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. Next up is Sini Sabotage with “Kuori mua.”
Having sung and played music since childhood, Sini Sabotage rose to fame with her 2013 hit Levikset repee. The song shot up the Official Finnish Charts to number one for Singles and Downloads, and it went gold in 2013.
Sabotage’s accomplishments blazed a trail for female rap artists in Finland.
Sabotage’s first album 22 m² was released in 2013. The album was well-received and brought added exposure to Sabotage’s music. After 2013, Sabotage has released one EP and numerous singles: her meteoric rise to the top of Finnish music left a permanent mark on popular culture.
Sabotage considers her 2020 album Blueberry Makkonen to be one of her most important works. The album is the first one that Sabotage says she was able to write without any outside pressure.
Sini Sabotage releases “Kuori mua”
UMK marks a new chapter for Sabotage, or in her own words, a completely new book. According to Sabotage, the colourful contest entry Kuori mua (“Peel me”) was inspired by “a few fireball shots” and a collaborative brainstorming session. The song’s co-creator Vilma Virintie described how Sabotage is like an onion, with its many layers.
“We’re never just what we appear to be on the outside at any given moment. We all have many sides and so much more to give than just one picture, song or moment,” says Virintie.
UMK24 jury: “Renowned for her classic song Levikset repee, Sini Sabotage is retaking the big stage with style and stepping back into the media spotlight with her UMK entry Kuori mua. The song is an unabashed dance banger and will be playing in clubs throughout Finland this year. The song beautifully combines Sini’s gorgeous singing voice, technical rapping, insightful lyrics and piano playing. A wonderful comeback for such a wonderful artist”.
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
Deban Aderemi You Are Beautiful
Sini’s esc song has sound and style Nunu X Sagi Kariv – Cute Boy
Now that all the Finnish songs have been released, I have come to the conclusion that THIS is the sexbop for Eurovision! This song has all the elements that make a song memorable. The commanding, pounding bass, the hypnotic synths, the slinky cheeky rhythm and the fun lyrics all marry together with Sini’s spicy sass to form an electrobop that would create its own unique space in the competition in Malmö in May. Sini reminds me of Princess Superstar and delivers the same energy. Funniky enough ‘Kuori Mua’ takes the sounds that were popular in the mid to late 2000’s… Read more »
Finland you have one job and it is to send this
The obligatory horny song from UMK! Loved Hoida Mut much better but this serves! Peel me like an onion!!!
This is such a bop, but I can’t see this doing well at Eurovision.
Then again, Maruv was one of the frontrunners in Eurovision 2019 before Ukraine’s withdrawal, so could this also be a frontrunner?
A very tiring track. One listen was enough, not fun.
In some part it sounds like a “Britney Spears song” style…
It is nice!
2nd in my ranking so far, its a nice bop
not beating Paskana for me though
Verses are great but I feel like the chorus is a bit of a let down. Still I want tous see it live because I think staging will be a really important factor in this UMK to find the favorite.
I also think there isn’t an immediate hook in the chorus – however, I am still really drawn to this track, and feel that this will on repeat for me. Sort of a clubby newer Kylie Minogue.
I wouldn’t have minded more rapping – she’s a great rapper – but that could’ve taken it too close to Käärijä. What I appreciate now is that the song feels fresh, not a copycat of recent years’ UMK/ESC.
Catchy and powerful. I love it.
The song is a bop even though a bit repetitive. I just regret having subtitles turned on – “peel me like an onion”?! Does she have bad body odour? Will she make you cry? Is she an ogre? I’m just trying to say that if I had to think about sexy food, I definitely wouldn’t be thinking about onions. But I’m aroace so what do I know.
The idea of the song is that people are more than what you see on the first look. You have to ”peel” the outer layers to see what is inside.
Looks like it’s all Ogre for her!
Haha and I’m alergic to onion and can not see, eat or smell it 😀 gosh I hate this song now after the subtitles…
Well, finally something good after two meh releases, this is a relief
At this point this UMK honestly feels like the producers are really pushing for Cyan Kicks or Sara to win, the two of them really don’t have any competition other than each other, say what you will about their songs, but it’s pretty much a contest between them now, I doubt anybody else will take it
I’ll still wait for the last song, but I don’t wanna have high hopes anymore, UMK has surprised me in a bad way this year
I wouldn’t say they have the most memorable choruses though…
They still have energy and passion
Dancing With Demons and Paskana are the ones that I expect to deliver live
Sara kinda has it, her “everyone gtfo I wanna be alone” is super relatable
This year UMK left me underwhelmed too, they kinda rigged the selection for either of them but Sara has the edge for me, though.
Feels like something more up my alley was among the rejected entries, though I still expect something slick from Mikael Gabriel x Nublu.
The hook is fire but idk… I’m kinda tired of it after a few listens. The staging will make this a whole lot enjoyable I’m sure.
Clearly the best UMK entry so far for me, and the first that seems to really have genuine purpose behind it and not trying to be something it’s not. I like a lot of the ideas here and I think it has the potential to be a good live performance.
Ooo, a piano-based dance track! This song’s exciting for music theory fans. (Probably just me then.) There’s loads of hidden gems in the hooks, put over top of a groovy bass line that doesn’t quite do what I expect it to do. There is no traditional “key” used as such; it sounds to me like an abstract set of modes are being used. Dance tracks do this sometimes by accident, but because this song starts on piano, it all sounds expertly crafted to me. However… I think it’s risky to enter this song into a contest, simply because it has… Read more »
How many female rappers we’ve had in Eurovision? I remember Poland 2014, and one of the singers for San Marino in 2018 was a rapper too.
UK 1995
You mean rappers doing rap? I would include Russia 2021 there as well. Other than that Stella Mwangi is a fabulous rapper, though she didn’t do rap in Eurovision.
Yes, exactly.
Manizha
Also, Lea Sirk
Somehow very few, each one that has gotten to Eurovision have had good songs, maybe San Marino 2018 isn’t the best, but rest that all of you mentioned have been good.
But Sini is not rapping at all
She’s rapping some parts, not the whole song and she’s also a rapper.
I’m so in love with this! Such a cheeky little mid 2000’s inspired club banger, which gives me Princess Superstar vibes, and I’m here for it.
Finally a song from Finland that I’m excited about after losing the will to live with the other songs!
Club banger, and I really like how lyrics are out of the ordinary while being well written. This screams live performance, and I’m sure she’ll deliver!
No more Fire/Desire nightmares with lyrics with typical stage shows! Amen!
OMG I didn’t know what to expect from Sini this time but she came to slay!
The song has a hypnotic and danceable beat, and the “kuori mua” sticks around in your head too!
At this point, it’s either this one or Paskana for me
it doesn’t really convey anything to me… an okay bop with nothing much to say
Sex positivity! is the message
No, sorry I don’t like this one. It’s still between Cyan Kicks and Sara for me. Last few songs for UMK were not equally good after a very strong start unfortunately.
It has a hook and variation. The repeat of Kuori Mua on the deep beat is hypnotic. One to watch i think
Easily my favourite thus far from UMK. Hit it live and it’s a surefire finalist.
Slay! This is one catchy song, and since Yle knows how to do stagings that just have it, I’m sure this will be iconic live!
Think about Vesala’s slice of cake (2022) and Krista Siegfrid’s Maneki Neko (2019) and you’ll get the picture how this could be, of course those were interval act and show opener, but still.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner. This is the one. It’s like Maruv and Noa Kirel had a sexy baby.
Finland Coming 2nd In 2023 and Missing The Final In 2024 Has To Be The Biggest Downgrade In Eurovision History
Typical premature ejaculatory comment. All the songs haven’t even been released yet here you are writing off an entire country based on your own baseless opinion.
Get over 2023 and lighten up.
Interesting concept, interesting visuals, she is gorgeous, a staging full of sexy metaphors is coming I guess. The song itself is cool but the chorus is not impactful and not very memorable. UMK doesn’t make me vibing this year.
Cyan Kicks still for me, ok most of people prefer Hurricane but it’s still a good song full of power and this band on the Eurovision stage will be fire for sure.
Cheeky, sexy and fun! Love this song and the music video, it’s something that you can only expect from UMK, and shows how a women can do empowering songs that aren’t just ladylike!
My UMK24 fave so far
Well, UMK24 quite dissapointing after the brilliant UMK23.
So far
1 Sexmane
2 Sara
3 windows95man
4 Jesse
5 Sini
6 Cyan kicks
Though the last 3-4 could be in any order…
the gheis will love it but this is not great, it’s just another bop with a La Zarra type of persona.
Sini is very down to earth, not a diva personality IRL
Mother at its best, would be so iconic at Eurovision
1. Cyan Kicks
2. Sini Sabotage
3. Sexmane
4. Sara
5. Windows95man
6. Jesse
It’s a good song. Actually the best in this year’s UMK so far. Unfortunately for her, I still prefer having Israel in Malmö over having her. So … bye gurl.
She has ruled herself out too?
Dropping like flies at this rate.
Judging by the lyrics, Sini likes when flies are dropped.
The way I understand it, she has.
‘Sini Sabotage, another UMK finalist, expressed similar sentiments, stating that she would reconsider her participation if she wins the qualifier, citing a reluctance to support war.’
https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/culture/24746-finnish-and-icelandic-artists-demand-israel-s-exclusion-from-eurovision-over-gaza-war-crimes-allegations.html#google_vignette
Kind of hard to post the link as the URL is full of words the filter doesn’t Like, but it’s easy to google. There’s an indirect quote in an article from Helsinki Times.
Thanks. Hm, I wonder if perhaps they all feel that way but just haven’t told us yet. Had anyone confirmed they WILL go?
Not as far as I know, but I guess we’d have to ask a Finn.
1) Sexmane
2) Sara
3) Sini
4) Jesse
5) Cyan Kicks
6) Windows95man
The lyrics make 0.003 sense, but the gays are going to live with her if she gets the ticket. I can see Drag Queens all around Finland, and even Europe, doing this one ad nauseum during the next summer.
I do like it. It has a good catchy vibe to enjoy on a cleaning day.
Top 3, I’m still more on Cyan Kicks and Sara’s side, but I’d be 100% cool with this one winning.
The lyrics make sense to me. She is ready for some action! Woman has needs.
I might have lost some meaning. Onions happen to make me itchy, so, I kinda tend to stay away from them :p
“Peel me like an onion” = “ Take off my clothes”
Layer by layer!
Onions are making me think about Shrek. Ogres have layers too.
Still Sara Siipola for me. Sorry to say, but this year UMK is not for my musical taste at all. At this rate, even Melodifestivalen could easily become the best Nordic NF for me this year. Hopefully Iceland has something in store for me. I hope Finland saved the best for last, this one tonight is plain annoying to me. No thx.
While the overall production, presentation and format are all still far superior, I have to agree: the music itself just isn’t for me this year :/
At this point it’s safe to say so, I agree with you. Sara Siipola is my favorite but I’m sure that something more up my alley was among the rejected submissions this year :/
Okay so I really like the dance track that accompanies the song. It really makes it stand out and pop out. However, the vocals aren’t too good and the chorus is non existent, like I can barely remember it and it’s not a very good hook anyway. I wonder if this will be better live? I reckon it will because the song needs a major revamp. But it’s got tons of staging potential. It’s quite a disgusting music video though. I can only imagine what the lyrics are about. Not sure what to think of it overall! I’m glad this… Read more »
What a BANGER!
This is going a good way toward redeeming UMK24 for me.
Needs more piano.