UMK, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, the national selection of Finland for the Eurovision begins today and runs each weekend in February. Former Finnish representative, and bizarrely, 2016 Melodifestivalen act, Krista Siegfrids, is joined by Roope Salminen on hosting duties. The show will be streamed live on UMK’s official site starting at 20:00 CET.
Finland will be competing in Eurovision in Stockholm for the 50th time! In the past many Finnish entries have been rather drastically different from each other. One such tune, ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ won for Lordi in 2006. It was a rock tune (most obviously) that has been fair divisive for some, while for others it’s a perfect display of all that Eurovision offers: the chance for anyone to shine. Finland also brought punk to Eurovision last year, albeit to a lesser degree of success. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät failed to qualify for the final.
The diversity of Finnish music is as evident as ever this year, just take a look at the UMK website image:
We’re in for a fun contest. As previously reported by ESC+Plus, the songs for Heat 1 are:
- Saara Aalto – No Fear
- Mikko Herranen – Evil Tone
- Stella Christine – Ain’t got time for boys
- Eini – Draamaa
- ClemSO – Thief
- Pää-Äijät – Shamppanjataivas
Who do you think will win this year? Vote on the ESC+Plus poll and let us know in the comments!
