Yle has confirmed that the final of UMK 2021 will be held in February, selecting the Finnish entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Finnish public broadcaster Yle has today released the rules for UMK 2021. The rules for the competition state that the Finnish final will be held in February, with the acts competing in the contest set to be revealed in January.
The submissions window for UMK 2021 will be open from September 1 to 7. The rules of the competition state that each singer may submit up to three songs, with composers, lyricists and songwriters able to submit an unlimited number of songs. At least one songwriter or singer must have Finnish citizenship or be a permanent resident in Finland.
The acts competing in UMK will be chosen by an expert panel that will select the singers and songs competing. In the final of UMK 2021 the winner will be determined by a combination of audience and jury voting.
Aksel Kankaanranta was set to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. He won UMK with the song ‘Looking Back’ and had been due to compete in the second half of the second semi-final. If Aksel wishes to compete at Eurovision 2021 he will have to submit a song into the selection process.
Image source: Yle / Source: Yle
Finland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961, they debuted alongside Spain and Yugoslavia. Finland has finished last in the contest on 10 occasions and has received ‘nul points’ three times. It wasn’t until 2006 that Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi represented the country in Athens with the song “Hard Rock Hallelujah” scoring 292 points, a record total at the time.
