Entertainment legend Danny, 82, shares his opinion on this year’s UMK finalists.
Erika Vikman’s UMK song Ich komme will be published on January 17. Pete Anikari
This year’s UMK competitors were announced on Wednesday. UMK’s victory and the place of Finland’s Eurovision representative are competing Neea River, Nelli Matula, It costs, DelayOne Morning Left, Goldielocks and Erika Vikman. The winner of the competition will represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland in May.
The announcement was also watched by an entertainment legend from his home sofa Dannywho is now giving his opinion on the New Music competition and the artists competing in it.
– Yesterday I watched the presentation of the new competing artists, and quite unknown greats are there, if you can say so, Danny says to Iltalehte.
– I didn’t know an awful lot of them during the introduction phase.
Of course, he knows one very well: ex-partner Erika Vikman is participating in the competition for the second time.
This year Vikman’s song Ich komme means “I’m coming” in German. According to the star himself, the song has a message emphasizing sexuality and pleasure.
Danny has strong faith in Erika’s abilities.
– It’s a wild, thought-out thing, he says.
Vikman’s song will be released on January 17. Danny hasn’t heard it beforehand, but he’s excited about the whole thing.
– I have understood that Erika hired a new team of authors to make this song. He chose the German name “I will come”, which can be interpreted in several ways. It’s quite funny, because I don’t remember that a German name for a song or a text with German lyrics had been chosen before, he praises.
Danny has tried to represent Finland in Eurovision three times, most recently in 2021. PETRI KOKKO / BONIMAGE
– It is of course taking a risk, but it can also be a good thing when you think about what is interesting in Europe. I wish Erika the best of success. Few singers have such thorough training in this field.
Erika Vikman participated in UMK for the first time in 2020 with a song Cicciolinaand came second.
Danny himself has tried to represent Finland in Eurovision three times, most recently at UMK in 2021.
The entertainment legend feels that the artist’s path to wisdom has changed a lot over the years, which is only a good thing.
– Originally, the record company sent its singers to this Yleisradio competition, and for years there were pretty much the same soloists. Now Yle is working on these issues himself and has taken on greater responsibility for the artists. Yle invests more in the competition now, and a huge number of new people, who are worked by Yle’s machinery, can join, he estimates.