The winner of UMK (used as National Final in Finland) this year is Windows95man with his song No Rules. The UMK24 winner was chosen by the votes of the Finnish people (75%) and points from the international jury (25%). Windows95man scored 313 points, and was chosen to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö in May 2024.
Windows95man is an embodiment of the 90s, who frees a once timid family man from his everyday life. It all started when Teemu Keisteri’s home videos on Youtube began to circulate all over the world. One of the videos even ended up in a commercial aired during an NHL game.
In 2013, a DJ gig the Flow Festival brought the character known as Windows95man to life. His artist costume consists of a pair of very cut-off shorts made by Keisteri’s friend and a Windows95 t-shirt ordered online. Since then, Windows95man has performed at Helsinki’s New Year’s celebration in 2022, as an opening act for Käärijä at the Helsinki Ice Hall and at numerous smaller events.
| Artist | Song | Jury | Points | Televote | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Windows95man | “No Rules!” | 28 | 285 | 313 |
| 2nd | Sara Siipola | “Paskana” | 70 | 203 | 273 |
| 3rd | Mikael Gabriel and Nublu | “Vox populi” | 42 | 136 | 178 |
| 4th | Cyan Kicks | “Dancing with Demons” | 48 | 80 | 128 |
| 5th | Jesse Markin | “Glow” | 34 | 76 | 110 |
| 6th | Sexmane | “Mania” | 34 | 74 | 108 |
| 7th | Sini Sabotage | “Kuori mua” | 38 | 27 | 65 |
Many have also come across his character, who is known for his wild and crazy stage performances, in a Youtube video, where he gets an entire planeload of passengers to lose control to Darude’s Sandstorm.
At UMK, Windows95man will be releasing his very first single, No Rules. The song title refers to the artist’s motto, which appears in both his music and other artistic productions. In addition to his DJ gigs, Keisteri is a visual artist who is known for his artist persona, Ukkeli: a representation of cultural phenomena.
Henri Piispanen is the singer in No Rules. Keisteri explains that the chorus of the song was so challenging that he had trouble finding a singer with enough technical skill to pull it off. Piispanen was the only one whose voice could go high enough.
“In my opinion, all Finns are a bit looney-tunes deep inside, and I wanted to bring that out more. Now I can share my music with an even bigger audience as well as spread the joyous message of No Rules”
Keisteri, Windows95man himself
Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest
The winner of UMK 24 will succeed Käärijä, who came close to the Eurovision crystal microphone, with a spectacular second place and his energetic “Cha cha cha” where he managed to sweep the televote with 376 points, leading by 133 points over Sweden, the second-placed country in that vote. However, it was insufficient with its fourth place in the jury with 150 points.
Finland has been participating in Eurovision since 1961, with a total of 51 participations throughout its history. With only one victory, achieved by Lordi and their legendary “Hard Rock Hallelujah”, it is the Nordic country with the most discreet record, as its only top 5 is the one achieved with its victory, with the sixth place being the country’s second best historical position, achieved by Blind Channel in 2021 and in 1973 with Marion Ruig and her “Tom, Tom, Tom”.