Image credits: © Miikka Varila / Yle It is definitively confirmed: Windows95man will represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2024, after winning the UMK just over a week ago with the song No Rules.
This Tuesday, the broadcaster Yle announced the decision after a joint discussion with Windows95man. Israel’s participation raised doubts about Finland’s stay in the competition.
Ville Vilén, Yle’s Director of Creative Content and Media and Editor-in-Chief, explained in a press release: “Yle has decided to respect the European Broadcasting Union EBU’s judgment on the TV companies participating in the contest. We understand that there are various justified perspectives related to this issue. Yle has informed the EBU about the discussion in Finland and the Finnish representative’s view on the situation. We hope that the situation in the Middle East will resolve as soon as possible”.
Teemu Keisteri, creator of the character Windows95man, and vocalist Henri Piispanen, stated: : “We think that the only correct decision for the EBU would be to exclude Israel from the competition. However, we do not feel that withdrawing ourselves would make an impact. Instead, we have started discussions with other representatives on how to explore strategies for leveraging our collective influence and use our position to apply pressure on the decision-makers at EBU. The decision was difficult, but now it has been made. We thank everyone for the support we have received. From now on, we will focus on the music and building the show”.
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