Comment | The announcement of the UMK artists was an embarrassing mistake for Yle

This year's In the announcement of the UMK contestants, the biggest news was not the artists themselves.

Let's tell them at the beginning: Cyan Kicks are aspiring to be Finland's Eurovision representative in the New Music competition, Sex man, Sara Siipola, Jesse Mark's, Windows95 man and Henri Piispanen, Sini Sabotage mixed Mikael Gabriel and Nublu.

What was more interesting than the competitor coverage was that all the artists were already known in advance. One can talk about a data leak – UMK's chief producer could not deny that Anssi Autio or the chairman of the UMK council Tapio Hakanenka.

In December 2023 on the eurovision fans' forum, a credible and impressive list was published, which was claimed to be certain information about this year's UMK participants. At the top of the list it read Yle and on top of the paper was the watermark “Confidential – For Internal Use Only”.

The list quickly started to spread on various discussion platforms of Eurovision fans. For example, on the Eurovision channel of the anonymous chat app Jodel, there was a lot of debate about whether the list is really true.

Now there's no need to argue anymore. It had its place.

Like the cherry on top of the cake, Yle apparently managed to time his upcoming Instagram posts on the day of the UMK artists' announcement in such a way that they were revealed to cunning fans prematurely.

Among other things, in the message service X, hours before the official announcement of the artists, Yle's video clip was shared, in which all the artists and the names of their songs were revealed.

Of course, this is not the first time that UMK artists have leaked to the public before their time. Most recently, last year, the artists were revealed the day before the announcement. This year's leak was exceptionally bad: UMK artists were already known to those interested weeks before the actual announcement.

It was a shame, an embarrassing mistake.

On Wednesday At the UMK artists' announcement event, Autio and Hakanen had chosen the information line in which they admitted their annoyance but at the same time praised the fans' passion.

“All kinds of lists were circulating online, but then I came across one that was, so to speak, seven correct and an additional number on top. Of course, it was sad when I saw it, but at the same time you had to have a little respect for those who managed to dig up the information,” Autio said.

“I'm not saying I was happy when I saw that list. But on the other hand, you have to be happy that we have an incredibly passionate fan community. There is probably nothing like this anywhere else. Let's turn over all the stones and stumps,” said Hakanen.

Is leaking artists' names to the public in advance a serious matter? Not necessarily, but it's embarrassing for Yle. The aim is to create an annual massive spectacle from the announcement of UMK artists, which is fueled, among other things, by publishing special hints.

The creation of excitement suffers badly if a significant part of the core target group believes that they are already aware of the upcoming artists.

So it's no wonder that many fans were upset. Some demand that Yle be held accountable for their misdeeds.

According to Autio, next year Yle needs to refine its process again, so that the artists do not leak to the public in advance. What that means remains to be seen.

This year's Before hearing the songs, the UMK artist coverage can be considered quite flat. Last year's winner Wrapper the influence is undeniably seen in the fact that most of the participants are known as rap and hip-hop artists: this section includes Jesse Markin, Sexmane, Sini Sabotage, Mikael Gabriel and Nublu.

Of course, based on this, one cannot yet expect that their UMK song is rap. For example, Jesse Markin's music has been more towards rock in recent years. Mikael Gabriel and Nublu also told HS in an interview that their song is not primarily a rap song.

There is none included Danny's or Tommi Läntinen like a veteran artist with decades of experience. The hero section is represented by Jesse Markin and Mikael Gabriel, both still under forty. Of course, the rock band Cyan Kicks, participating in UMK for the second time in three years, is a kind of conker.

It is also difficult to say that this group is a very strong pre-favorite. For example, in 2022, The Rasmus' road to UMK victory looked strong from the start. This makes UMK very ticklish.

Windows95man, known as a humor character, can be considered a kind of wild card Teemu Keisteriwhich releases a song by a previously almost unknown singer Henri Piispanen with.

Keisteri himself admitted to HS that it is easy to see in his humorous character and underdog attitude the same attitude as Käärijä a year ago. How far it carries is a different matter.

Wholly its own chapter is how often the artists and Yle get to answer questions about Israel in the coming weeks and whether Israel's participation in Eurovision should be allowed while the Gaza war is ongoing.

At Wednesday's press conference, the artists' views on the matter varied. One of the seven, Sini Sabotage, said outright that he doesn't think Israel should be able to participate in Eurovision. The majority transferred responsibility for the decision to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

A clear line was chosen to emphasize that UMK is actually a separate competition and that UMK does not necessarily have much to do with Eurovision.

It can be considered a little naive to say the least.