FINLAND 2025

The Finnish act and song was selected on February 8th via their national final "Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2025". The winner was chosen by 25% international jury and 75% televote. Going to Basel is Erika Vikman with the song "Ich Komme" (I'm Coming)

Erika Vikman and her sister followed their mother's footsteps by performing Tango music as youngsters. Erika came to national fame on the 2013 season of Idols where she eventually placed 7th after being voted back as a wildcard  She returned to her Tango roots and won the prestigious Tangomarkkinat competition in 2016. After signing a deal with Sony she experimented with electronic sounds. Vikman then entered the UMK for the first time in 2020 and placed second  Her debut self-titled studio album came out in August 2021 peaking at number-one in Finland. She has also duetted with Käärijä on the song "Ruoska" as well as performing at concerts with Käärijä and Joost Klein. Most of her releases are predominantly in the Finnish language.

"Ich Komme" has a German language refrain but the rest of this song is in Finnish. The progression of the song is chorus - pre chorus - chorus and this runs through twice. After the second chorus the beat becomes the predominant sound and it slowly becomes faster and harder The chanting in the background returns which Erika sings on top of showing her upper register. The staging starts very dark focusing on Erika only and as the song progresses more colours enter the mix. Erika is alone on stage for the entire 3 minutes but at no point does the stage feel empty or boring. She is wearing a shiny back outfit with gold embellishments on the front and sports a chunky gold chain necklace. Around the stage she has to hand a number of microphone stands which are incorporated into her choreography. At the very end she is lifted above the stage my a giant microphone pole as the song reaches its crescendo. Her name then appears in big red letters on the backdrop behind her.

This entry has a clear audio-visual identity and, notwithstanding the language, carries on perfectly from recent Finnish entries. The song has an easily repeated chanted chorus which you could hear being sang along to by the crowd in the hall. The execution of the entry was very tight, underlining the attention to detail by Erika, her team and the show producers. At times, particularly the verse and pre-chorus, the backing vocals were turned right up although her voice was pretty good for the rest of it. This is a crowd pleaser and will do better in the televote than the jury although there is the capacity to improve the vocal.  Erika is alone on stage but she performs with confidence and personality and she doesn't need anybody else. It is also striking - possibly on purpose - that although the lyrics are sexually driven, the stage show is more playful and less driven by the Finnish text. This keeps the show provocative in a 'less is more' kind of way. It will be interesting to see if the end prop will be allowed/catered for in Basel. 

ARTIST - Erika Vikman

SONG - Ich Komme

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Christel Roosberg, Jori Roosberg

FINLAND 2024

The Finnish act and song was chosen on February 10th through their successful national final process "Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu". A winner was selected by adding a combination of a national televote score (75%) to an international juries score (25%). Going to Malmö is Windows95Man featuring Henri Piispanen with "No Rules".

Windows95Man is one of the many pseudonyms of  Teemu Keisteri who is a dancer, DJ and artist with his own gallery in Kallio, Helsinki. The character of Windows95Man began in 2013. His very 90s outfit consists of a pair of short shorts, baseball cap, mullet, socks&sandals and trademark (quite literally!) Windows95 t-shirt, He performed at Helsinki’s New Year’s celebration in 2022 and has been Käärijä's support act. As well as Windows95Man, a name he usually DJs by, he is also known for the character Ukkeli, whose likeness Keisteri uses on his merchandising, The main singer on the track, Henri Piispanen, is less well known physically by the Finnish public but his voice is much more well known. His main job is as a voice actor, mainly dubbing cartoons and animations into Finnish. His voice can be heard on the Finnish versions of numerous Disney film re-dubs, Lego Ninjago, Pokemon series and films, Paw Patrol and Bluey. He is also the singer-bassist of a Finnish-language rock band called Pasa .

The song starts with Windows95Man inside a giant egg which is covered in ripped jeans but as he comes out of the egg you soon realise he is not wearing his shorts - this then becomes a narrative of the staging. Henri starts behind the egg and is wearing a rather fetching long patchwork denim jacket over his denim shirt and shorts. As the song progresses there is some rather clever camerawork and posing from Windows95Man that cover up his private area (he is however hearing illusion pants so it looks like he's nude) During verse 2, two denim clad dancers join the stage and give the two singers more to interact with. With a minute to go there is a more chilled out chorus where Window95Man's shorts come down from the rafters. Once he has put them on the attached hopes shoot fireworks out of them! The song then ends with a euphoric key change in the final chorus.

The song's title is extremely prominent in the song and, along with the infectious 90s beat, it makes the whole thing very catchy. The lyrics are also rather repetitive and predictable which again is not always a bad thing for a Eurovision song. The juxtaposition between Windows95Man's gruff chanting and Henri's light and high vocal shouldn't work, but does. I have to give Henri some kudos because being able to sing that well with so much going on around him takes a lot of skill.  There can be no mistaking that this entry came last with the international juries. Maybe the joke was lost on them or the juries had lost their sense of humour. However the national televote overwhelmingly gave them their support meaning that they were able to overcome any deficit they had had. I feel like this is the kind of act that will be played over again in the 'isn't Eurovision wacky?' compilation shows. Like it or loathe it, it is memorable and there is something of a nostalgic everyman in the main character. People will vote for this which is why qualification to the final is almost guaranteed. This also means its chances in the final will almost definitely be diminished by the juries (just like in the national final!) Lastly, there has been some talk that, due to obvious conflicts, the Windows95Man name and image may well have to change. When, how, what to and if, remains to be seen.

ARTIST - Windows95Man

SONG - No Rules

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Teemu Keisteri, Henri Piispanen, Jussi Roine 

FINLAND 2023

The Finnish final "Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu" was held on February 25th at Logomo in Turku and hosted by Samu Haber. The winner was chosen by a mix of international juries which made up a quarter of the score and national televoting making up the other three-quarters. The winning act, getting just over 45% of the total votes available, was Käärijä with the song "Cha Cha Cha".

Jere Pöyhönen - aka Käärijä - grew up in the Vantaa area on the outskirts of the capital, Helsinki. Growing up his main two passions were ice hockey and playing the drums; the latter became his starting point for writing and producing his own music. He released music independently at first then in 2017 he signed to Monsp Records. He has since released numerous singles and EPs on this label as well as his debut album "Fantastista" in 2020. His style of music crosses many genres: hip hop, rap, rock, electronic music mostly performed in the Finnish language. His stage name is even a Finnish pun as his name literally means "Wrapper".

Kaarija is on a stage made of wooden pallets that gives the song an industrial feel. He is wearing black trousers with spikes on them and what can only be described as an Incredible Hulk-esque bolero sleeve jacket. The song begins with a pulsating, infectious beat and earwormy synth line. The first verse is low and mysterious with Käärijä prowling round the stage menacingly. He is then joined by 4 Latin American dancers dressed in a lurid shade of pink. As the chorus comes starts his voice lifts but is juxtaposed by the shouty "Cha cha cha" refrain after each line. The second verse starts like the first but Kaarija starts to come out of his shell, singing the the last part, and seamlessly goes into the chorus. Here the dancers seem to be throwing themselves about and almost at war with each other. There is then a change in direction as the backing track and Kaarija's voice becomes softer and a new tune appears. The dancers move the pallets out of the way to make a bigger space to dance in. The final minute is much more tune driven and has its very own goofy dance routine. As the song nears its conclusion the loud "Cha cha cha" shout starts to come back in before Kaarija collapses to the floor.

On the face of it this song is an absolute mess but the precision and care taken to intertwine all the different styles, genres and earworms is done to perfection. All of the juxtapositions down to the song types and striking visuals make for a memorable act. The first part of the song is staccato and monotone, but so is the Finnish language, and they are ultimately brought together by the 'cha cha cha' refrain. Kaarija also straddles that very fine line between selling the tough rock character and being likeable and relatable. The song has a plethora of amazing earworms and catchy rhythms which will stay in one's brain for a long time. Moreover, this feeling is immediate and this entry wastes no time in getting through to you - whether you like it or not. 

To my mind there are two main concerns with this song. Firstly, that people might see this as a joke entry. I would hope that when people see the whole thing from start to finish people might realise how clever and endearing the song actually it. Secondly is the prominence of the backing vocals. Having watched back the videos multiple times there is no doubt that Kaarija is performing live but it is embedded firmly within the vocals on the track. I almost want him to be a little more imperfect and riff a bit more during he instrumental parts. I think he can afford to be a bit more lenient with the vocals because people will not understand the Finnish words. The song has a great way of sucking you into the world and there will be a lot of people around the world who will want to vote for this and the call to arms for this will be strong - just in its national final this song got over 50% of the televote score. Winner or not, this is an entry to go down into the annuls of bright green iconic entries!

ARTIST - Käärijä 

SONG - Cha Cha Cha

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Käärijä, Johannes Naukkarinen, Aleksi Nurmi Ki-RO, Jukka Sorsa

FINLAND 2021

The Finnish Final (Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu) was held on February 20th at Mediapolis in Tampere, hosted by Antti Tuisku. The winner was chosen by telephone/app voting (75%) & an international jury (25%). The overwhelming victor was "Dark side" sung by the alternative rock band Blind Channel.

The staging for this is dark, shadowy and full of flashing lights. The band are dispersed about the stage - the drummer and keyboard player at the back, two guitarists at the sides and the main vocalists moving about the the front. They are all wearing different sorts of black outfits  and sporting a range of different hair styles and lengths. Behind on the video screen are close ups of the band members but they are all upside down (and it is PROPERLY upside down, not just the film being turned 180 - you can tell by their hair!) This is a very simple but effective of keeping the mind bending and unsettling feeling of the song through to the viewer.

The song starts off with a sinister pulsing beat and then bursts in with a strong guitar-led wall of sound with what is a shortened version of the chorus/post-chorus. The verse is more akin to a kind of Linkin Park-esque rap with a strong rock background with a lot of rise and fall in the background music. We return rather quickly to the chorus but this time a slightly longer version which doesn't seem quite as punchy as before. There is then another verse and another chorus in prety much similar style as before. At about 2 mins in we have a brief lull in proceedings with a sort of bridge which is delivered quite low and whispery and leads into a final full chorus and ends with a long screamy note to finish.

The band Blind Channel has been going for over 7 years having released several singles and albums, but it is only this song that has gained them any chart success in their homeland. As we all know, rock songs are something we have come to expect from Finland, being the basis of several of their entries this millennium. So, although this style of music is rarely heard at Eurovision, the fact it comes from Finland may make it slightly more palatable to the once a year viewer. Also, this song may also being going against the grain of the polished, overchoreographed 80's numbers and actually convey something a bit more 'real' or emotional. That said the lyrics are rather negative and somewhat violent and may not go down well with the public at large.

No matter if this you're style of music or not , this song makes an impact. There's probably not going to be anything else like this in the contest and so any rock fans will support this entry - see also Lordi and AWS. I also feel this will get support from other Nordic countries and Central European countries that also appreciate this genre of music. For many listeners, this will be a bit of a wake up call - wanted or unwanted - and could either signify an renewed interest OR a toilet break. On a different point this seemed a bit too polished. I am not convinced that some of the live vocals were as high up in the mix as they should have been. I personally feel that having a more gruff and less polished feel so a song like this gives it more life and emotion and this didn't give me that. So maybe if they can turn down the pre-recorded vocals(without making it too shouty and incomprehensible) and focus on the connection between the singers and the audience at home, this could do better than you think...

ARTIST - Blind Channel

SONG - Dark Side

WRITING CREDITS - Joel Hokka, Aleksi Kaunisvesi, Olli Matela, Niko Moilanen, Joonas Porko

25/02/12 FINLAND

The Finnish Final will be held on February 25th at Helsinki Ice Hall hosted by Anne Lainto & Joona Kortesmäki. The Finnish selection process was quite complex…

There were shows to select and whittle down the participants and then other votes to determine the songs to qualify for the final.  The final was eventually won by Pernilla Karlsson with the Swedish language ballad “När Jag Blundar” (When I close my eyes)

Pernilla’s performance is very straightforward, which fits with the flow of the song. She has a female dancer and male cellist with her on stage although they don’t really interact. The backgrounds and lighting gives the song real mood and atmosphere. The camera work does it best to try and show the action on stage and this movement of the camera helps to show to flow  between the people on stage and the song. Pernilla and the dancer have similar dresses on which really helps with the continuity of the whole act.

The song has very nice laid back contemporary vibe with a slight jazzy feel, although in Swedish. That said her Swedish accent sounds a bit strange, although Swedish is her mother tongue. At times it sounds like Swedish but with a Finnish accent. The chords in the chorus are so sweet and intriguing that this could be a sleeper. Pernilla has already stated that she wished to sing tot song In Baku in Swedish.

I am very pleased with this choice and I think that the song itself is excellent. This will be one which will appeal to the judges, especially those who are songwriters. I personally would like some of it sung in English as I feel this would widen its appeal.

SONG  -  När jag blundar" (When I close my eyes)

ARTIST – Pernilla Karlsson

COMPOSER – Jonas Karlsson

LANGUAGE – Swedish

FINLAND

The Finnish final took place on 12th February at the Caribia hall in Turku.
Paradise Oskar sings “Da Da Dam” (which he also wrote and composed) after gaining the highest number of televotes and SMS votes.

Now this is a song with some unusual qualities. First of all this is a very understated performance, very much akin to Tom Dice for Belgium last year. As this did well last year, maybe they are hoping to have the effect. He sits by himself with his guitar and strums away on his guitar. The song is very quiet and folky and does have a nice ring to it. The song does grow slightly but not too much. The chorus is very strong but you do have to listen very carefully to understand the sentiment. But most unusually this is a song has a conscience - it is a song about the environment.

Although I am not a big fan of 'la-la-la', 'do-do-do', 'ding dang dong', and oher nonsense eurovision lyrics, but in this case, the da-da-dam part, espeially at the end of the song, works really well and should possibly be pushed a bit more.

I am pleased to say that Finland are sending something decent this year, but is it a Eurovision song…?


SINGER – Paradise Oskar
SONG - Da Da Dam
MUSIC - Axel Ehnström
WORDS - Axel Ehnström