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Robin Packalen: “My performance will be dangerous and not like the music video” | Exclusive Interview

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Robin Packalen is participating in this year’s national final of Finland, UMK 2023 with the track “Girls Like You” and a few days ago he spoke exclusively to Eurovisionfun and specifically to Apostolis and Alvaro, about his participation and his plans for the national final.

Although only 24 years old, Robin has been in the music industry since the age of 13 and is now considered one of the biggest names on the Finnish pop scene! On how he made the decision to take part in UMK 2023, he said:

“I am happy that this year I am taking part in the national final! Almost every year I had an offer to participate but there was always something else in my career and I couldn’t! At this moment I think the time has come and of course I have the right song”

Regarding the participation of “Girls Like You”, he told us the following:

“The song was not written exclusively for the competition! Last year I was in Los Angeles for the creation of the next international album and as soon as I heard the song I said that it is the best I have created! I didn’t want this song to be just another single and that’s how the idea of UMK came about!”

“If I were asked to describe myself with one song it would be ‘Girls Like You’, both in terms of sound and lyrics!”

Regarding his choice to participate with a song in English , he said that he wanted to try something different as he believes that he has offered for many years what he had to give to his country and now it’s time to try his luck to a bigger audience, that of Europe!

This year’s Finnish national final will take place in the city of Turku, which is also the birthplace of the young singer and of course he couldn’t help but express his joy to compete in his “home” and maybe have a small lead, as he said jokingly.

About his stage appearance Robin revealed to us:

“My appearance in the national final will be “dangerous” and will have nothing to do with the aesthetics of the video clip! On the stage there will be props and a lot of acrobatics, which I have been doing since I was a child!”

His favorite Finnish entry states that they are Blind Channel (Finland 2021), with whom they collaborated recently and have the same producers, while as his favorite entry of the competition he preferred a recent favorite of his, “Slo Mo” from Channel.

At the end he sang a part of his participation:

Watch the full interview of Robin:

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Would you like to see Robin representing Finland in Eurovision 2023? Tell us in the comments!

Finland: Listen to the third song of UMK 2023!

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

The song is titled “Girls Like You” by Robin Packalen and you can listen to it below:

The official Eurovision site presents Robin as follows:

One of Finland’s most popular pop artists, the beloved Robin Packalen has long wanted to enter UMK. Now, the time has finally come. Robin, who got his start as a child star, is ready to conquer Europe with his energy and authenticity.

Robin Packalen’s first single was released in 2012, when he was just 13. It was an immediate hit, and Robin became a superstar. According to Packalen, the good thing about performing at a young age is that you aren’t afraid of anything and you have plenty of energy. The flipside is the fact that you have to grow up very fast.

In recent years, Packalen has been releasing songs in English. When making music, he relies on his instincts. Outside his music career, the extroverted Packalen enjoys extreme sports and socialising as much as he can.

Now was the right time for him to enter UMK. Many people have been wanting to see Robin in the contest and, even though he had been considering it for years, he feels that he is only just now ready for it.

‘And, this song is so good that the whole world should hear it,’ says Robin.

The UMK jury had the following to say about Robin:

“It’s so good to have one of Finland’s most successful pop stars of all time competing in the Contest for New Music UMK! Girls Like You is precisely the kind of music Robin Packalen wants to make: groovy, catchy and feelgood pop performed in English, which suits UMK to a T. Even though the song has clear Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake influences, Robin makes his own mark with his familiar vocal style. Written in Los Angeles, the song is like a sunny day squeezed into a three-minute audio file.”

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!

Finland: Artists that are rumoured to be competing at UMK 2023 are revealed!

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Uuden musiikin kilpailu, the winner of which will be Finland’s next Eurovision representative, will be held on February 25. However some acts name that are supposedly participating in next years UMK have been revealed by Iltalehti, way in advance!

According to sources of Iltalehti, which has correctly reported UMK participants in the previous years, Robin Packalen, Portion Boys, Benjamin Peltonen and a less-known artist Lxandra are rumoured to be competing in the hopes of representing Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Liverpool next year.

But let’s see who these artists are:

Robin Packalen

The 24-year-old Robin Packalen, also known by his stage name Robin, is a Finnish singer who started as a teen pop artist. During his career, Robin’s certified albums and singles have sold over 370000 copies, which makes him one of the 70 all-time best-selling artists of his country.

Portion Boys

Portion Boys is a band from Tampere that started its activities on the YouTube service in 2010. Back in 2021, Portion Boys released a new version of the song “Vauhti kiihtyy”, featuring the original performers Matti & Teppo, which version grew into a major hit during the summer and fall of 2021. Since its release, it was in the top ten of Finland’s official singles list for 28 weeks, including 13 weeks in the top three and has been listened to more than 11 million times on Spotify alone.

Benjamin Peltonen

Benjamin Peltonen, 25 years old, also known as Benjamin, is a Finnish singer who broke through on Instagram, where he earned, more than 280,000 followers. In May 2014 Peltonen signed a record deal with the record company Warner Music Finland.

Lxandra

Lxandra, born Alexandra Lehti, is an aspiring Finnish pop singer and songwriter. Raised in Suomenlinna, she is the daughter of journalist Baba Lybeck and musician Pekka Lehti, and currently lives in Berlin.

The Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu  will take place on February 25, in Logomo, Turku for the second year in a row. Seven songs will participate in the final, which will be announced on January 11 and will begin to be released on different days, from January 12 to 20. The seven songs were selected from 363 entries submitted to Yle.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding the Finnish participation at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023!

Source: Iltalehti.fi

Finland: Robin is considering Eurovision participation

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He is one of the biggest teen pop superstars in Finland.  For years fans have hoped to see him representing his home country in Eurovision.  And they may finally see their wish come true.  Born in Turku, Finland Robin Packalen started his music career when he was only 10.  After several successful pop albums in Finnish, he is trying to enter the international music industry singing in English.

Robin is currently promoting his new EP Rest In Beat PM.

In an interview for public broadcaster Yle, Robin talked about his recent career.  He talked about how the last few months have been difficult for him because of the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.  Robin was preparing to enter the international market.  He released his first English track I’ll be with you in 2019.  However, his first studio album and tour planned for 2020 were suspended until very recently.  Currently he and his team have tried to enter the Asian music market.  They focused their efforts in particular in China and South Korea.  He already collaborated with K-pop singer Saay.  A collaboration with Swedish pop singer Darin (a potential Melodifestivalen 2022 hopeful) is on the table.

Moreover, Robin told that he has started seriously considering a Eurovision participation.

For the last ten years, I’ve been saying no to Eurovision. However, it is starting to look like a credible option. It’s under consideration

 

It is very likely that if Finnish public broadcaster wants Robin to wave the Finnish flag in Turin, they will have to internally select him.  That was Yle’s preferred option in 2018 and 2019 when Finland internally select Finnish superstars Saara Aalto and Darude.

You can watch Robin’s latest single Rest In Beat in the link embedded below

Would you like to see Robin representing Finland in Eurovision?  Stay tuned for more news about UMK 2022

Source: Yle