Yle, the Finnish national broadcaster has revealed that the final of UMK 2021 will be held on February 20.
UMK 2021 will take place in the Mediapolis Studios in Tampere for the second year in a row. According to Anssi Autio, producer of UMK, the show may take place without an audience depending on what COVID-19 restrictions are in place at the time.
“Plan B is to not have an audience on site in Tampere, only the participants and a minimum number of staff. But the winner will be crowned in any case.”
The submission window for UMK 2021 opened today and will remain open until September 1. 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 finalists will be selected by an expert jury of music professionals and will be revealed in January. Tapio Hakanen, music manager of YleX, will chair the jury again.
“UMK connects Finns with music by offering one of the biggest TV shows of the year. Every spring, we all have the music experts who want to be involved in influencing how and by whom Finland is represented at Eurovision Song Contest – the world’s largest music show. UMK offers all artists the opportunity to rise to a new level in their careers, as well as songwriters the opportunity to have their songs heard by 180 million viewers. I am looking forward to what kind of songs we get this year.”
Aksel Kankaanranta was set to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. He won UMK 2020 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 in the Eurovision Song Contest
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.
