Lake Ismo Puljujärvi
UMK’s finals week has only just begun, but you still come across an age-old reflection on social media, writes Ismo Puljujärvi, editor of Iltalehti.
Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius perform the Liekinheitin song at the UMK final. Elle Laitila
The final of the new music competition will take place this Saturday in Tampere. In social and coffee table discussions, speculation has started again about who might win or who should be sent to Eurovision.
Some have also seemed to be annoyed by the order of performances. The finale will be opened by the iskelmä band Komiat and the last of the evening will be the violinist Linda Lampenius and the singer Pete Parkkonen.
The duo is the biggest advance favorite of the competition according to bettors. Has the duo been given a huge advantage in terms of competition?
There isn’t.
Of course, the two previous winners, Windows95man and Erika Vikman, appeared last in the UMK final. However, I dare to claim that the order of appearance has no significance in terms of the final result.
Why did this?
There are only seven competition shows, and they are broadcast pretty much continuously, if you don’t count interludes and a few jokes from the presenters. Also, the voting does not start until after the last performance, but the viewer can already vote during the first competition performance. Because of this, the viewer does not have to “pledge”, but can vote from the seat while watching the show.
Recently, there has also been a lot of talk about how Finland is the number one winner in betting statistics. First place, of course, hurts self-esteem, because Finland has been very far from the top during its wisdom history.
At this point, however, it is good to keep your feet firmly on the ground.
More than half of this year’s songs have yet to be chosen, so the competition is still completely open to everyone.
