The producer of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, Anssi Autio, promises in an interview with Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, that there will be news about the future of UMK next week.
One artist only again?
For the past nine years the Finnish broadcaster Yle has selected their representative to Eurovision Song Contest through the national selection Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK). This year, the winner was Aksel Kankaanranta with his song “Looking Back”. As the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled for 2020, Aksel never got to represent the country at the contest.
This year six artists competed in the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu. For the past two years, Yle selected their artist internally and let the public choose the song the artist will perform. Saara Aalto and Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman the two internal choices.
At the end of this year’s show the host Krista Siegfrids said that also in next year, UMK will be an open contest where anyone can send their songs in. However, as the contest was cancelled in 2020, there is a possibility that Yle follows the footsteps of many other broadcasters, who have given their 2020 representatives a second chance and let them represent the country in next year’s contest.
Will Yle select Aksel Kankaanranta as their representative and hold a national final to select his song? Or are they staying with the same format, where anyone can submit their song to the selection? Or are they following the example of Estonia, where the Eesti Laul 2020 winner Uku Suviste was given a guaranteed spot in the contest?
Do you think Yle should select Aksel internally or hold an open-for-all contest? Let us know below or on social media @ESCXTRA!
The question, whether this year\’s artists will return to the contest next year or not, especially in the context of established National Finals (Melodifestivalen, San Remo, FiK, UMK…), is a completely new one in the Eurovision world, but I find it quite thrilling, especially in these days 🙂
It would be quite fair for Aksel to give him a \”Saara-Aalto-ish\” National Final. And then Yle may select Erika Vikman internally for 2022, please <3