Finland: YLE reveals official pre-show voting stats and running order

We are now just two days away from the long-awaited national final in Finland. Once again Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) is YLE’s selection method. However, for 2017 there has been some changes. Instead of the competition lasting over multiple weeks, YLE have favoured a standalone final this time round. In addition, the Finnish broadcaster has introduced an international jury which will be responsible for 50% of the final results. The other 50% will be determined by the public vote, both televotes cast during the show and free online votes that have been cast during this month.

Online voting statistics… revealed!

As happened last year, the public have been able to vote online for free prior to the televised show. These votes are worth exactly the same as a phone vote will be worth during the show on Saturday. Last year, the online voting statistics were not revealed until after the show. However, today YLE published the current standings of the vote during a pre-show aired this afternoon. Check out the current standings below courtesy of YLE…

Analysing the different between the online votes and the votes cast during the final last year, it turns out that the online vote was largely a very good indicator of what votes would be cast during the show. For every act except for Saara Aalto and Mikael Saari, the difference between the online votes they received and the phone votes they received was just 3% or lower. Saara and Mikael were anomalies in that there was a 10% and 8% difference between their two parts of the vote. Nevertheless, more often than not the online vote told us pretty much how each act would fare on the night… if we had known this information before-hand.
With YLE making this information known before-hand this year, who knows what impact this will have. Perhaps Finnish voters will realise that only the top few acts are still in with a chance and vote accordingly? Or perhaps they will think the leading act is safe and won’t need their votes? Statistics show that while the online vote was a good indicator of the overall vote, the number of votes cast online were minimal to those cast during the show.

Emma to open the show, My First Band to close

Earlier today, the running order was also seemingly revealed for the show as the first dress rehearsal took place. You can see the running order below:

1. Emma – Circle Of Light
2. Alva – Arrows
3. Günther & D’Sanz – Love Yourself
4. Anni Saikku – Reach Out For The Sun
5. Knucklebone Oscar & The Shangri-La Rubies – Caveman
6. Norma John – Blackbird
7. Lauri Yrjölä – Helppo elämä
8. Club La Persé – My Little World
9. Zühlke – Perfect Villain
10. My First Band – Paradise

In addition, it was revealed that there will be ten international juries. The countries represented in the jury will be Estonia, France, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Are you excited for UMK to take place on Saturday? Who do you think will win? Let us know your reaction to today’s news via the comments section below or via our Facebook and Twitter pages @escXtra!