Mari Pudas
The new music competition is exceptional this year, writes journalist Mari Pudas.
Cyan Kicks (front left,) Sini Sabotage, Sara Siipola, Jesse Markin (back left), Windows95man and Henri Piispanen, Mikael Gabriel, Sexmane and Nublu aim for UMK’s victory.
The new music competition will be held on Saturday, when it will be found out who will represent Finland at Eurovision in Malmö.
Compared to a few previous UMK, this year is exceptional. In 2021 the advance favorite was Blind Channel, in 2022 nothing threatened The Rasmus’ victory and everyone remembers how superior Käärijä was right from the moment his Cha Cha Cha – song was published.
2022 I wrote like this: Of course, there is nothing wrong with The Rasmus or the Jezebel song. The Rasmus was just too overwhelming. All along, it has been absolutely certain that The Rasmus will win over UMK. There was really no excitement at UMK this year. It’s a shame, because UMK is a competition.
This year is different, there are no early favorites for the back, which is a good thing in terms of the competition itself. Sara Siipola has opened up a bit of a gap with the others in the betting, but he is not an overwhelming pre-favourite either.
Siipola Shit is, so to speak, a basic five-piece, with which to go to the five-piece final. The danger is that it will be drowned in the mass of ballads in the Eurovision itself, because there are many ballads among the already selected songs.
Sara Siipola is UMK’s early favorite. PASI LEISMA
Siipola takes the votes of the council in UMK, but the battle is tougher when it comes to public votes.
The fiercest competition between Siipola, Mikael Gabriel & Nublu and Cyan Kicks.
Cyan Kicks has a tremendous will to win, two years ago when it finished second while The Rasmus took the win.
At that time, The Rasmus and Cyan Kicks both represented the so-called rock category, this year Cyan Kicks is the sole representative of that genre. And Finns love rock.
A song by Mikael Gabriel and Nublu Vox Populi is, on the other hand, a song that has previously sparked discussion due to the lyrics and conspiracy theory references.
The song also strongly divides opinions, which is not a bad thing.
The song has a strong chorus, which is left unheeded and spinning in your head. This will guarantee votes. According to unconfirmed information, the funny chorus is also liked by children.
Mikael Gabriel and Nublu are second in the betting. Elle Laitila
Children’s voices can also be heard with Windows95’s song No Rules. It too has a catchy chorus, but it’s hard to see it scoring much from the tracks. In UMK, the points of the judges have a weight of only 25 percent, but in a tight battle, every point counts.
And let’s not forget Sexmane, the artist who won the public vote for artist of the year at the Emma gala a year ago. He has a huge number of fans, and if they get excited to vote, maybe Sexmane will reach any height.
All the same, UMK is exceptionally even this year and does not dare to announce the winner in advance.
New music competition at 21:00 on TV1. Iltalehti follows UMK on site at Nokia Arena in Tampere.