They were amongst the favourites of this year’s Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu in Finland, but now they are out! The band One Morning Left and their entry “Puppy” has been excluded from participating in the Finnish national final due to a breach of contract.
National broadcaster YLE sent out this press release:
“Unfortunately, One Morning Left will not be seen at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest because the competition rules have not been fully complied with,” commented Anssi Autio, executive producer of UMK . “The decision was also based on the EBU Eurovision Song Contest rules, which state that such a violation of the rules is a clear obstacle to the five-member band to continue. Yle and One Morning Left have discussed the matter and agree on the reasons for the decision.
Finland’s biggest music show, Yle’s Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, will culminate on February 8th at Tampere’s Nokia Arena, where six artists will take the stage this year. According to the rules of the competition, there is no need to add a new representative to replace the one who leaves.”
The band posted on Instagram saying, that they would withdraw from UMK and dismantle the band following serious accusations against lead singer Mika Lahti:
“We have been informed that serious accusations have been made anonymously on social media against a member of our band. According to the accusations, Mika Lahti allegedly communicated with a minor in the IRC-Galleria between 2007 and 2010, either knowingly or unknowingly.
The accusations have come as a complete surprise to the band members, UMK, Yle and all parties and companies that have worked with the band. The accusations do not target the other current members of the band, but the accusations clearly concern Mika Lahti.
The other members of the band; Leevi, Juuso, Miska and Dennis have left the band immediately and have expressed their great shock at the accusations. The other members of the band and other partners completely disavow the allegations. The accusations made do not correspond in any way to the values of the other members of the band or the partners of the band.
In light of this information, One Morning Left will not continue in the New Music Competition, but will withdraw from it on this date. At the same time, all activities of the band will be terminated and the underlying One Morning Left company will be dissolved immediately.
Mika Lahti denies the accusations. He is also ready to file a criminal complaint against the unfounded allegations.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused to UMK, other artists, Yle, the audience, the band’s fans and partners. The other members of the band would never have joined the band if they had known about the possible inappropriate behavior.
We ask that the media or the public do not contact the band’s members or partners about this matter. We also ask for peace of mind for the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu working group.
We will not comment further on this matter.”
Updated with the statement from the band
The right decision was made obviously but I’m already tired of all thsese drama and we’re not even yet in the heart of the season… promising…
Who’s next?
Hoping for Goldilocks or Viivi now then. A great contemporary popsong or a really beautiful and emotional ballad!
Erika is definitely going to oversexualise her performance so she will flop in the semifinal most likely…. eurovision viewers do not vote for acts like Ronela, Olly or Nebulossa where staging is heavily imitating sexual conduct.
And before people start pointing out the success of Poland 2014 again…that was only a short moment of butter churning – not an entire performance entirely sexualised.
I would love if Goldilocks wins. The song is such a banger and really different from what we would except from Finland.
If the rumours are true this is the best decision that could come out of this, better safe than sorry.
Yeah, not a very good look would it? Probably for the best at this point.
The song was trash anyway. So happy for Erika now!
So great song. It would be a huge hit in Europe. Other songs are mess. Finland made very bad decision.
Oh, dear. Not great news. Alas poor Puppy, we barely knew ye.
If the allegations are true, I won’t be listening to it again.
it was apparently against one member, and the other 4 left because they were so angry from it.
I never liked puppy from the very beginning, so it was never in my national finals playlist. I don’t miss the song.
Why not? Why punish 4 other people’s work and effort for the sins of one man? The fact that they have acted so responsible in this matter proves that there is some respect to be given to those other members… and listening to their work would be that.
Why not? I just wouldn’t enjoy it anymore, that’s all. I’m not trying to punish any innocent band members, and I don’t blame or judge them. The fact remains that there is now a big stain on their product.
it could have been worse it could have been the BBCs act linked with it
So many disqualifications this year sadly.
I think that the televote will give 80% of the votes for Erika Vikman then and she will win easily. Like her song but rooting for Neea and Viivi.
Yall, even if UMK hadn’t shut them out, there would still be no OML anymore as the other members quit the band on the spot. So no need to blame UMK for this one.
THANKS!!!
Oh no, this makes me so sad. First of all – i love this song, and it was my favourite. Second, so upsetting and sad if the rumours are true – which they probably are since it is the band members themselves that decided this. And third: why don’t they have a back up entry ? Just like Norway…still some time for the contest, I am sure they could find a replacement entry.
It’s too late for a back-up. The songs have been revealed, staging prepared, videos released. The ship has sailed. Man overboard.
They officially posted that they aren’t looking for a replacement entry. Having a backup is really expensive lol. Like the budget of each song at umk is wild.
I think the people from UMK realized that One Morning Left would win over Erika. This is sad news. They were definitely the best choice for Finland
No no no, not everything is a sinister conspiracy. The band themselves acknowledge it as a fair decision. They KNOW what they did.
Or at least what one of them did
no, these are accusations and not something that has been confirmed
Nothing to do with that! One of band members was discovered unappropriate contact(harrasment?) with underage years ago and this resultet disqualification.Don’t know the details.
again only accusations
What the four other (ex-)members of the band said on Instagram is terrific: the main singer is accused of disconduct with minors. The band (and their label) are discontinued from this day.
We needed a drama iceberg per year before: we need an iceberg per week nowadays.
Oh. How fcking awful. Puts UMK in perspective.
omg what’s going on today! now justyna in poland :O
What happened with Justyna?! 😮
Has Justyna pulled out?
same than Knut, I see nothing about Justyna, do you have some info?
What the hell are you on about? If you’re implying that she withdrew, I don’t see any evidence of it. Don’t put out a statement like that and just leave it hanging.
why???
are songs about dogs not allowed
i’d love to joke about kitty lobby (i’m full into it), but the real reason is hugely darker than this.
Hated that song with a passion. Not a loss.
PUPPY!!!!!
DQvision 2025.
The “no rules” mantra in Finland only lasted until 2024 was over…
At least it was the (now former) band members themselves that took action in their own hands first, rather than letting the reasons behind their disbanding simmer until UMK was over or YLE found out themselves. If what’s rumoured to have happened is true, very good reaction time from the rest of the band members (I think their lead singer has been anonymously accused for relations with a minor more than a decade ago in FB). If the accusations are false however, it’s a damn shame to be honest. In the end, I just hope we get the clear answer.
What was better, retrospectively? Pretending to have “no rules” or to feel like a “paskana”?
Without them, I see no world in which Erika is not winning UMK.
Well, it clears a pathway for her. She actually isn’t my number one favorite for UK, (it’s nightmares for the record) but I would rather have her go to Eurovision than these guys. I really did not like puppy.
Today is so crazy.
Without the party. What a day.
Honestly, Finland dodged a bullet here. ICH KOMME for the win.
Thank God!!!
Sad for them
On the other hand i wanted something “else” from Finland this year so im like no stunned…
LOL what is happening to Eurovision this year XD
It appears to start where last year’s Eurovision left off… although in this case the One Morning Left guy actually seems to have done something to merit disqualification, unlike Joost Klein.