The search to find a successor to Blind Channel has officially begun.

Finland’s national broadcaster Yle has opened submissions for Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2022 to find the country’s next Eurovision star.

The submission period is open from Wednesday 1 September to Monday 6 September.

Yle opens submissions for UMK 2022

Finland’s largest music show returns with a unique opportunity for artists around the world.

Upon submission, applicants and their songs will be presented to a panel of music industry experts and professionals led by Tapio Hakanen, head of music at YleX.

Then, the songs will be whittled down to a handful of finalists who will each perform their song live at UMK 2022, with one act ultimately winning the Finnish ticket to Italy.

Hakanen said:

“UMK21 was a tremendous success for the artists who took part. Blind Channel made Finland’s biggest hit song of 2021 and Ilta, Teflon Brothers and Pandora all had some of the biggest hits of their careers.

The finale broadcast was viewed by 1.9 million people, and its media visibility, radio play and streaming success were unprecedented.

The standard of the songs and performances was exceptionally high. We hope that this will encourage as many artists as possible to take part in UMK.

We can promise that the experience is unforgettable and will advance every artist’s career.”

 

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The seven UMK21 finalist songs, including those from Aksel, Oskr and Eurovision fifth alternates Blind Channel have been streamed on Spotify over 47 million times. Elsewhere, UMK’s YouTube videos have been viewed more than 13 million times in 2021.

UMK rules state songwriters are able to enter multiple songs, lead singers can only enter up to three songs — and only one will be eligible for selection.

Being Finland’s national final, the rules also require that at least one performer and one songwriter is a Finnish citizen or permanent resident.

The UMK 2022 application form is available in Finnish, Swedish and English here.

All applicants will be contacted at latest by the end of October.

Blind Channel to kick off UMK 2022 countdown

The countdown to the next edition of UMK will kick off in the company of last year’s winner.

Blind Channel will feature in two special programmes, broadcast by Yle on Friday 3 September.

The “Dark Side” hitmakers will be the subjects of Yle’s documentary Blind Channel: Forward which follows the band during and post-Eurovision.

Meanwhile, Yle Live: Blind Channel will treat fans to a recording of the band’s August concert at Helsinki’s Allas Sea Pool.

Are you happy UMK is returning? Which artists would you like to see compete? Sound off in the comments below. 

Read more Finland Eurovision 2022 news here

12 Comments
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Alvaro
Alvaro
2 years ago

This year’s edition was awesome and I’m looking foward to know what they prepare for next year. Hoping for a strong and diverse line up. And maybe, a top 5 finnish soon (they were so close!)

Erasmus
Erasmus
2 years ago

UMK most underrated national final tbh… 2017 edition remains one of my fave nf lineups (Emma, Norma John, Anni Saikku, Alva, My First Band – and also two trash acts but we don’t talk about them…). Last year was also pretty good – Ilta, Aksel, Oskr, BC and even Laura all had pretty good songs! Not to mention that UMK production is always on point and I also appreciate that they pick quality over quantity (Estonia, Norway and Lithuania please take some notes) My wishlist – Behm, Robin Packalen and Haloo Helsinki – if one of them enters I’d be… Read more »

Alvaro
Alvaro
2 years ago

It would be interesting to see if they do something with the bears of Cicciolina

Sot
Sot
2 years ago

Back then I wanted Pandora and the Teflon Bros to win but only now I realise how much more of a better choice Blind Channel were! In the end, I actually didn’t analyse UMK as much this year and I completely regret it. What a strong NF! MGP and UMK really were amazing

Badwoolfgirl
Badwoolfgirl
2 years ago
Reply to  Sot

“I love you” was actually my favorite of the UMK entries, but Dark Side turned out to have been the right choice for Finland after all.

Luc
Luc
2 years ago

oof! Finland’s one of the countries I feel the most excited about in next year’s contest.
It looks like they’re onto something since last year and they’re seizing their chances.
OMG I can’t wait to see what they got in store for next year!

Bombalurina
Bombalurina
2 years ago

Their bad luck ended up in 2021 , feeling like this is a new era for Finland and they’ll be a powerhouse like Belgium did after 2015 and Bulgaria did after 2016

Bird Lover
Bird Lover
2 years ago
Reply to  Bombalurina

nahhhh. finland is like a latvia or greece or hungary etc where they do well here and there but arent ever a threat at the contest in most years

Sot
Sot
2 years ago
Reply to  Bird Lover

Joke’s on you, Greece and Hungary used to be really strong and Greece only I think is back on the right track

tomatoman
tomatoman
2 years ago

I think that they will get 0 submissions, because who think about Eurovision in September? Not me, I clicked on wrong website 🙂

Erasmus
Erasmus
2 years ago
Reply to  tomatoman

HAHAHA

Luc
Luc
2 years ago
Reply to  tomatoman

I feel bad for laughing at this, but tbh a lot of people do