Last song of UMK26, “Rakkaudenkipee”, out – line-up complete

Yle has released the final entry of UMK26 this evening, with “Rakkaudenkipee“ by Kiki.

Lovesick in Finnish

Recently, Yle confirmed the names of the seven artists that will participate in UMK26. After revealing the first two entries on late Wednesday and Thursday last week, (at 23:00 CET, so midnight on the day after in Finland), the releases took a break for the week-end. The releases started back on Monday at midnight, and continued this week until tonight, with the final entry.

Kiki (artist name of Petra Gavalas) has a Greek father and a Finnish mother, and was influenced by both cultures. Growing up with a passion for pop music, she also grew up with a younger brother fan of rap, Lukas Leon, one of his influences alongside global stars like Rosalia, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna.

I hope my music evokes emotions and brings people a sense of safety.
Kiki about her music

Co-written with Leo Jupiter (behind “Always on the Run” from Germany 2024), Niko Salmela and Jaakko Kiuru, “Rakkaudenkipee” (“Lovesick”) tells the story of being so madly in love that it hurts.

Kiki has long been one of the most promising artists in Finnish pop, and “Rakkaudenkipee” is the best song of her career so far. The dramatic piece grows from something small and fragile into an explosive climax. Within three minutes, it contains all the elements of a traditionally effective UMK entry, while surprising compositional turns give the song a strong identity of its own. The artist’s expressive voice truly shines, and the closing ad-lib sections push both the tempo and the emotions to the maximum.
UMK jury on “Rakkaudenkipee”

Final set for February 28

UMK will once again be held over a single show, on the last day of February, on what will be a very packed Super Saturday of five finals (for Norway, Germany, Bulgaria and Italy, alongside Finland) as well as two qualification shows (the last heat of Melodifestivalen in Sweden, and the second semi-final of Portugal’s Festival da Canção).

The show will be held in Nokia Arena in Tampere, and will be used to select the Finnish representative to Eurovision 2026, with a mix of jury (25%) and public (75%) voting.

🇫🇮 Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Making their Eurovision debut in 1961 with the entry ‘Valoa Ikkunassa’ by Laila Kinnunen, Finland has not always found life in the contest easy. Finland didn’t have a smooth start at Eurovision, placing last three times in the 1960s. Marion Rung was Finland’s first success, placing 6th in 1973 with ‘Tom Tom Tom’ – this remained as Finland’s best result until 2006.

Before the turn of the millennium, Finland placed last a further five times while they placed in the top ten on only three occasions. Finally, their fortunes changed in 2006 when Lordi won the contest in Athens with ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ – their only victory to this date. Since the revamp to the UMK format the Nordic nation are on a five-year qualification streak and have achieved two top ten results, including runner-up in Liverpool 2023 for Käärijä with, ‘Cha Cha Cha’.

Last year it was the turn of Erika Vikman to represent Finland. During the Basel contest, Erika placed 11th and achieved 196 points with, ‘Ich Komme’.