Finland: UMK 2021 to take place without audience

Finland: UMK 2021 to take place without audience
Wednesday, 06 January 2021

  • The upcoming Finnish national final for Eurovision 2021, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) will be held without any audience attending the show due to the covid-19 pandemic. 

    According to what the local OGAE is reporting, the next edition of UMK that will determine the nation's Eurovision 2021 act and entry set to take place on February 20, will not see an audience attending the event. 

    With the covid-19 pandemic still escalating and hitting in waves the countries which are falling back in continuous lockdowns, the option of having a mass audience at national selections seem not feasible. Under this current circumstances the Finnish national final will follow the same path, taking place without any audience present. 

    A total of seven acts will compete in ithis year's national final, which will  be unveiled from January 14 and on and throughout the week on a daily basis. The national final will take place on February 20,  2021 and the final outcome will be determined by public and jury voting. The final will be held at Tampere Mediapolis' TV studios, and will be aired live on Yle TV1 and Yle Areena.

     

    Finland in Eurovision

    Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 53 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah". The country's best result before then was achieved by Marion Rung with the song "Tom Tom Tom" in 1973, which placed sixth.

    Finland has finished last in the contest eleven times, receiving "nul points" in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final eight times. In 2014, the country had its best result in eight years when Softengine finished 11th. In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision entry, "Aina mun pitää" performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät.

    This year Aksel won the national final with the song “Looking Back”.  As the competition was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic the Finnish act never had the chance to perform on the Eurovision stage in Rotterdam.

     

    News Source: ESCTXRA