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Kuumaa: A Eurovision winner in Finnish? Why not? | EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW!

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Kuumaa has recently won the Finnish Grammy Award for Band of the Year.  Moreover, their UMK competing song, Ylivoimainen, has reached the Spotify Top in Finland.

Eurovisionfun had the pleasure to talk with the guys from Kuumaa.  Johannes, Jonttu and Aarni took some time in their agenda to sit and answer our questions.  In this interview they discussed with us how is their UMK journey going on and how they are taking one step at the time this road to eventually represent Finland in Eurovision.  Here are their answers.

Eurovisionfun: What motivate you to represent your country in the Eurovision Song Contest?

Kuumaa: Well first we’ll focus on the UMK competition and if it will lead to the Eurovision Song Contest, we’ll have to see. Right now we are going to try and chew (and enjoy!) one bite at a time!

Eurovisionfun: What are you planning to bring to the UMK stage next February?

Kuumaa: We are definitely trying to channel our live gig energy and bring it to the big stage. This is the perfect chance to try and transform our club gig energy and joy of performing to the biggest stage performance in the band’s history. We are so excited and honored to take on the challenge of UMK!

Eurovisionfun: For the audience outside of Finland, how would you describe your band?

Kuumaa: KUUMAA is a band that has been built on friendship and the joy of making music. For us, the band is above all a group of friends. We are all united by ambition and the thought of taking things seriously but not being too serious. We have a lot of fun together and humor is one of our core values: if working together is fun, it’ll most likely lead to good things.We are also very self-sufficient as a band: Johannes (vocals) is mainly responsible for our lyrics, Jonttu (drums) is involved in the production side and Aarni (bass) is in charge of our visuals. Composition work is done together with our executive producer Jonas Olsson.

Eurovisionfun: Last year a song in Ukrainian language won the Eurovision Song Contest and the year before it was a song in Italian. Do you think a song in Finnish could win the Eurovision Song Contest?

Kuumaa: Finnish is a beautiful language, why not! However we believe that the song, live show and artist combined as whole will determine who wins, not only the language.

Eurovisionfun: Do you see yourselves releasing a single in English in the near future?

Kuumaa: As of now making music in our mother tongue feels like the right thing to do and it’s hard to imagine KUUMAA in English. However: never say never!

Eurovisionfun: Do you have any memories from the Eurovision Song Contest? Are you fans of the show?   

Kuumaa: We’ve followed the Eurovision Song Contest for a long time. Johannes had admired the power and community spirit of the contest since he was a child. Jonttu remembers taking party in an ESC night hosted by drag queens and Aarni got to stay up late for the first time when the legendary Lordi won the competition in 2006.

Eurovisionfun: What are your favourite Eurovision songs in general and from Finland?

Kuumaa: We’ll forever be fans of the amazing Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät who represented Finland in 2015.

Eurovisionfun: Apart from your own work what artists and genres do you like to listen?

Kuumaa: The 1975 is a big inspiration to us, we love the surprise element that their whole existence entails in music, performance and visuals. From our artist colleagues in Finland we’d like to give a shoutout to Chisu and Olavi Uusivirta who are both such inspirations as music makers and performers.

Eurovisionfun: What message would you like to send to the audience with your song Ylivoimainen?

Kuumaa: The song is an energetic pop song with a hint of danger. Ylivoimainen came together very intuitively and it represents an universal energy that is easy for anyone to catch on to. The tension of the song arises from the fact that the narrator is ready to do anything to get what he wants. The feelings of longing and love have been put aboard a tuned Ferrari so to say. The friction between these things is interesting.

Eurovisionfun:. Finally, to close this interview, what message would you like to give to the Eurovision fans?  

Kuumaa: Whether we are in the running or not, we are so excited to see what the lineup for the contest will look and sound like. The beauty of Eurovision is how music brings people and countries together. Long live music!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more updates on the UMK 2023!

Finland: Listen to the sixth and penultimate song of UMK 2023!

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The finnish broadcaster YLE has released the sixth and penultimate song competing in UMK 2023, the finnish national final for Eurovision 2023.

The song is titled “Ylivoimainen” by KUUMAA and you can listen to it below:

The official Eurovision site presents KUUMAA as follows:

KUUMAA is a fast-rising trio, whose core is catchy tunes and emotions on a grand scale, not to mention the steadfast friendship between the band members. The band’s self-titled debut album KUUMAA was released in 2019. 2022 turned out to be a turning point for the band, whose popularity grew when it took streaming services, radio waves and stages by storm with its hits, including Tulipalo and Oo vielä sekunnin mun.

KUUMAA is formed of singer Johannes Brotherus, drummer Jonttu Luhtavaara and bassist Aarni Soivio. The band got its start in 2016, when the friends wanted to form their own Finnish pop group. Since then, the band has built their career for the long haul. The pandemic years brought them closer to each other, with the members starting to produce even more music together.

‘For us, the band is, above all, a group of friends. We’re united by our ambition. This should be taken seriously, but not too seriously’, says Johannes.

The band’s UMK song Ylivoimainen is a hard-charging pop tune that brings a universal, infectious energy.

The UMK jury had the following to say about the trio and their song:

“KUUMAA sets the tone for how a Finnish band should sound in 2023: it is charismatic, cutting edge and has the ability to make big songs for streaming services and radio, alike. The band’s frontman Johannes Brotherus is charming and the band’s performance at UMK will bring it to a whole new level on its already skyrocketing trajectory. Ylivoimainen is a harder-charging version of KUUMAA that is sure to rock the stage at Logomo and on Finnish television come February.”

We remind you that the competing artists/songs of UMK 2023 are being revealed in different dates in the following order:

  • Thu, 12 January Keira – No Business On The Dancefloor
  • Fri, 13 January Benjamin – Hoida mut
  • Mon, 16 January Robin Packalen – Girls Like You
  • Tue, 17 January Lxandra – Something To Lose
  • Wed, 18 January Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha
  • Thu, 19 January KUUMAA – Ylivoimainen
  • Fri, 20 January Portion Boys – Samaa taivasta katsotaan

The UMK grand final will take place on Saturday, 25 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 2023!