Finland 2018: YLE to continue with Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu selection format

For the 7^th consecutive year, the Finnish broadcaster YLE will once again use the Uuden Musiikin Kilapailu selection format to find their Eurovision 2018 representative in Lisbon.

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu Submission deadline

YLE is still in the process of setting up the exact details for the upcoming national selection. However, there are a few things known so far regarding the submission process and the rules.
The Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu song submission period will run from September 1^st at 09:00 until September 4^th at 21:00.
At least one of the songwriters and the lead singer(s) must be a Finnish citizen or at least live in Finland permanently. Singers can only send one song each as a solo performer. But, individuals can be part of more than one group when submitting an entry.
After the submission deadline, an expert panel appointed by YLE will go through all submissions. They will decide which acts will go ahead to the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu national selection show.
The voting format is yet to be decided. However, last year, the UMK winner was selected by a 50/50 combination of public votes and ten international juries.

Finland in Eurovision

Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 51 times since its début in 1961. They won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordi’s “Hard Rock Hallelujah”. Previously, its best showing was Marion Rung’s song “Tom Tom Tom” in 1973, which placed 6th.
After winning the contest, Finland’s best placing has been an 11^th place in 2014 with Softengine and “Something Better”
Last year, the winner of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu was Norma John with the atmospheric ballad, “Blackbird”. They were predicted to do very well in Kyiv. Unfortunately, they failed to reach the final, ending up 12^th place in the semifinal.

Who are you hoping for to represent Finland?

As reported earlier, we already have our hopefuls for Finland 2018!
You can relive last year’s Finnish entry below:

Who would you like to see representing Finland in Eurovision 2018?
Please let us know in the comments below!