Mari Pudas
A surprise might win the New Music Competition, writes journalist Mari Pudas.
Erika Vikman’s Ich komme song will be released on Friday. The authors of the song are also Chisu and Jori Sjöroos. Pete Anikari
The winner of the new music competition will be determined for sure at the UMK final on February 8. But in reality, the winner can come out as early as this week.
Five UMK songs have been published at the time of writing this story, and there are still more to be published by Erika Vikman and songs from Goldielocks.
The metalcore band One Morning Left’s song Puppy, released today, went from being a one-off to becoming a favorite at UMK. The song strongly divides opinions, some dislike and say that Puppy is like being acquired from Temu Cha Cha Cha (sadly said, of course). Some love it, so at least you can’t talk about a lukewarm song.
It is certain that the humorous, heavier style Puppy is exactly the kind of UMK song that gets Finnish viewers an avalanche of voices. Finns love humorous, heavier-style songs in these keralas, which undoubtedly stand out.
It’s a different matter how Puppy would perform on the Basel stage, but at this point it’s hard to judge, as few countries have released their own representative album and the success of the songs is always proportional to each other.
Puppy is a strong candidate to win the UMK. Pete Anikari
Vikman, who will release the song Ich komme on Friday, got the pre-favorite cloak as soon as the UMK artists were revealed, after all, he is more famous than the other UMK artists combined and has established his place at the heart of the Finnish music world.
He gained international recognition at UMK five years ago, when he was destined to finish second. And second place is Erika’s danger even now.
Erika needs the song of her life to beat One Morning Left, that’s how strong OML looks at this point. Finns have a firm understanding that when they have done well with heavier music (Lordi, Blind Channel, Käärijä) in the past, they will continue to do well with it.
In 2020, Erika was the absolute advance favorite of UMK with her song Cicciolina. He created a direct hype and contributed to the fact that UMK became a completely believable and entertaining competition, where the front-line artists hug. With UMK, Erika’s career and popularity literally exploded and Erika became one of Finland’s most popular artists.
The fact that the UMK rules were changed when Cicciolina was not enough to win and Erika came in second also shows Erika’s influence. At that time, five years ago, both the votes of the judges and the public had equal weight. He took the win Aksel Kankaanranta and then the visas were cancelled.
UMK’s rules were changed. The weight of the jury was reduced and the share of public votes was emphasized. As of 2021, the weight of public votes has been 75 percent and that of councils 25 percent.
At this point, everything points to UMK becoming a duel between Erika and OML. Neither of them will necessarily get an overwhelming sound avalanche from Raade, but their voice might go to Viiv’s beautiful song Aina.
All the same, Erika’s Ich komme will be published on Friday, and then it will be clear who will represent Finland in Basel.
Or it will be like last year, and the live performance will turn everything upside down and the winner will be taken by surprise.