Blind Channel has just won UMK 2021 and will represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest next May. They will compete at Europe’s favourite TV show with the song ‘Dark Side’.
Seven acts took part in the final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2021, which was held without an audience. They were selected among all the 278 submissions received by an expert panel made up of Tapio Hakanen (Head of Music at YleX), Anssi Autio (UMK producer), Juha-Matti Valtonen (television director), Samuli Väänänen (Senior Editor at Spotify Finland), Mirva Merimaa (CEO of Tiketti), Katri Norrlin (YleX music editor), Jani Kareinen (YleX music editor), Johan Lindroos (Head of Music at Yle Radio Suomi) and Amie Borgar (Head of Music at Yle X3M).
This year’s UMK finalists were:
- 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 winner of UMK 2021 was selected by a combination of votes from the Finnish public (75%) and an international jury panel (25%) made up of members from The Netherlands, Spain, Iceland, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Poland and the USA.
What do you think about the Finnish winner? Let us know in comments!