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Finland: YLE in talks to move UMK 2024 to a bigger stadium!

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The Finnish national final for the selection of the country’s participation in Eurovision, UMK, was undoubtedly one of the most successful and talked about national finals this year, both within Finland (where 2.1 million viewers tuned in) and among fans of the contest.

UMK’s success in recent years has led Finnish broadcaster YLE to decide to move the show to a bigger stadium from 2024 onwards. As Ville Vilén, Head of Creative Content at Yle, explained:

“The popularity has grown to such proportions that moving it [the final] to a larger space has become topical.”

YLE is in talks to find a stadium, the capacity of which will allow it to sell four to six times more tickets than Logomo, its current venue, which has a capacity of just 1500 spectators. YLE is therefore looking for a suitable stadium in the Turku, Tampere and Helsinki areas.

Finland will be represented in the contest this year by Käärijä, the artist who brought the country to the 3rd place in the betting odds and who has been met with huge support from fans of the contest, with the song Cha Cha Cha. You can enjoy it below:

https://youtu.be/rJHe-iZ5HSI

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments!

Source: Eurovoix

Finland: 2,1 Million Viewers for Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023!

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The final of UMK 2023 took yesterday evening in Logomo in Turku and was hosted by Samu Haber. This was the second year in a row and the third time overall that Logomo played host to the contest. At the end of the show Käärijä with “Cha Cha Cha” declared the winner and will fly to Liverpool as the representative of Finland in Eurovision 2023!

A record-breaking number of viewers watched the final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023 last night in Finland. Finnish broadcaster YLE has revealed that approximately 2.1 million people have watched the final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023. Last year, the final of UMK with The Rasmus was watched by 1,9 million viewers!

A total of 231,968 votes were cast this year: 138,644 votes in the app and 93,324 votes by phone and SMS.

Käärijä has won Uuden Musikiin Kilpailu 2023 with the song “Cha Cha Cha” and below you can enjoy his live performance:

Käärijä and Finland are going to participate in the second half of the first semi-final which is scheduled on 9th of May. Do you think that Finland will  achieve a better placement than last year’s 21st place? Let us know in the comments below!

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun.com for all the news regarding the Finnish entry at the upcoming 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. 

 

Finland: With Käärijä and “Cha Cha Cha” in Liverpool!

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The 12th edition of the Finnish national selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), took place tonight in the cultural centre Logomo of the city of Turku. 7 entries competed against each other in order to win the nomination of representing Finland in the upcoming Eurovision which is going to be held in May, in Liverpool, the United Kingdom.

The host of the show was one of the most famous Finnish musicians in the world, Samu Haber, the lead vocalist and frontman of pop-rock band Sunrise Avenue.

The participants

The 7 candidates of the show were as follows:

  1. Robin Packalen – “Girls Like You“
  2. KUUMMA – “Ylivoimainen” (Overpowered)
  3. Käärijä  – “Cha Cha Cha“
  4. Keira – “No Business on the Dancefloor“
  5. Benjamin – “Hoida mut” (Take care of me)
  6. Lxandra – “Something to Lose“
  7. Portion Boys – “Samaa taivasta katsotaan” (We look at the same sky)

The final result was determined by 75% televote and by 25% international juries. The international juries of UMK 2023 conisted of the following countries:

  • Australia
  • Germany
  • Poland
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom
  • Ukraine

With the combination of the votes from the jury and the televoting, the representative of Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is :

Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha

Käärijä and Finland are going to participate in the second half of the first semi-final which is scheduled on 9th of May. Do you think that Finland will  achieve a better placement than last year’s 21st place? Let us know in the comments below!

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun.com for all the developments regarding the Finnish entry at the upcoming 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. 

Finland: Tonight the final of UMK 2023!

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The greatest moment is now for Finland. Tonight will be the grand final of UMK 2023, one of this year’s strongest national finals ahead of Eurovision 2023.

Seven songs will compete tonight, with the big UMK winner representing the Nordic country in May in Liverpool.

Participants

The participants of the Finnish national final, in order of appearance, are:

  1. Robin Packalen – “Girls Like You“
  2. KUUMMA – “Ylivoimainen” (Overpowered)
  3. Käärijä  – “Cha Cha Cha“
  4. Keira – “No Business on the Dancefloor“
  5. Benjamin – “Hoida mut” (Take care of me)
  6. Lxandra – “Something to Lose“
  7. Portion Boys – “Samaa taivasta katsotaan” (We look at the same sky)

Format

The grand winner of UMK 2023 will be determined 25% by the preference of an international jury and 75% by the will of the Finnish viewers.

The Finnish national final is hosted by Samu Haber, singer of the famous rock band, Sunrise Avenue.

The grand final of UMK 2023 starts at 21:00 and will last for two hours. You can watch it through the YLE website with an English broadcast, by clicking HERE.

Until we find out who will represent Finland at Eurovision 2023, let’s remember the country’s participation in last year’s contest. Previous UMK winners and Finland’s representatives at Eurovision 2022 were The Rasmus with the song “Jezebel” and they finished in 21st place in the Grand Final:

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments regarding Finland’s participation in Eurovision 2023!

Portugal: First Festival da Canção 2023 Semi-Final tonight!

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The Festival da Canção 2023 starts tonight, through which Portugal will choose its representative at Eurovision 2023.

The Portuguese national selection will take place on three different nights: two semifinals on February 25th and March 4th and the grand final on March 11th.

Contestants

Ten artists are participating in tonight’s first semifinal of the Festival da Canção 2023. These artists are:

  1. MOYAH – “Too Much Sauce”
  2. Bolha – “Sonhos de Liberdade”
  3. April Ivy –“Modo Voo”
  4. Churky – “Encruzilhad”
  5. Cláudia Pascoal – “Nasci Maria”
  6. SAL – “Viver”
  7. Mimicat – “Ai Coração”
  8. You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown – “Contraste Mudo”
  9. NEOH SOHO – “Endless World”
  10. Esse Povo – “Sapatos de Cimento”

Five artists will qualify for the grand final. The first five finalists will be chosen by 50% of the will of the Portuguese public and 50% of the preference of the jury.

Presenters of the first semifinal of the Festival da Canção 2023 are Tânia Ribas de Oliveira, José Carlos Malato and Inês Lopes Gonçalves..

The first semifinal of the Festival da Canção 2023 will start at 22:00 CET and will last for three hours. You can follow it through the RTP website by clicking HERE.

Until we know who will represent Portugal at Eurovision 2023, let’s remember the country’s participation in last year’s contest. The previous winner of the Festival da Canção and Portugal‘s representative at Eurovision 2022 was Maro with the song “Saudade, Saudade” and she finished in 9th place in the Grand Final, bringing the country’s best position since its victory in 2017:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZtbD47u6yI

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Portugal’s participation in Eurovision 2023!

Finland: Watch snippets from the performances of the UMK 2023 participants!

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A few minutes ago, the official Instagram account of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), posted a video, consisting of mere seconds of tommorow’s performances.

You can watch the performances of the artists here:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by UMK23 (@uudenmusiikinkilpailu)

The running order of the seven artists competing in the final of UMK is as follows:

  1. Robin Packalen – “Girls Like You“
  2. KUUMMA – “Ylivoimainen” (Overpowered)
  3. Käärijä  – “Cha Cha Cha“
  4. Keira – “No Business on the Dancefloor“
  5. Benjamin – “Hoida mut” (Take care of me)
  6. Lxandra – “Something to Lose“
  7. Portion Boys – “Samaa taivasta katsotaan” (We look at the same sky)

On an announcement made yesterday, the public broadcaster of Finland, revealed the seven countries that the international jury will be consisted of. These are:

  • Australia 
  • Germany
  • Poland
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom 

The national final will take place in February 25. UMK 2023 will be broadcasted live from Turku with Samu Haber as the host, while the winner and Finland’s representative in Eurovision 2023 will be determined by 25% internationla jury vote and 75% public vote.

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

Finland: The International Juries of UMK 2023!

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A little while ago, the Finnish broadcaster announced the 7 countries that will make up the International Juries for the UMK 2023 final. These are:

  • Australia
  • Germany
  • Poland
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom
  • Ukraine

The international juries that will have a 25% say in the results of UMK 2023 have been announced.

The running order of the 7 artists who will compete in the UMK 2023 final is as follows:

  1. Robin Packalen – “Girls Like You“
  2. KUUMMA – “Ylivoimainen” (Overpowered)
  3. Käärijä  – “Cha Cha Cha“
  4. Keira – “No Business on the Dancefloor“
  5. Benjamin – “Hoida mut” (Take care of me)
  6. Lxandra – “Something to Lose“
  7. Portion Boys – “Samaa taivasta katsotaan” (We look at the same sky)

Yle also revealed some information about the commentary of UMK 2023. There will be commentary in eight different languages (Finnish, Swedish, English, English, Russian, Northern Sami and Inari Sami), sign language commentary provided by Miguel Peltomaa and for the first time there will be commentary in Ukrainian provided by Galyna Sergeyeva.

The national final is scheduled to take place on February 25th. UMK 2023 will be held in Turku with Samu Haber as the host, while the winner and Finland’s representative at Eurovision 2023 will be determined 25% by the international jury voting and 75% by the public vote.

Here you can enjoy the Eurovisionfun team on the reaction video for the UMK 2023 entries:

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

Portion Boys: “Expect a high energy performance with surprises!”

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The Portion Boys are participating in this year’s national final of Finland, UMK 2023 with the track “Samaa taivasta taksanas” and a few days ago they spoke exclusively to Eurovisionfun, specifically to Apostolis Matamis and Apostolοs Bogiannos, about their participation and their plans for the national final.

After getting to know all five band members, we chatted about their decision to take part in this year’s Finnish national final!

“Last year we wrote the song and immediately knew that it would fit UMK, and we felt that this was the right time! Now Finland is ready for us, we are ready for her and hopefully all of Europe!”

Regarding the song with which they participate in this year’s national final, they told us:

“Life is not that serious and you can enjoy it the way you want! We want to make the audience feel happy through our song.

“Our message is that we are all different but equal! In our own unique way, we use humor as a tool to convey the very important message of our song.”

Regarding the references to other countries in the song’s lyrics, the band revealed that it was a way to include more people as they also liked the word “Acropolis” very much and wanted it in the song. Also, many countries and regions did not manage to get into the song but on the other hand they have received messages that their song also has an educational function for many young children.

“Among the countries there is also Hungary, which does not participate in Eurovision either! So we’re not using the countries to necessarily win votes, but of course we’d like the public’s votes!”

For their stage appearance, the Portion Boys revealed to us:

“Expect a lot of energy from us and a lot of surprises!“

They stated that their favorite Finnish participation is Lordi (Finland 2006) and Blind Channel (Finland 2021), while as their favorite participation of the competition they mentioned Loreen from Sweden, Dana International from Israel and the Moldovan participation from 2010 with the viral sax-guy!

Enjoy the full interview of Portion Boys below:

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

Finland: The running order of UMK 2023!

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A few minutes ago Finland‘s national broadcaster Yle announced the line-up of artists who will compete for the ticket to Liverpool and Finland’s representation at Eurovision 2023.

The running order of the 7 artists who will compete in the UMK 2023 final is as follows:

  1. Robin Packalen – “Girls Like You“
  2. KUUMMA – “Ylivoimainen” (Overpowered)
  3. Käärijä  – “Cha Cha Cha“
  4. Keira – “No Business on the Dancefloor“
  5. Benjamin – “Hoida mut” (Take care of me)
  6. Lxandra – “Something to Lose“
  7. Portion Boys – “Samaa taivasta katsotaan” (We look at the same sky)

Yle also revealed some information about the commentary of UMK 2023. There will be commentary in eight different languages (Finnish, Swedish, English, English, Russian, Northern Sami and Inari Sami), sign language commentary provided by Miguel Peltomaa and for the first time there will be commentary in Ukrainian provided by Galyna Sergeyeva.

UMK executive producer Anssi Autio confirmed that two international broadcasts of UMK 2023 will be available, one from Spanish Ten TV and one from Dutch OUTtv.

The national final is scheduled to take place on February 25th. UMK 2023 will be held in Turku with Samu Haber as the host, while the winner and Finland’s representative at Eurovision 2023 will be determined 25% by the international jury voting and 75% by the public vote.

Source: Yle, Yle

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!