Broadcaster YLE announced details of the Finnish national selection Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) this afternoon, including names of all 12 finalists in addition to the songs titles that will be performed in the final to be held on the 9th of February.
A panel consisting of Aija Puurtinen, Redrama, Toni Wirtanen and Tomi Saarinen have selected those to make it to the final rounds of UMK 2013. Similar to neighbouring Sweden, there is a marked lack of well known names among this year’s finalists. Finnish viewers may remember singer Diandra from her previous participation in the talent show Idols, which she won this year. She released her debut album, Outta My Head in July this year. The entire line up of UMK 2013 is as follows, composers names in brackets:
Arion – Lost in the Woods (Iivo Kaipainen)
Atlético Kumpula – Paperilyhty (Paper Lantern) (Kyösti Salokorpi)
Diandra – Colliding Into You (Patrick Sarin/ Leri Leskinen/ Sharon Vaughn)
Elina Orkoneva – He’s Not My Man (Elina Orkoneva)
Great Wide North – Flags (Kaj Kiviniemi/ Mika Kiviniemi)
Ilari Hämäläinen – Sytytä mut vaan (Just set me on fire) (Ilari Hämäläinen)
Krista Siegfrids – Marry Me (Krista Siegfrids/ Erik Nyholm/ Kristofer Karlsson/ Jessika Lundström)
Last Panda – Saturday Night Forever (Henry Tikkanen/ Aapo Immonen)
Lucy Was Driving – Dancing All Around the Universe (Lucy Was Driving/ Otso Koskelo)
Mikael Saari – We Should Be Through (Mikael Saari)
Rautakoura – Ilmalaivalla (On board a plane) (Lauri Häme)
Iina Salin – Last Night (Iina Salin/ Tommi Gröhn)
Proceedings to find the successor to this year’s charming Finnish entrant Pernilla Karlsson with the Swedish language När Jag Blundar will commence on the 27th of December, with a series of programmes to be sent on Thurdays. The first programme will consist of a public presentation of all twelve finalists. Their entries will be aired in two shows, on the 3rd and 10th of January at 21:00 hours (20:00 CET) on YLE TV2.
Two live qualification heats are to be broadcast on the 17th and 24th of January, with a semi final to be held on the 31st of January at 21:00 hours (20:00 CET) from The Circus, Helsinki and a grand final to take place on the 9th of February also at 21:00 hours (20:00 CET) at the Barona Arena in Espoo. Tickets for the final are available through the Lippupavelu website. Finland failed to reach the final with their first Swedish language entry since 1990’s Fri?, with Pernilla Karlsson just outside the top 10, coming 12th in her semi final.
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