Picture credits: © Nelli Kenttäa & Miska Voinoff On Wednesday, the seven pa”rticipants in UMK 2025 were revealed. The competition, which selects Finland’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), will take place on February 8 at the Nokia Arena in Tampere.
Among the competitors is returning artist Erika Vikman, who finished second in 2020. She will compete with the song ICH KOMME. Hours after the artists were announced, the first song was released: Nightmares by NEEA RIVER. The remaining songs will be revealed by January 17, one per day, excluding weekends.
The broadcaster Yle received 485 submissions, which were evaluated by a professional jury chaired by Tapio Hakanen, head of music at YleX. Other members included Aija Puurtinen (Sibelius Academy professor and UMK vocal coach), Amie Borgar (head of music at Yle X3M and Yle Vega), Johan Lindroos (head of music at Yle Radio Suomi), Katri Norrlin (music journalist at YleX), Samuli Väänänen (senior editor at Spotify), Jani Juntunen (head of music at Nelonen Media radios), Saara Evi (head of marketing at PME Records), and Marcus Sjöström (head of muic at Radio NRJ Finland).
Tapio Hakanen commented: “This year’s UMK artist and song selection is an amazing showcase of the current level of Finnish songwriting and production. It is fantastic to see both fresh independent artists, and some of the biggest names in our country participating. One of the special features of this year is that the group of artists includes many exceptionally talented vocalists. I’m sure that we’ll witness and hear incredible UMK performances in February at the Nokia Arena in Tampere.
- NEEA RIVER: Nightmares
- Nelli Matula: Hitaammin hautaan
- Song released on January 10
- costee: Sekaisin
- Song released on January 13
- VIIVI: Aina
- Song released on January 14
- One Morning Left: Puppy
- Song released on January 15
- Goldielocks: Made Of
- Song released on January 16
- Erika Vikman: ICH KOMME
- Song released on January 17
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