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Finland: Submissions for UMK 2023 have officially opened!

With the official Eurovision season starting today, September 1st, Finland announces the opening of song submissions for its national final UMK, which will be used again in 2023 to determine the Finnish entry in our beloved contest.

Finland’s broadcaster Yle, in particular, has published the following submission rules:

  • Song demos (which must not have been previously released) must be sent to Yle between September 1st and 5th
  • A singer can send up to three entries, but only one will be considered for participation in the national final
  • Any other members of a participating singer’s team/band, such as composers, songwriters, can participate with multiple artists
  • At least one songwriter and one singer must be a Finnish citizen or a permanent resident of Finland
  • Entries must comply with EBU rules (no longer than three minutes, no offensive lyrics etc.)
  • A panel of experts will select the songs that will finally compete at UMK 2023. All selected participants must send the final version of their song by November 3rd.
  • The UMK 2023 final will be held in February 2023. The winner will be decided by a combination of jury and public voting.

Song submissions for the Finnish selection are therefore open until September 5th. Who will succeed The Rasmus, who took the 21st place in Eurovision 2022?

https://youtu.be/LSi9nfr65FE

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding Eurovision 2023!

Source: Eurovoix

Finland: The Rasmus’ staging in Turin to include flying props!

The official account of UMK, the finnish national final, controlled by the public broadcaster YLE, has just brought to light information about The Rasmus‘ performance and staging in Turin via a Twitter post.

The post emphasizes that the band’s appearance on the Eurovision stage will be very different from their appearance in the finnish national final, which took place in February. In addition, many props in the air will be used, as they also seem to be referring to balloons.

https://twitter.com/Yle_UMK/status/1510968531688562690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1510968531688562690%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Feurovisionfun.com%2F2022%2F04%2FCF86CEB9CEBDCEBBCEB1CEBDCEB4CEAFCEB1-CEBCCEB5-props-CF83CF84CEBFCEBD-CEB1CEADCF81CEB1-CEB7-CEB5CEBCCF86CEACCEBDCEB9CF83CEB7-CF84CF89CEBD%2F

Below you can watch the band’s performance in the finnish national final UMK:

https://youtu.be/XtMfCf3vFbc

We remind you that Finland will be opening the second semi-final on May 12th.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding the Finnish entry in Eurovision 2022!

Finland: The Rasmus is representing the country in Eurovision 2022! | The Rasmus at the winner’s press conference!

The grand final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, the national final of Finland, has just been completed, with the country choosing The Rasmus as the festival’s winner and therefore their representative for Eurovision 2022 in Turin. Finland used the same show to pick their representative for yet another year since 2012.

A total of seven finalists, that were picked among 312 submitted songs from more than 1000 songwriters, competed in the national final, claiming the ticket to Turin.

The seven artists:

The seven candidates of the night were:

  1. The Rasmus – Jezebel
  2. Isaac Sene – Kuuma Jäbä
  3. Olivera – Thank God I’m An Atheist
  4. BESS – Ram pam pam
  5. Younghearted – Sun numero
  6. Cyan Kicks – Hurricane
  7. Tommi Läntinen – Elämä kantaa mua

 

The results was decided by 25% international jury vote and 75% televote.

The Results:

Juries (50%)

  • The Rasmus – 68
  • Isaac Sene – 28
  • Olivera – 46
  • BESS – 56
  • Younghearted – 40
  • Cyan Kicks – 52
  • Tommi Läntinen – 4

Public vote (50%)

  • The Rasmus – 242
  • Isaac Sene – 99
  • Olivera – 121
  • BESS – 184
  • Younghearted – 51
  • Cyan Kicks – 169
  • Tommi Läntinen – 52

After the public and the international juries voted were combined, the results of the national final are:

  1. The Rasmus – 310
  2. Cyan Kicks – 221
  3. Bess – 204
  4. Olivera – 167
  5. Isaac Sene – 127
  6. Younghearted – 91
  7. Tommi Läntinen – 56

The big winner of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2022 were The Rasmus with the song “Jezebel“.

You can watch The Rasmus’ performance in the national final here:

The Winner’s Press Conference:

The winners of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2022, The Rasmus, were taken to a press conference after their victory. They were asked about their plans for Eurovision and their participation in UMK 2022.
What they said was that they look forward to performing together with last year’s winners, Måneskin. They added that it’s great that rock music is getting better and better and it’s getting bigger in the contest each year. Lastly, the lead singer, Lauri Ylönen, revealed that it is long time dream for their fans to see them performing in UMK.

Do you agree with Finland’s choice of representative for Turin? Tell us in the comments!

Finland: Broadcaster Yle states they won’t participate if EBU allows Russia’s participation in Turin!

The developments regarding Russia’s participation in Eurovision 2022 and the rest of the countries’ reactions are truly rapid. Following the statements of the public broadcasters of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, the broadcaster of Finland (Yle) also asks the EBU not to allow the participation of Russia, while going one step further, stating that in case Russia’s participation is eventually allowed, then they are not going to send their own representative to Turin!

Russia’s attack on Ukraine runs counter to all the values ​​represented by Yle and other European broadcasters. Yle has always defended western democracy, the rule of law, freedom of expression and human dignity. Yle can not take part in an event where Russia, which has blatantly attacked these values, can use one of Europe’s best-known brands to promote its own interests. We hope the EBU will act in accordance with its values.

Yle

Finland is due to select its representative for Eurovision 2022 tomorrow, Saturday, February 26th.

For the countries that have already spoken up against Russia’s participation in Eurovision 2022, you can refer to our previous article.

We remind you that the EBU, at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, stated the following:

The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political – cultural event that unites countries and celebrates differences through music. EBU members in both Russia and Ukraine have pledged to attend this year’s event in Turin and we intend to welcome them and let artists from both countries participate in May. Of course, we continue to monitor developments closely.

EBU

What will the EBUs reaction be after the pressure it’s receiving from several of its members? What will the final decision on Russia’s participation in Eurovision 2022 be?

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!

Finland: The running order of UMK 2022!

Finnish broadcaster YLE announced today the running order of the finnish national final for Eurovision 2022, UMK 2022.

The running order is as follows:

  1. The Rasmus – Jezebel
  2. Isaac Sene – Kuuma Jäbä
  3. Olivera – Thank God I’m An Atheist
  4. BESS – Ram pam pam
  5. Younghearted – Sun numero
  6. Cyan Kicks – Hurricane
  7. Tommi Läntinen – Elämä kantaa mua

The big favorite for the win according to the odds, The Rasmus, are the ones opening the show, while the one to close it is Tommi Läntinen.

We remind you that UMK 2022 will be held on Saturday, February 26th, at 20:00 CET!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding Finland’s participation in Eurovision 2022.

Finland: The artists for UMK 2022!

Finnish public television, YLE, has announced the seven candidates to compete in UMK 2022, the country’s selection for Eurovision 2022.

312 songs were submitted to claim Finland’s representation in Turin. In total, more than 1,000 people participated in the creation of the songs that were sent to the YLE’s offices. Led by Tapio Hakanen, the music director of YleX, the UMK-Raad, made up of music professionals, had the demanding job of selecting seven songs and artists for the 2022 competition.

The candidates of UMK2022

The seven candidates are:

  • Cyan Kicks – Hurricane
  • Bess – Ram pam pam
  • The Rasmus – Jezebel
  • Younghearted – Sun numero
  • Olivera – Thank God I’m an Atheist
  • Tommi Läntinen – Elämä kantaa mua
  • Isaac Sene – Kuuma jäbä

 

Like last year, every day from January 13, one of the seven songs of the National Final with Lyric Video will be released.

In detail, the dates for the publication of this year’s entries are as follows:

  • January 13 (Cyan Kicks – Hurricane)
  • January 14 (Bess – Ram pam pam)
  • January 17 (The Rasmus – Jezebel)
  • January 18 (Younghearted – Sun numero)
  • January 19 (Olivera – Thank God I’m an Atheist)
  • January 20 (Tommi Läntinen – Elämä kantaa mua)
  • January 21 (Isaac Sene – Kuuma jäbä)

UMK 2022 will take place on February 26 at Logomo in Turku.

Finland last year with the Blind Channel and the song Dark Side returned to the top ten 15 years after their first and only victory in the contest.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Finland’s participation in Eurovision 2022!

Source: YLE

Finland: Here are the clues for the sixth artist!

The Finnish national broadcaster has published more clues about the contestants for the national final UMK.  Now it is time to start guessing who will be the sixth contestant in the Finnish national final for Eurovision. Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu’s official Instagram gave us the following clues:

  • You know him!
  • Known from reality-show
  • He has published his biography

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη UMK22 (@uudenmusiikinkilpailu)

The first estimates speak of the Finnish pop singer Kaija Koo. We will mention for the second time the singer of Sunrise Avenue, Samu Haber since they both seem to meet the conditions!

Yle will announce all the contestants for UMK 2022 on January 12.  After that we will get to know each competing song every day starting from January 13.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more updates regarding Finland’s participation in Eurovision.

Will international viewers be able to watch the American Song Contest live?

There are only a few weeks left until the first ever American Song Contest  takes place and more and more fans around the globe are wondering whether they will be able to watch the show live in their countries.

The Finnish public television Yle currently hosts a subsection dedicated to the American Song Contest but no further official information, such as the dates of the broadcast or whether it is being commented in Finnish or not, has been given.

Rumors have it that as a consequence of EBU being strongly connected to the American Song Contest, the copyrights of broadcasting the Contest will be shared through its members, yet nothing has been stated officially as for now.

The show will kickoff on Saturday, 21 February 2022 on NBC.

Entries from all the 50 States, Washington D.C., and the 5 Territories will be allocated into three qualifying rounds. The qualifiers will then proceed into the semi-finals and lastly those who will manage to get into the Grand Final will have to compete for the people’s vote to be crowned as the “Best Original Song” of America.

Source: Eurovoix

Finland: Blind Channel participates in UMK 2021 because of the pandemic!

Blind Channel, the metal rock band, which is the big favorite to represent Finland in Eurovision 2021, opened its papers at Eurovision Buddies! They explain the meaning of the Dark Side, the reasons that led them to participate in UMK 2021, but also their goal in Eurovision, if of course they are selected. Although they say they can not reveal much about their stage appearance, they claim that it will be explosive and will be the biggest thing they have ever done!

Dark Side is very different from what other artists have. That’s why it has become so successful and I really like it!

Finland: Listen to Ilta’s song for UMK 2021!

Moments ago the Finnish broadcaster YLE released the seventh song of UMK, the country’s national final for Eurovision 2021. It is the song of Ilta, Kelle mä soitan.

Ilta’s moving ballad, Kelle mä soitan (“Who Will I Call”) is a specific depiction of what it is like to live in loneliness.

Ilta Elina Fuchs was born in 1997 in Finland. She became famous through her song Sillat (“Bridges”) in a duet with Finnish rap Cheek. Last fall, Ilta released Näitä hetkiä varten’s debut album (“For These Moments”). As a little girl, Ilta sang songs that had a strong presence and a sensitive core, and she wants her music to have the same effect on her audience. Ilta has been thinking for a long time, if she would participate in UMK. In the end, the opportunity to sing to everyone in Finland and the opportunity to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest to an audience of over 180 million people overcame any hesitation.

You could be in the middle of a crowd and feel incredibly alone. It’s one of the most difficult emotions a person can have as we connect with others. I hope my song can offer everyone a little hope and comfort, whether they feel lonely or not. Although it does not contain an explicit message of survival, I hope it can make people feel that they are not alone.

The seven artists who will claim the golden ticket to Rotterdam are:

Oskr – Lie
Teflon Brothers x Pandora – I Love You
Danny – Sinä päivänä kun kaikki rakastaa mua
Laura – Play
Aksel – Hurt
Blind Channel – Dark Side
Ilta – Kelle mä soitan

The songs that will compete in the grand final of UMK 2021, which will be held on February 20, will be announced one every day, as follows:

January 14 – Oskr – Lie
January 15 – Teflon Brothers x Pandora – I Love You
January 18 – Danny – Sinä päivänä kun kaikki rakastaa mua
January 19 – Laura – Play
January 20 – Aksel – Hurt
January 21 – Blind Channel – Dark Side
January 22 – Ilta – Kelle mä soitan

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news regarding Finland’s participation in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest to be held in May in the Netherlands.