Preview: UMK Final in Finland
February starts off in style, with no fewer than seven televised events going on all around the Eurosphere on Saturday alone. Among them are two actual song/artist selections: Switzerland’s Entscheidungsshow and Finland’s Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu. We’ll also be seeing heats and semifinals in Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, and last year’s hosts Sweden. It’s a lot of ground to cover, so let’s start with the goings-on in Finland.
The Barona Arena, normally home to the Espoo Blues Hockey Team, shifts its focus to music on Saturday evening as eight songs duke it out for the right to follow Krista Siegfrids into the Finnish ESC history books. Surviving a pair of heats and a Second Chance round, the songs range in style from alt-rock to folk-pop to soulful ballads to upbeat dance-pop, with two songs in Finnish and six in English. Tomorrow’s candidates are:
- Softengine – “Something Better“
- Hannah Sky – “Hope“
- MIAU – “God/Drug“
- Lauri Mikkola – “Going Down“
- Madcraft – “Shining Bright“
- Mikko Pohjola – “Sängyn reunalla (On the Edge of the Bed)”
- Clarissa feat. Josh Standing – “Top of the World“
- Hukka ja Mama – “Selja (Elder)”
The show can be watched via the Eurovision.tv live stream, starting at 20:00 CET.
It appears that many polls seem to be pointing towards a win by either Softengine or Mikko Pohjola, but it should be noted that the last three winners of Finland’s National Final (Paradise Oskar, Pernilla Karlsson, and Krista Siegfrids) have been members of the country’s Swedish community, which might signal a bit of a push for Clarissa and Josh. The decision will be made via a split jury/public vote, so we shall see who’ll carry the Finnish hopes to the other edge of the Baltic.
Posted on February 1, '14, in 2014, Finland and tagged eurovision, finland, UMK, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
The ESC Insider 
Oh my god, this is the strongest Eurovision-related event that I’ve ever been privileged to follow. Out of 20, the 12 songs averaged a score of 17. That’s insane! I could make a case for all eight of the remaining entries to go to Copenhagen. By this time tomorrow, I’ll probably be emotionally and physically drained, no matter the result. My top;
1) MadCraft (love, love, love! One of two big finds of the season, along with France’s Twin Twin)- 20/20
2) Softengine (I’m predicting them to win but holding out hope for my favorites!)- 20/20
3) Mikko Pojhola – 20/20
4) Hukka ja Mama – 19/20
5) Clarissa feat. Josh Standing – 18/20
6) Jasmin -17/20 (unjustly? eliminated)
7) MIAU – 17/20
8) Lili Lambert – 16/20
9) Hanna Sky -15/20
10) Lauri Mikkola – 15/20
11) MAKEA – 14/20
12) Dennis Fagerström – 8/20 (had this never been entered, the average would’ve been even more insane.)
Just to put that in to perspective, out of 30 Hungarian songs, the highest score is an 18. In the 20 songs for Eesti Laul, there’s one 20 and two 19s. In Malta, the highest score is 15. This is the year that UMK and Finland’s luck will change. Kiitos Suomi! 😀
While it may not be so surprising that the Finnish audience is decidedly less impressed with its national Final than others, the degree of difference in opinion is kind of funny.
Top 3 prediction:
1. Hanna Sky
2. Mikko Pohjola
3. Softengine