UMK culminates on Saturday, February 8th, with the grand final broadcast starting at 21:00 (Finnish time, UTC+2) with English commentary.
This year's UMK show kicks off with a bang as last year's winner, Windows95man, spreads his wings after emerging from his denim egg, unapologetically raising the roof of Nokia Arena – literally.
UMK host Sanni will also take the stage in a massive interval performance. The singer-songwriter, known for capturing Finnish emotions with hits like 2080-luvulla, will present a medley of hits that takes the audience deep into the heart of songwriting.
– I feel that a song has its own identity if it can be dressed in many different styles while still telling its story—whether as a piano ballad, an EDM party track, or '80s rock, Sanni describes her upcoming performance.
And what happens when UMK history’s greatest divas join forces to form the ultimate fantasy band of six female artists? Saturday’s live UMK show will feature a surprise performance, with the artists only being revealed during UMK weekend.
– This is what UMK and Eurovision are all about, describes UMK’s show team regarding the upcoming surprise act.
UMK is for everyone
Saturday’s UMK25 broadcast on Yle can be followed with commentary in Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, Northern Sámi, Inari Sámi, Ukrainian, and sign language.
UMK’s web and social media journalist, Jaakko Oleander-Turja, will provide the English commentary.
Mikko Silvennoinen will serve as the Finnish-language commentator, while Johan Lindroos and Eva Frantz continue as the Swedish-language commentators.
Linda Tammela will commentate in Northern Sámi, and Heli Huovinen in Inari Sámi.
The Russian-language commentary will be provided by Yle Novosti journalist Levan Tvaltvadze, while Galyna Sergeyeva will serve as the Ukrainian-language commentator.
This year, the sign language commentary has been expanded further. The competition songs and interval acts will be interpreted by three sign language artists: Miguel Peltomaa, Silva Belghiti, and Silja Ruonala. The sign language broadcast will be hosted by Robin Hänninen and Ada Taalas.
In addition to Yle’s broadcasts, UMK will be aired on the Spanish channel TenTV and the Dutch channel OUTtv. The OUTtv broadcast will be commentated by Krista Siegfrids.
The winner will be chosen by the public and seven international juries
UMK will culminate in performances by six contestants in the following order: Costee, Neea River, Goldielocks, Viivi, Nelli Matula, and Erika Vikman.
You can read more about the artists here.
This season, a change has been made to UMK's public voting system, allowing Finns to start voting for their favorite as soon as the first UMK25 performance begins.
The goal is to give even more Finns the opportunity to influence the selection of UMK's winner and Finland's next Eurovision representative. You can read more about the renewed voting system here.
The winner of UMK will be determined by public votes (75% weight) and seven international juries (25%).