Who will represent Finland in 2018? We might have to wait a bit longer to find that out, but YLE announced, that they are doing a press conference on November 7th – 12 CET to reveal the competing artists of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2018 (UMK18). The event will be hosted by Krista Siegfrids (Finland 2013) and Mikko Silvennoinen (Finnish commentator).
The press conference on November 7th will not just reveal the competing artists. Moreover, it will also contain all the information about the format regarding semi-finals, voting, date of the national final and more.
Eurovision is a big platform
Both hosts haven’t heard any of the entries for UMK18, but Mikko already has one wish. The musicians should forget about Eurovision and just think about putting music out to a huge crowd, as Eurovision is bigger than ever. As an example, he uses the Swedish entry of 2016:
“In some ways, in Finland, the word (Eurovision) is characterized by a strange style that is no longer true […] we should even think about what you listen to on Spotify and take references from there. Franz’s “If I were Sorry” couple of years ago was a hit in the Finnish Spotify throughout the summer and how many knew that it was a Eurovision song. Of course, easier to say than done, because I’m not the musician myself”
#UMK18
You can follow the press conference live on November 7th – 12 CET on the UMK accounts on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. Use #UMK18 to join the conversation.
You can of course also check ESCXTRA for a full list right after the announcement.
Finland qualified for the final for the last time in 2014 and will try to change that in 2018. Finland was represented by Norma John and their song “Blackbird” in 2017. They finished in 12th place in the first semi-final in Kyiv.
Do you think Finland learned something from the past years and has now the right songs to get to the top? Any wishes who should compete in UMK18? Let us know in the comments below or on social media @ESCXTRA.
Let’s check Krista’s fabulous opening number of UMK17 to get into the right mood 😉
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