Following the grand reveal of the seven acts competing in Finland’s Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2024, Finnish broadcaster Yle is dropping the lyrics videos for each entry one by one. The third artist to reveal is Sara Siipola with her song “Paskana”.
She’s no stranger to the Finns. They know her dark and soulful voice from songs such as Rohkee sydän, Susta tulee tähti and one of her latest, Uusi musta. A veritable forge of hits, Siipola grew up in the Ostrobothnian town of Laihia, where finding herself was not easy. In school, those with big dreams were quickly put into their place.
Siipola had trouble finding her own place when she was young. In 2016, she graduated with a vocational qualification in business in Vaasa. Shortly thereafter, she began her singing career. Within five years, she had a raft of singles, a debut album and music programme Tähdet Tähdet under her belt.
“I love writing songs on big topics. I really want people to be able to listen to my songs whenever they want to feel self-confident and connect with others.
Sara Siipola – “Paskana”
Her UMK entry Paskana (“I’m a f***ing wreck”) is about a friend who loses their father and the feelings that the loss stirs up. During one evening, Siipola watched how her friend tried to be present at a dinner party after experiencing such a loss.
Paskana deals with grief and lets the listener feel heartbroken: why do others go grocery shopping and go on with their lives when my own world has stopped cold? According to Siipola, the power of the song stems from the fact that it doesn’t romanticise the idea of grief, that there will be a happy ending.
UMK24 jury: “Sara Siipola is one of Finland’s rising vocalists with a stunning voice. Paskana is a touching and dramatic song, offering both tender vulnerability and uplifting power. It is easy to identify with the song, because each and every one of us has felt low (paskana) at some point. The lyrics and interpretation are full of raw emotion, for which the modern production gives a lot of space and support”.
UMK 2024 song release schedule
- Thu, 11 January: Cyan Kicks – Dancing With Demons
- Fri, 12 January: Sexmane – Mania
- Mon, 15 January: Sara Siipola – Paskana
- Tue, 16 January: Jesse Markin – Glow
- Wed, 17 January Windows95man – No Rules
- Thu, 18 January Sini Sabotage – Kuori mua
- Fri, 19 January Mikael Gabriel x nublu – Vox Populi
I love this beautiful song very much. She is my big favorite for Sweden. I hope she will win the ticket to Malmo
This is simply perfect!
So far the best of the UMK-songs
Last year people were screaming about how Melfest was dead and how it needs to take notes from UMK. But clearly they just had ONE good year lol. Let’s see if Finland can manage to even crack the Top 15 in ESC this year
This!!!
People trash melfest when it has a weak year (a weak year that still produced a Eurovision winner) which is a rare occurrence, and act like other NF’s produce better music when they happen to have a good year. What they fail to understand is that those good years also are rare occurrences…
Melfest and San Remo will forever remain unbothered
The eurofans like to trash always the same countries, nothing new. It’s their favourite game.
Well, Melfest is dead, indeed. UMK hasn’t released all entries yet anyways
Guys I heard that miss Siipola will get crowned as queen of Finland today omg I’m so hyped
Not bad… I agree that it does sound more balkan like than Finland eurovision but its Nice…
The best entry of UMK 2024 so far, in my opinion. 8/10
The song is okay, but it really does sound like something Albania would send
This would be Albania with revamp
Ihanaa!! I can’t stop listening to “Paskana”. Even without the lyrics it feels haunting and powerful and no nonsense and brave.
Kudos for the lyrical content – grief is probably the most complex human feeling and this song seems to have a bold approach to overcoming emotional pain and turmoil. I’m so impressed, I love it and I cannot wait to see it live on 10 February!!!!!!
Serbian songs are released on January 25th and there are a few voting system changes too for PzE
am curious when portugal FdC songs will be released, am mostly hyped up for Maria Joao myself, i hope this queen will perform her entry herself, she is such a huge name for FdC
FdC songs will likely be out Thursday this week
I like it too. Not sure it could have an impact as big as Cyan Kicks’ song but both are great.
This song is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!
A beautiful woman with a beautiful song & beautiful voice. For now, this is my favorite song of the whole nf-season. Would love to see this at the ESC stage! The finnish language sounds so cool too!
yes finnish can be a beautiful language, same with Danny few years ago with that gem of a intimate ballad, with his life story
we used to think finnish can only work with rock music, but tbh with lovely vocals it sounds even amazing in ballads, and Sara her advantage for sure is she has such pretty vocals (i hope she sounds live also very good)
I agree with you, it’s a beautiful language. I also really liked Ilta’s ballad a few years ago (I think it was 2021). Sara looks confident in the YLE interview, so I think she can pull this song off live…
Danny is legend 😀
I love this song. So emotional, so dramatic…LOVE it ??? My winner so far!
I really don’t like this song, it’s depressing and after a few listens I get tired of it! 6/10
Very surprised by this one. It’s very catchy, and we love seeing more Finnish language in UMK 🙂 Still think Cyan Kicks is Finland’s best shot at a top 10 this year though – it might stand out more. But congrats yle at another great selection so far!
I love it. Finnish really puts it together, would sound generic af in English
Very nice. Love the way the video has been staged which reflects the emotions reflected in the song lyrics.
Quite a good entry. Bonus points for being in Finish. I hope the live version would be even better. So far, my favorite to represent Finland this year.
Very good song in Finnish !
Amazing song by Sara and I love listening to the beautiful Finnish language. UMK is very competitive so far and I think it will be again one of the best -if not the best- national finals of the season. Well done YLE!!
instrumentals also remind me of all the things she said by t a t u, yes but for me that is in a good way since i liked that song and i don’t mind instrumental sampling these days, there are more songs which sound similar tbh
beautiful lyrical composition, nice voice, very strong finnish power ballad (although i prefer the more toned down finnish ballads, like Ajelehtii by Ulpu, another artist whom i hope does UMK soon either)
This has the best package so far, amazing music video, beautiful melody and voice!
The best entry so far and also the one with the most chances to do well at Eurovision
Again, a stunning music video. I believe this could also be epic on stage.
Great song! While personally still prefer Sexmane, this has much more potential to do well in esc.
FiK meets UMK. In a good way, this is amazing. The lyrics are great. Genuinely have no idea how it would do at ESC though.
My favourite by a mile of the 3 we know so far. Oddly enough the music at the end of the chorus made me instantly think about “All the things she said” by t.A.T.u, is it just me?
It’s probably my favourite so far. I don’t think it’s the most impactful for Eurovision, but for my own personal taste, I could get into this.
Really nice one, good luck to her!
Love this, and the music video is once again perfectly complimenting the song! Very refreshing lyrics, that tell a story that doesn’t go the usual way.
For some reason I ended up putting this above Sexmane AND Cyan Kicks! The lyrics are haunting and relatable whilst the actual music gives us some great hooks and a catchy beat! Thoroughly surprised at this one! Maybe a dark horse can win this! It isn’t so clear cut as last year that’s for sure but we’ll have to see how the two alternative groups are gonna do because I reckon they will change everything. If only Dancing with Demons had a better hook than Hurricane I would be one of the supporters of Cyan Kicks this time!
Great song! Love the mix of the 80s synth, the 90s rnb?sound and the power pop ballad of the 2010s. It will of course all depend on live performance, but overall a great song!
1) Sexmane
2) Sara
3) Cyan Kicks
I just realized that “Sexmane” is an anagram of Max Sene. I am not very bright.
Wow I didn’t know that either. I think it’s more smartness from Max’s side!
So I revisited Cyan Kicks and Sexmane and gave Sara Siipola another listen. Obviously the live shows can change things but so far Sexmane is well behind the other two acts. Cyan Kicks song is good, not as good as their previous entry, but if Finland want to send a rock song, and there isn’t a lot of other rock songs I think it will do quite well. Sara though presents something different. It is a ballad disguised as something else. It is powerful, emotional. We all went into UMK asking how Finland could do one better than Kaarija… Kaarija… Read more »
Agreed that Cyan Kicks have a worse song than Hurricane since the hook for that song was instantly more memorable but the visuals will probably be better with this one. I ended up liking Mania and put it higher than Dancing with Demons since it’s more memorable but there’s a terrible amount of autotune so I question Sexmane’s love vocals!
The autotune is a deliberate creative choice – not an attempt to cover up bad vocals!
Thank god for that comment. Eurofans need to stop considering autotune only exists to cover up bad vocals. It is an important creative element in contemporary music.
Getting better but still not hooked. The Finnish translation service is great, but I do wonder if I’d like the tune less by just listening and not reading. However, among the 3 so far, this is clearly the best. Clearly. I expect it to remain the best for at least another day since the guy who preemptively had to announce he won’t go to Eurovision doesn’t inspire much confidence.
I really like it a lot wow!
Still remind me of «Subeme la radio» a bit …
I personaly dont get this. I feel like the beat is a bit basic and the lyrics feel weird. I do get the message of the song but i feel like its a bit weird how she want wedding and funerals to be cancelled just because she does not feel good. It seems like she wants the whole world to just stop because of her.
You’re interpreting it too literally I fear. It’s about the desperation everyone with life experience has felt after a personal tragedy, how the world keeps turning and everyone’s living their lives as if nothing’s changed, and you’re just basically expected to keep going unfazed as well or you’ll get left behind in many ways. As in: give me a little time to heal before I’m back to being capable of living the everyday life and fit in with the world again. It’s human to feel this way, if you’re a fully pragmatic person who doesn’t feel the need to slow… Read more »
I think some things are getting lost in the English translation because the lyrics are actually really beautiful. What she is saying is that she is not ready for the world to go round normally because in her ”grief bubble” she can still feel close to the person she has lost. Think everyone who has had to deal with grief will relate to this.
it’s really good. Right now I’m between her and Cyan Kicks as my favourites. Let’s see what the next four entries give.
This is really good. I feel this song. It would be amazing if this won UMK. 🙂
Not sure if the swear word is allowed at ESC, but it’s an easy fix. But if I were running ESC, I might be inclined make an exception for this song, because of context.
By the way, pretty much every song I’ve written about those who have passed away are in the key of F minor. This song is also in F minor. It’s wonderful to hear music theory applied.
I wonder too. Nobody outside Finland will understand, but I suppose the rule applies to non-English songs as well.
Robin Bengtsson first sang ” f ucking beautiful” on I Can’t Go On, at Melodifestivalen. It was changed to “freaking”… ah, memories.
Proof that swearing alone doesn’t make interesting songs. But f ucking beautiful did sound better. It was a downgrade from an already uninspired choice.
No that just sounds wrong. Freaking works from a more melodic line in terms of pronunciation.
I like this song very much. For me it’s the best so far
Hm, I’m glad I read in the article that the song is about grief. If I thought it was just another song about a broken romance, I would not be particularly interested. When I think of the loss of a parent, suddenly it has power. The actual lyrics don’t make it obvious what the story is, as far as I can tell.
A broken romance … like « Mon amour » lol. The lyrics of this one are so cringeworthy
Extremely cringeworthy.
What do you want the song lyrics to be about?
Write me some song lyrics.
Let, apparently they are obsessed by this song…
Saying probably the two most cringeworthy commenters on this blog, it’s extremely funny
Not as funny as commenting on a Eurovision site with the nickname NoMoreEscAddicted, but I guess that’s more sad than funny. You ain’t fooling no one.
Don’t talk to me ty.
You ain’t fooling no one neither with your multiple accounts but keep the faith. It’s pathetic lol.
Not the whining one talking about cringeworthy. Please accept that some people don’t have the same opinion as you.
You provoke on purpose isn’t it, so be happy it works. I accept opinions only when they are not biased and not hateful but knowing your unbearable friend that’s not the case. And you still give something to eat to this hater… Since years now it’s always the same comedy with this biased dumb so don’t give him credit.
But give an answer to The Voice of Reason, he asked you something, it’s easy to be critical and to be sarcastic but behind it’s nice to assume too.
Pretty good song, lets see how she performs it live.
It’s ok song. If she vocally delivers this it could stand out, but Cyan Kicks still has the best song for Eurovision. 4 songs left.