Finland: Listen to Aksel's UMK 2021 entry "Hurt"

Finland: Listen to Aksel's UMK 2021 entry
Wednesday, 20 January 2021

  • YLE, the Finnish broadcaster, has released Aksel's  UMK 2021 competing entry titled "Hurt".

    The fifth entry of the upcoming Finnish national final for Eurovision 2021, Uuden Musiikin Kipailu (UMK) , has gone public. It was time for YLE to release the entry of last year's winner and ESC hopeful ,  Aksel Kankaanranta's song titled 'Hurt'.

    Although his UMK 2020 victory did not take him to Rotterdam, as the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 outbreak, Aksel return to the national final more experienced and continuing on the English-language line. Hurt is a sensitive and powerful song that reminds you not to let anyone’s outer shell fool you.

    Aksel says on his entry: 

    "A person may be really ill, even if from the outside it seems that everything is fine. If you hurt yourself, you hurt your loved ones as well. Maybe the song is also a story that the sun doesn't have to present anyone other than what you expect."

    The song's author's team includes Gerard O'Connell , who wrote songs for Kylie Minogue , Dua Lipa and Rita Ora , the popular Ida Paul and Kalle Lindroth duo and, for example, Kalle Lindroth who is known for Antti Tuisku's hits, and Joonas Anger, who worked on Aksel's last year's successful song .

     

    A few words for Aksel

    Aksel Kankaanranta  was born on  28 January 1998 in Turku. In 2017 he participated in the Voice of Finland at finished in second place. 

    Aksel Kankaanranta was scheduled to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with the song ''Looking Back'' after winning the Finnish national selection Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, but then on 18 March, it was cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

    Last year Aksel released his first single in Finnish “Muista kuka oot”. Currently he has two record deals, one for his music in English and another for the music in Finnish. Aksel was among the nominees released by the radio station YleX as the breakthrough artist of 2021 in Finland.

    Listen below to Aksel's UMK 2021 entry: 

     

    All UMK 2021 entries are going public on digital platforms, YLE’s streaming service, Youtube and Spotify on daily basis from 14-22 January. With five songs already gone public 2 remain to be released. 

    The following seven acts will take part in the Finnish national final : 

    1. Oskr - Lie
    2. Teflon Brothers X Pandora - I love you
    3. Danny - Sinä Päivänä Kun Kaikki Rakastaa Mua
    4. Laura - Play
    5. Aksel - Hurt
    6. Blind Channel - Dark Side
    7. Ilta - Kelle Mä Soitan

    The national final will take place on February 20 and the final outcome will be determined by public and jury voting. The final will be held at Tampere Mediapolis' TV studios, and will be aired live on Yle TV1 and Yle Areena.

    News Source: Yle.fi