How to watch the UMK21 Final in English or Russian
Finland’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 will be chosen on Saturday, 20 February, in a live broadcast. The final of the Contest for New Music UMK will be streamed live worldwide in four different languages on Yle Areena, Yle’s online streaming service. Here’s how you can watch it live.
Finland’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest will be chosen for the 10th time in the Contest for New Music UMK. The final will be aired live on Saturday, 20 February, at 9.00 pm (EET).
The seven competing artists for this year’s UMK are, in order of upcoming performance, Teflon Brothers x Pandora, Aksel, Laura, Danny, Oskr, Blind Channel and Ilta. All the songs are now on video-on-demand service Yle Areena and several music streaming services, such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
The winner will be chosen jointly by Finnish television viewers and an international UMK jury.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the show will be broadcast without a live audience.
Commentary available in English and Russian
In addition to Finnish and Swedish commentary UMK21 is also available in English and Russian.
– We’ve had quite a lot of Eurovision fans all over the world requesting additional commentary in English and since Russian is the most common foreign language in Finland we decided to make that service available this year, says UMK Executive Producer Anssi Autio.
Commentary in English is provided by Katri Norrlin and Jani Kareinen, both experienced radio hosts and previous members of UMK’s jury of professionals. Commentary in Russian is provided by Levan Tvaltvadze, a journalist for Yle’s Russian-language news outlet Novosti Yle. Commentary in Finnish provided by Mikko Silvennoinen and in Swedish by Johan Lindroos and Eva Frantz.
Watch the final
English commentary here
Russian commentary here
Final hosted by Antti Tuisku, Finland’s biggest pop star
The biggest music competition in Finland will be hosted by the country's biggest pop star, Antti Tuisku. In addition to his hosting duties, Tuisku will provide two spectacular performances during the final. This will be Tuisku’s first time hosting a live broadcast, and he is excited to be a part of this year’s special finale. Antti Tuisku's opening show will be accompanied by last year's UMK finalist, Erika "Cicciolina" Vikman.
– It’s a huge honour and privilege. And since it’s UMK’s 10th anniversary, I couldn’t pass on this opportunity to host the final during this special and exceptional year, Tuisku explains.
Antti Tuisku got his start in the first season of Finland’s Idols competition in 2003, where he placed third. To date, he has released 11 albums and sold nearly half a million copies. He has received six Emma awards (the most prestigious music industry award in Finland), he has been the subject of three books, he has launched his own clothing line, and he has participated in numerous TV shows. His latest single, Treenaa, was released on 1 January 2021.
Antti Tuisku headlined UMK's halftime show in 2015, which helped him reconnect with a new audience after a long hiatus. According to Tuisku, he still has very fond memories of that particular performance.
