Yle, the Finnish national broadcaster, has announced that Antti Tuisku will host UMK 2021.
Antti Tuisku first came to fame after finishing third on the first series of Idols in 2003. Since then, he has gone on to become one of Finland’s most successful artists. He has released 12 albums, six of which went to number one in the Finnish Album Chart and has had 11 singles reach number one on the Finnish Singles Chart.
This will be Antti’s first hosting role and he has said that it is a big honour and privilege to do so:
“Now that it is a jubilee year and a single special occasion, I dared to take up the challenge.”
Antti will also be performing as an interval act during the contest, alongside another yet to be named artist. This is not Antti’s first appearance at UMK, as he was an interval act during the 2015 contest. He has also not ruled out representing Finland at Eurovision some time in the future:
“I am by no means saying that I could never aspire to Eurovision as an artist. However, it should happen in a year when I could focus on it completely and that would be the most important thing at that moment.”
The final of UMK 2021 will take place in the Mediapolis Studios in Tampere on February 20. This is the first year since 2016 that Krista Siegfrids will not be hosting the contest. Commentary on the contest will be available in four languages online: Finnish (Mikko Silvennoinen), Swedish (Johan Lindroos and Eva Frantz), Russian, (Levan Tvaltvadze) and English.
In a change to the format, public voting will account for 75% of the overall result and the international juries will count for 25%. The winner will go on to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
The finalists of UMK 2021 are:
- Ilta – Kelle mä soitan (Who will I call)
- Laura – Play
- Oskr – Lie
- Teflon Brothers x Pandora – I Love You
- Aksel – Hurt
- Danny – Sinä päivänä kun kaikki rakastaa mua (The day when everyone loves me)
- Blind Channel – Dark Side
Source: YLE / Image source: YLE/Nelli Kenttä, Milla Määttä
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.
I will mis Krista Siegfrids