Eurovision | The UMK winner will be decided today, and the previously unknown Käärijä has become a clear early favorite

Turku

Today on Saturday, it will be found out which of the seven contestants will win the New Music Competition (UMK) and represent Finland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

The turmoil around UMK has seemed to be bigger again this year than in previous years, and the selection of Finland’s representative has also been eagerly awaited on international fan websites.

On betting sites, Finland has quickly risen to the ranks of early favorites this year after the UMK songs were published. Of course, at this point, betting positions still vary a lot, because many countries have not yet chosen their own visa representative.

In the boldest speculations, it has already been predicted that this could be the year when Finland even struggles to win the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Liverpool from the 9th to the 13th. May 2023. Last year’s Eurovision was won by Kalush Orchestra, which represented Ukraine, but due to the war situation, the European Broadcasting Union concluded that Eurovision cannot be held safely in Ukraine. After that, Britain, one of the sponsoring countries of Eurovision, took over the organizing responsibility.

UMK final will be held at Logomo in Turku from 21–23, and it will be broadcast live on TV1 and Yle Areena. You can also listen to the final on Radio Suomesi, YleX and Yle X3M. HS is on site to monitor the competition and will report on the events during the evening.

Seven competitors are vying for a place as Finland’s Eurovision representative.

The evening’s performance order is as follows: By Robin Packalen with a song Girls Like YouHot with a song Overpowered, Wrapper with a song Cha Cha Cha, Keira with a song No Business on the Dancefloor, Benjamin with a song Take care of me, Alexandra with a song Something to Lose and Portion Boys with a song We look at the same sky.

In advance by far the biggest pre-favorite to win is Käärijä, who was a name completely unknown to the general public even before the UMK competitors were announced.

Mass charm Cha Cha Cha -the artist who caused trouble with his song is an almost certain winner according to many betting sites, but the UMK finals have shown before that anything is possible. Cha Cha Cha has also been a huge hit on Spotify, where it has been listened to more than 3.7 million times before the finale.

Only a couple of seconds long clips of the contestants’ UMK performances have been published in advance on Yle’s social media account. On Friday, Käärijä’s performance caused an uproar among viusu fans beforehand, when the UMK announcer Mikko Silvennoinen described the exercises on his own social media after seeing that Käärijä’s performance is “insulting to the art of dance”.

Wrapper in addition, the band Kuumaa has collected the most listens on Spotify, which Overpowered-song has been the most listened to song in Finland in the last few days.

Awarded band of the year at the Emma gala, Johannes Brotherus, Jonttu Luhtavaaran and Aarni Soivion formed band has received a big boost from UMK. A previously released song by the band Fire is also currently at the top of the Spotify chart.

Many still consider it possible that the biggest name in the competition, Robin Packalen, will win UMK. Packalen’s song Girls Like You has, for example, fallen behind almost all other competition songs in the chart rankings, but Packalen’s strength is considered stage charisma and confidence as a performer.

UMK final hosted by a musician Samu Haber, who also appears in the evening’s show. In addition to Haber, the performances will be seen from last year’s UMK winner, The Rasmuk, as well as from the UMK song that became a huge success From Bess.

The Rasmus represented Finland in Eurovision Jezebel– with his song and reached 21st place in the final.

The UMK winner will be chosen again this year by the joint votes of the viewers and the international jury. The weight of the points given by the international jury is 25 percent for the final result, and the weight of public votes is 75 percent.

HS evaluates all UMK competition songs in advance. Here’s a summary of each song:

Girls Like You by Robin Packalen: “What bothers me the most about the song is that it has a little bit of everything. There are “auuuu” shouts and unnecessary sound effects, but the overall picture is mostly confused. At the same time, the melody is indifferent and the lyrics are boring even by the standards of verse songs. The whole time you wait for the song to start properly, and it doesn’t.”

Hot – Overwhelming: “Like Robin’s song Overpowered relies on interjections in his song, but here they work much better. Mood like Olavi Uusivirtan in a song, even a very good one. It’s easy to see the potential for a year-long radio hit in the superior one.”

Wrapper – Cha Cha cha: “Cha Cha Cha is the most memorable, original and successful of this year’s UMK songs. It’s not hard to see that inspiration has been heavily sought from the metalcore band Electric Callboy, who aspired to be Germany’s Eurovision representative last year, and especially from the song We Got the Movesbut when borrowing is done well, it becomes art.”

Keira – No Business on the Dancefloor: “The debut single of the youngest participant in the competition’s artist career is by no means a bad performance. It’s a go-go and steady dance song that will keep playing in your head. Keira’s voice is pleasant, and there is potential for a good stage show, as long as it is kept simple.”

Benjamin – Take care of me: “Take care of me represents this year’s UMK style in that the song is toasted hard. In the chorus, the tempo already accelerates to such a level that you can’t wait with interest to see how the vocal performance will turn out in the live broadcast. About the songs that go Take care of me belongs to this year’s UMK best team, and it’s easy to see that it can lead to one of the biggest hits of Benjamin’s career so far.”

Lxandra – Something to Lose: “Something to Lose differs in its genre, and as a vocal performance, the song is superior compared to the others. Lauded for her voice throughout her career, Lxandra deserves to be praised again. The soft voice is a pleasure to listen to, despite the little annoying mannerisms. The composition of the song is still a sad traditional Eurovision song.”

Portion Boys – We look at the same sky: “Back in 2016, Portion Boys could have been a viable alternative to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest with their nationalistic “na na na na” madness. Now I wonder why it was necessary to include this in UMK.”