Comment | Three reasons why the list of alleged UMK artists is not true

Someone did it again.

Last weekend, a list of next year’s UMK artists spread on the discussion forums of Viusu fans. ESC United The picture published on the website shows eight artists. They are EBBE, Nyrkki-Kyllikki x LXST CXNTURY, Anna AbreuKIKI, Tom SaarioPoets of the Fall, Isaac Elliott and Lauri Haav.

UMK’s chief producer Anssi Autio agreed to comment on the matter to HS only by email.

“Fan speculation has always been a part of UMK’s spirit and of course we don’t want to get rid of it. From the perspective of production, it’s great that UMK is so interested,” Autio writes.

Autio says Mightily in the story that he is sure that the information has not spread within the UMK team. Autio does not comment on the veracity of the list. The executive producer also does not reveal when the finalists will actually be announced.

Although some of the artists who have been nominated are quite potential finalists, many other things on the list are doubtful.

Let’s go through three facts that show that the list is not at least completely true.

1. Time

Ever before, UMK lists have not been leaked to the media at such an early stage.

For example, this spring’s race times were shifted during January 2024. Names of alleged candidates in 2021 were revealed on the forums the day before the official announcement in January.

In the list that spread over the weekend, it says that the artists would have been confirmed on September 23rd.

Responsible for UMK’s song and artist selections Tapio Hakanen told recently for HSthat the artist selections will be made at the end of September. However, the final versions of the UMK songs will not be completed until the beginning of October.

So it would be strange if the lengths or names of the songs were known at this stage of the competition.

2. Content of the list

On the list there are entries that differ from the previous lists.

In the list circulated in January 2024, the names of the artists matched, but the songs did not. On top of the list was the watermark “Confidential – For Internal Use Only”.

The watermark of the list now circulating on discussion forums reads “embargo”.

In the bottom corner of the list is a reminder of Yle’s safe space principles:

“SAFE MODE NOTE! Every promoter must inform the artist about the principles of a safe space.”

In the summer, the principles of a safe space sparked discussion as part of it Lloyd Libison criticism Ylen towards diversity trainings. Libiso argued Ivan Puopolo In the YouTube video, that all Yle facilities have reminders of the principles of a safe space.

That’s why the reminder sounds like sarcasm aimed at the summer Yle discussion.

3. Attention

Doesn’t fit forget how much attention the UMK speculations have attracted in recent years.

In January, the nickname “Yle-täti”, which was allegedly leaked from the list, got a lot of attention with its antics. Afternoon papers guessed days of the month, who the mysterious Aunt Yle might be.

Also a well-known visu fan Mikko Wivolin brought it up on Tiktok on Wednesday.

He describes last spring’s leak as “a troll’s dream”. Who wouldn’t want to experience this kind of attention again, he states.

“I would be more surprised if such a list hadn’t appeared after the last race,” says Wivolin.

It has even been hinted on the discussion forums since the beginning of the week that Yle might be behind the leaked list. Wivolin himself does not suspect Yle, but considers sharing the lists as ingenious marketing.

“However, I don’t know if Yle should do that,” he reflects.

Wivolin considers the speculations related to the competition to be mainly a fun thought game. He recommends treating leaks with caution, but not too seriously.