No Rules”.

The show was opened by Benjamin and Kuumma. They sang their UMK 2023 entries “Honda Mut” and “Ylivoimainen”.

The songs

1) Sini Sabotage – Kuori Mua

2) Cyan Kicks – Dancing with my Demons

3) Jesse Markin – “Glow“

4) Mikael Gabriel x nublu – “Vox populi”

5) Sara Siipola – “Paskana“

6) Sexmane – “Mania“

7) Windows95man – “No Rules“

Interval acts

Pilvi Hämäläinen – “ja hyllytetty kahdeksas kisaesitys”

Results

The winner was decided by both an international jury, which determined 25% of the final result, and a public vote, which determined the remaining 75%.

The following countries made up the international jury: Armenia, Spain, Ukraine, Luxembourg, Slovenia, United Kingdom, and Sweden

Jury voting

  1. Sara Siipola – “Paskana“ – 70 points
  2. Cyan Kicks – “Dancing with my demons” – 48 points
  3. Mikael Gabriel x nublu – “Vox Populi” – 42 points
  4. Sini Sabotage – “Kuori Mua” – 38 points
  5. Jesse Markin – “Glow” – 34 points
  6. SexMane – “Mania” –  34 points
  7. Windows95man – “No Rules!” – 28 points

Televoting

  1. Windows95man – “No Rules!” – 285 points
  2. Sara Siipola – “Paskana“ – 203 points
  3. Mikael Gabriel x nublu – “Vox Populi” – 136 points
  4. Cyan Kicks – “Dancing with my demons” – 80 points
  5. Jesse Markin – “Glow” – 76 points
  6. SexMane – “Mania” –  74 points
  7. Sini Sabotage – “Kuori Mua” – 27 points

Full results

  1. Windows95man – “No Rules!” – 313 points
  2. Sara Siipola – “Paskana“ – 273 points
  3. Mikael Gabriel x nublu – “Vox Populi” – 178 points
  4. Cyan Kicks – “Dancing with my demons” – 128 points
  5. Jesse Markin – “Glow” – 110 points
  6. SexMane – “Mania” –  108 points
  7. Sini Sabotage – “Kuori Mua” – 38 points

What is your opinion on Finland’s Eurovision 2024? Which was your favourite UMK 2024 act?


Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the Eurovision 2024 updates!

Finland: Tonight is the grand final of UMK 2024!

The big winner of the televoting at Eurovision 2023, Finland, tonight chooses the artist who will represent them at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Malmö in May. Seven artists compete tonight in Tampere to win Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2024, which will also mean the Nordic country’s representation at Eurovision 2024.

Final

The seven artists who will compete tonight in the UMK 2024 final are:

  1. Sini Sabotage – “Kuori Mua”
  2. Cyan Kicks – “Dancing withe demons”
  3. Jesse Markin  “Glow”
  4. Mikael Gabriel x nublu – “Vox Populi”
  5. Sara Siipola – “Paskana”
  6. SexMane – “Mania”
  7. Windows95man – “No Rules!”

Final Result

The final result and therefore the grand final winner of the Finnish national final and Finland’s representative at Eurovision 2024 will be determined through a combination of public and jury voting. The Finnish public will have the first and main say in the final results, which will form 75% of the final result, while the remaining 25% will be determined by the vote of an international jury.

The show

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2024 will take place at the Nokia Arena in Tampere. The hosts of the Finnish national final will be Pilvi Hämäläinen, Benjamin and Viivi Pumpanen.

Of course, apart from the competition part, UMK will have several other surprises. Two of last year’s UMK nominees, KUUMAA and Benjamin, are going to open the show.

At the same time, as part of the interval act, last year’s winner Käärijä and the legendary Erika Vikman will appear together on stage performing a subversive duet.

The grand final of UMK 2024 starts at 20:00 CET and you can watch it on the Finnish public television website by clicking HERE.

Last year’s UMK winner and therefore the country’s representative in Liverpool was Käärijä with “Cha Cha Cha“, who finished in second place, the country’s best result since winning the contest in 2006 in Athens.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Finland: A sneak peak of UMK 2024 finalists rehearsals!

UMK will serve as the Finnish national selection format for Eurovision 2024. While, the final of the selection is scheduled to take place this Saturday, the seven finalists are already in Nokia Arena in Tampere, rehearsing for their performances.

Yle, just shared some short clips of the seven finalists’ rehearsals, giving us a small taste of what to expect from their performances on Saturday.

@uudenmusiikinkilpailu Jjjjaiks tässä ensimmäiset sneak peakit UMK-esityksistä torstain treeneistä! Tampereen Nokia Areenalla hiotaan & harjoitellaan esityksiä täyttä häkää. It’s a work in progress.🤩 First sneak peak from the UMK rehearsals! Excited much? UMK-show nyt lauantaina klo 21! TV1 ja Yle Areena! Tune in on Saturday evribadi! #UMK24 #UMK #yle ♬ alkuperäinen ääni – yle_umk

 

UMK 2024

Seven artists will participate in UMK, claiming the Finnish representation in Malmö and those are the following (in the official running order):

  1. Sini Sabotage – “Kuori Mua”
  2. Cyan Kicks – “Dancing withe demons”
  3. Jesse Markin  “Glow”
  4. Mikael Gabriel x nublu – “Vox Populi”
  5. Sara Siipola – “Paskana”
  6. SexMane – “Mania”
  7. Windows95man – “No Rules!”

The winner will be decided on 25% by an international jury and on 75% by the public vote. Pilvi Hämäläinen, Benjamin and Viivi Pumpanen will serve as the hosts of this year’s UMK.

Last year’s UMK winner and hence the Finnish representative in Liverpool was Käärijä with his song “Cha Cha Cha“, who finished in second place, the country’s best result since winning the contest in 2006.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Source: Yle

Finland: Harsh criticism from Mr. Lordi for the entries of UMK 2024!

Tomi Putaansuu, also known as Mr. Lordi gave a revealing interview to local Finnish media, harshly criticizing the UMK 2024 entries.

Finland’s only winner of the Eurovision song contest, revealed his favorite entry in this year’s UMK, while describing the other entries with indecent characterizations.

Tomi characterized as Satan, rap music, as well as the corresponding entries in this year’s UMK, while he considers that there is no worthy entry among the candidate songs.

“It’s Satan. Otherwise, probably great music, but it sounds like shit. I can not stand it. They miss the tune. There are no favorites for me among rappers. Probably nice boys, possibly girls too. There’s Cyan Kicks, but there’s also quite a bit of rap. It’s anti-music to me. You can not do anything”.

Mr. Lordi however has a favorite among the current UMK contestants, and that is Cyan Kicks.

Lordi were the big winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 which took place in Athens and gave Finland their first and only victory so far.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Finland’s participation in Eurovision 2024, in Liverpool!

 

source: is.fi

 

Finland: The guests of UMK 2024!

Finland’s broadcaster, Yle,   has announced the guests who will appear in the UMK 2024 final.The final will be opened by two last year’s UMK candidates, KUUMAA and Benjamin.

In between the show, last year’s winner Käärijä and the legendary Erika Vikman will appear together on stage.

We remind you that the finalists of UMK 2024 are:

  1. Sini Sabotage – “Kuori Mua”
  2. Cyan Kicks – “Dancing withe demons”
  3. Jesse Markin  “Glow”
  4. Mikael Gabriel x nublu – “Vox Populi”
  5. Sara Siipola – “Paskana”
  6. SexMane – “Mania”
  7. Windows95man – “No Rules!”

The Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2024 will take place this Saturday 10 February at the Nokia Arena in Tampere. UMK 2024 will be hosted by Pilvi Hämäläinen, Benjamin and Viivi Pumpanen.

Finland took second place in last year’s competition with Käärijä and Cha Cha Cha, as he was voted the audience winner. This makes it the country’s best result since Lordi’s victory in Athens in 2006:

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments regarding Finland’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Source: Yle

 

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Eurovision 2024: National finals songs on the Spotify charts!

There are three semi-finals and four national finals happening tonight, making it the first Super Saturday of 2024. Let’s see whether any of the songs from these finalists made it onto the charts by looking at the Spotify charts of a few countries.

Ukraine

Teresa & Maria, a duet by Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil, is currently topping the Ukrainian Spotify list and is the betting favourite to win Vidbir 2024. This is a first for Ukraine and likely portends the song’s victory in the national final. YAKTAK and LaLaLa are positioned below, at position 33.

Norway

In Norway, however, things are rather different. According to local Spotify statistics, the odd’s favourite song, “Ulveham”, only peaked at 118th place. Other entries, such KEIINO at number 46 and Erika Norwich’s “My AI” at number 31, were ranked higher. This year’s climate differs from prior years when MGP favourites ranked in the top ten of the chart.

Spain

The Benidorm Fest 2024 final is happening tonight. St Pedro, the frontrunner according to the bookies, is no longer in the charts, whereas Nebulossa with Zorra is in 93rd place. Marlena, who did not qualify for the grand final, is ranked 182nd.

Lithuania

Lithuania’s Eurovision 2020 and 2021 representatives, the Roop, are ranked 31st. Shower, with “Impossible” from the third semi-final, is at number 29, while Silvester Belt, the winner of the first semi-final, is still at the top of the list with “Luktelk.”

Let’s take a look at the charts of a few more countries:

France

Impressively, for French standards, Slimane’s “Mon Amour” is currently at 79th place on the French Spotify list, where it has been charting for 54 days in a row.

Estonia

For a record-breaking 57 days in a row, 5MIINUST and Puuluup remain at the top of the charts. As of yet, no other song has attained the same level of success, suggesting that their song (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (kull) midagi is the clear favourite to win. Vox Populi, a contender for the Finnish national final, comes in second. OLLIE is positioned 78th. Wunderbar is in 34th place, and Oblivion, which did not make it to the final, is in 197th.

Luxembourg

After making its debut at number one, Tali’s Fighter is currently at number 33 on the chart.

Finland

Every song participating in the competition is listed on the chart, with the odds-on favourite, Paskana by Sara Siipola, coming in at number nine. Mania is in 25th place, and Vox Populi is in 19th place. Number 81 is Sini Sabotage, number 90 is Cyan Kicks, position 113 is No Rules!, and position 135 is Glow.

This year, there is a lot of interest in Eurovision, with many countries attempting to choose songs that would resonate with their national audiences!


Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the updates on Eurovision 2024!

Eurovision 2024: The Semi-Final Allocation Draw Results!

Malmö with a very nice event hosted a few minutes ago the draw for the semi-finals of the 68th 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 Malmö early…

The presenters and the handover ceremony

Presenters of the Eurovision 2024 semi-final draw were Pernilla Månsson Colt and Farah Abadi. It is worth mentioning that Pernilla Månsson Colt was also the presenter of the corresponding draw in 2013, eleven years ago when Malmö hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the last time. Both of them are part of the SVT staff, being some of the most beloved faces of the Swedish state broadcaster.

During the draw, the ceremony of handing over and accepting the emblem of the contest took place. The mayor of Liverpool, Steven Rotheram, formally handed over the “keys to the event” to the mayor of Malmö, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh.

Draw Procedure

Big 5 and Sweden

With the big winner of last year’s competition, Sweden, 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:

  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom
  • Germany

Will vote in the 2nd Semi-Final:

  • Spain
  • Italy
  • France

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 7):

1st Half

  • Ukraine
  • Cyprus
  • Poland
  • Serbia
  • Lithuania
  • Croatia
  • Ireland

2nd Half

  • Slovenia
  • Iceland
  • Finland
  • Portugal
  • Luxembourg
  • Australia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Moldova

2nd Semi-Final (May 9):

1st Half

  • Austria
  • Malta
  • Switzerland
  • Greece
  • Czechia
  • Albania
  • Denmark
  • Armenia

2nd Half

  • Israel
  • Estonia
  • Georgia
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Latvia
  • San Marino
  • Belgium

Malmö will host the 68th Eurovision Song Contest from 7 to 11 May at the Malmö Arena. The motto of this year’s event, as chosen by the organisers, is “United by Music“, retaining the motto first chosen for last year’s contest in Liverpool.

You can see the draw again through the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-2hMEq5sk

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Eurovision 2024!

 

Eurovision 2024: Tonight the Allocation Draw!

At 19:00 CET and live from Malmö, Sweden, the draw for the Eurovision 2024 semi-finals will take place tonight.

During today’s event, there will also be a handover of the event’s banner from the city of Liverpool to the city of Malmö. For this reason, both the Mayor of Liverpool, Steven Rotheram, and the Mayor of the Swedish city, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, will be present at today’s draw.

The hosts

The hosts of tonight’s draw for the semi-finals of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will be Pernilla Månsson Colt and Farah Abadi. It is worth mentioning that Pernilla Månsson Colt was the presenter of the equivalent draw in 2013, eleven years ago when Malmö hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the last time.

The draw procedure

The first part of the draw will determine which semi-final will be broadcast and voted for by each of the six countries that are directly in the final on 11 May (Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom).

The second part of the draw will determine which semi-final and which half the other 31 participating countries will compete in. As in recent years, the exact order of appearance will be determined by the event producers at a later date.

The 31 countries have been divided into five pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by Eurovision’s official voting partner, Digame.

Drawing countries from different pots aims to reduce the likelihood of so-called neighbour voting and increases the suspense in the semi-finals.

Pots

Pot 1
  • 🇦🇱 Albania
  • 🇦🇹 Austria
  • 🇨🇭 Switzerland
  • 🇭🇷 Croatia
  • 🇷🇸 Serbia
  • 🇸🇮 Slovenia
Pot 2
  • 🇦🇺 Australia
  • 🇩🇰 Denmark
  • 🇪🇪 Estonia
  • 🇫🇮 Finland
  • 🇮🇸 Iceland
  • 🇳🇴 Norway
Pot 3
  • 🇦🇲 Armenia
  • 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
  • 🇬🇪 Georgia
  • 🇮🇱 Israel
  • 🇱🇻 Latvia
  • 🇱🇹 Lithuania
  • 🇺🇦 Ukraine
Pot 4
  • 🇨🇾 Cyprus
  • 🇬🇷 Greece
  • 🇮🇪 Ireland
  • 🇲🇹 Malta
  • 🇵🇹 Portugal
  • 🇸🇲 San Marino
Pot 5
  • 🇧🇪 Belgium
  • 🇨🇿 Czechia
  • 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
  • 🇳🇱 Netherlands
  • 🇲🇩 Moldova
  • 🇵🇱 Poland

https://twitter.com/Eurovision/status/1751972070479565001

So in the evening, we all tune in for the draw of the semi-finals of our favourite contest. You can watch the draw on the official Eurovision channel on YouTube.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Eurovision 2024!

Eurovision 2024: The Semi-final allocation pots!

The Semi-Final Allocation Draw 2024 will take place tomorrow Tuesday 30 January at 19:00 CET live from Malmo, alongside a ceremony which sees the Host City insignia pass from previous hosts Liverpool to Malmo.

https://youtu.be/Q_-2hMEq5sk

The draw will be hosted by Pernilla Månsson Colt and Farah Abadi and fans will be able to watch on the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

The Allocation Draw will determine whether countries participate in the First Semi-Final (Tuesday 7 May at 21:00 CEST) or the Second Semi-Final (Thursday 9 May at 21:00 CEST). Also randomly allocated is whether a country will perform in the first or second half of the Semi-Final they’ve drawn.

Semi-Final Allocation Draw: How does it work?

Sweden as the Host Country and reigning champion respectively, along with the other 6 members of the so-called ‘Big 6’ participating countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom) do not compete in the Semi-Finals, but their domestic audiences do get to vote in one of them… so before the competing countries are allocated a place in a Semi-Final, it will be randomly determined which of the Semi-Finals the Big 6 will each be allowed to vote on.

The next part of the draw will determine in which Semi-Final and in which half of the respective Semi-Final the other 31 participating countries will perform in.

Semi-Final Allocation Pots 2024

Pot 1

Pot 2

Pot 3

  • Albania
  • Austria
  • Switzerland
  • Croatia
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia
  • Denmark
  • Australia
  • Finland
  • Iceland
  • Norway
  • Estonia
  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Georgia
  • Israel
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Ukraine

Pot 4

Pot 5

Pot 6

  • Cyprus
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Malta
  • Portugal
  • San Marino
  • Belgium
  • Czech Republic
  • Netherlands
  • Moldova
  • Poland
  • Luxembourg
  • France
  • Italy
  • Germany
  • Spain
  • United Kingdom
  • Sweden

 

Drawing countries from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the Semi-Finals. You can get a good idea of how it will all work by watching the 2022 Allocation Draw on the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

The Eurovision Song Contest is due to take place on 7, 9 and 11 May 2024 in Malmo, Sweden, who won the Contest thanks to Loreen winning in 2023.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: Eurovision.tv