Ahead of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2026, we had the chance to speak to Sinikka Monte, one of the seven finalists this year.
We spoke to Sinikka about her connection to Finland while growing up in Austria, coming into UMK as an unknown name and how her UMK entry โReady to Leaveโ was written.
Thank you Sinikka for talking to us and good luck in UMK 2026!
UMK 2026 will take place on February 28 in Nokia Arena in Tampere. The winner will represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna. The seven competing entries are:
- Etta โ โMillion Dollar Smileโ
- Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen โ โLiekinheitinโ (Flamethrower)
- Komiat โ โLululaiโ
- Sinikka Monte โ โReady to Leaveโ
- Antti Paalanen โ โTakatukkaโ (Mullet)
- CHACHI โ โCherry Cakeโ
- Kiki โ โRakkaudenkipeeโ (Lovesick)
Erika Vikman represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with โIch kommeโ. Finland finished 11th in the final scoring 196 points. Finland received 12 points from the Austrian jury and received 10 points from the public in Sweden, Australia and Estonia.
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 โnul pointsโ three times. It wasnโt until 2006 that Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi represented the country in Athens with the song โHard Rock Hallelujahโ scoring 292 points, a record total at the time.
