Yle, the Finnish national broadcaster, has revealed that the winner of UMK 2026 will not be obliged to compete in Eurovision 2026.
Juha Lahti, Managing Director of Entertainment at Yle, revealed that the winner of UMK 2026 will not be forced to go to Eurovision if they are opposed Israel’s participation in the contest. A decision will be taken after the contest as to whether or not the winner of UMK 2026 will represent Finland in Vienna. Lahti explained:
“The winner will be determined on Saturday, and after that we will move ahead according to what happens. We will discuss the matter with the winner as soon as the contest is over. UMK’s main producer Anssi Autio and I will participate in the discussions. If big decisions have to be made, Jonnu Aho, Editor-in-Chief of Culture for Yle, will come along.
It’s really important to us that we’re with the artists on this journey from start to finish. The contestants know this. When the winner is determined, we will stand by them and discuss everything with them. In no case will the winner be left alone.
The artists have actually asked Yle to tell the rest of the media that they don’t want to talk about these political issues while the contest is in progress. Of course, the organisation of UMK does not have any say in what the participants should think about politics.”
Lahti also reaffirmed that UMK is following Yle’s policy on Eurovision:
“As far as the Eurovision Song Contest is concerned, UMK is following Yle’s official policy on participation. It boils down to four points: Yle will participate in Eurovision if security is taken care of, the number of participating broadcasters will remain large, and the costs will not increase unreasonably. In addition, Yle requires that the Eurovision organisers implement the agreed rule changes to ensure that the voting result cannot be manipulated.”
UMK 2026 will take place on February 28 in Nokia Arena in Tampere. The winner will have the option to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna. UMK will be held in Tampere for the fifth time and in the Nokia Arena, the largest indoor arena in Finland, for the third time.
The show will be hosted by Sami Sykkรถ, Jorma Uotinen, and Jasmin Beloued, and will feature guest performances from former Finnish Eurovision representatives Erika Vikman and Sonja Lumme.
The running order for UMK 2026 is as follows:
- Komiat โ โLululaiโ
- Etta โ โMillion Dollar Smileโ
- Kiki โ โRakkaudenkipeeโ (Lovesick)
- Antti Paalanen โ โTakatukkaโ (Mullet)
- CHACHI โ โCherry Cakeโ
- Sinikka Monte โ โReady to Leaveโ
- Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen โ โLiekinheitinโ (Flamethrower)
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.
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 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.
