Finland: YLE opens submission window for UMK 2022

Finland: YLE opens submission window for UMK 2022
Wednesday, 01 September 2021

  • The Finnish broadcaster, YLE, has opened the songs submission window for next year's Eurovision national final, UMK 2022. 

    YLE,  is sticking with the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) format in order to select the Eurovision 2022 representative.This will be the 11th edition of UMK which continues for another year, especially after this years record breaking numbers of viewers for the national final  but also for the contest itself combined with Blind Channel's good placing in Rotterdam which was Finland’s second-best result in the contest.

    Thus, all interest acts to represent Finland at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Italy must send in their applications until September 6, 2021

     

    The primary condition for participating in the Finnish national selection accroding to YLE rules are:

    • The contestant may only enter the competition with a previously unpublished song.
    • The demo must be delivered to Yle between the 1st and the 6th of September. Only demos that arrive on time and comply with these rules are accepted in the competition.
    • At least one songwriter and one lead singer must have a Finnish citizenship or a permanent residence in Finland.
    • All the performers participating in the competition must be 16 years old by May 1, 2022 (tentative date, changes possible). This age restriction does not apply to songwriters. Permanent Yle employees cannot participate in the competition as performers.
    • The song must not exceed three (3) minutes.
    • The broadcasted stage show must not exceed six persons. Yle has the executive right to decide the performing line-up as well as the show’s content.
    • The song can be performed in any language. The winner of the competition must note that according to EBU rules, the lyrics of the song must not be political or offensive, and must not contain swear words or trademarks.
    • All televised performances are singback with instrumental backgrounds. The instrumental backgrounds must be submitted to Yle by the 29th of October 2021.

    You can check out all of the rules released by YLE also HEREThe winner will be chosen in the live broadcasted UMK final in February 2022. The final result of the competition is decided by the combined audience and jury vote result.

     

    Finland in Eurovision

    Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 53 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah". The country's best result before then was achieved by Marion Rung with the song "Tom Tom Tom" in 1973, which placed sixth.

    Finland has finished last in the contest eleven times, receiving "nul points" in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final eight times. In 2014, the country had its best result in eight years when Softengine finished 11th. In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision entry, "Aina mun pitää" performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät.

    In 2020 Aksel won the national final with the song “Looking Back”.  As the competition was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic he never reached the Eurovision stage in Rotterdam. 

    This year the rock band Blind Channel triumphed in UMK 2021 with their song 'Dark Side' and went off defending the Finnish colors in Rotterdam, where they achieved the country's second best result finishing 6th with 301 points in the overall score. 

    News Source/Image: YLE