Finland’s Contest for New Music (UMK) is expanding from a television show to a public event in February
Finland's biggest music show, the Contest for New Music UMK, is expanding in 2022. On 26th of February 2022, Turku Logomo will host the new, all-night UMK22 event. Tickets are now available at Lippupiste.
Finland's biggest music show, the Contest for New Music UMK, is expanding in 2022. On 26th of February 2022, the city of Turku and Logomo arena will host the new, all-night UMK22 event. Tickets are now available at Lippupiste.
UMK takes the winner from the Finnish audience of millions to hundreds of millions of viewers at Eurovision, the world's biggest music entertainment show. Thanks to last year’s great success of Blind Channel, the standard of entrants was high this year, including both new rising stars and Finnish legends.
The UMK22 event at Turku Logomo put on a world-class show, with seven UMK contestant performances and interval acts from some of Finland's brightest stars. UMK22 after-party from 11pm to 4am will feature DJ’s like DJ Orkidea, Club La Persé, Fiona Timantti and YleX DJs Anne Lainto and Renaz.
During the UMK22 event, Finns will once again be able to vote for their own UMK favourites and, together with the international juries, select the Finnish representative for Eurovision, which will be held in Turin, Italy next May.
Ticket sales for the UMK22 event starts today, Tuesday, November 16, at 1pm at Lippupiste. Ticket prices start at €19.90 (incl. after-party). Tickets for the after-party only are €11. More information on the event: yle.fi/umk.
UMK22 artist lineup most extensive ever
The role that UMK plays, serving as a springboard for artists wanting to achieve domestic and international stardom, has grown stronger year after year. In 2021, the broadcast of UMK reached 1.9 million Finns, and media exposure, radio play and streaming success were unprecedented. This year, Blind Channel’s Dark Side became one of the most streamed Finnish songs of all time, and the success of the band in Eurovision, with its hundreds of millions of viewers, has already increased interest in UMK among artists.
312 entries were submitted to the UMK22 song search in September, which was clearly more than in the previous year. A total of more than 1,000 people participated in the writing of songs submitted for screening. In fact, the UMK jury, headed by YleX Head of Music Tapio Hakanen and composed of music professionals, had a challenging task of selecting seven songs and artists for the 2022 contest.
— The artist lineup chosen for this year's UMK contest is the most extensive ever. The entrants include emerging pop-stars who have been successful on streaming services, promising international export talent, an artist known to all Finns, including an artist who has appeared on a very well known music programme, a long-standing favourite whose career stretches from the 80s to today, and new names who enjoy high praise from the music industry. There was a clear increase in the number of rock band entrants, and we will see explosive rock energy also in the final. Now, viewers can finally experience the excitement of UMK also in a live event, Tapio Hakanen, the head of the UMK panel comments.
The artist in this year’s Contest for New Music will be announced on Wednesday, January 12, and the competition songs will be presented one by one on consecutive days starting on January 13, on Yle Areena and music streaming services.
Important dates and information:
● The artists for Contest for New Music UMK will be announced on January 12, 2022, and the songs will be presented one each day beginning January 13
● All-night UMK22 event at Turku Logomo on Saturday, February 26, 2022, from 7pm to 4am. More information on the tickets.
● The UMK22 final will be broadcast on Yle TV1, Yle Areena and Yle radio channels on February 26, 2022 from 9pm–11pm
● Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy on May 10, 12 and 14, 2022
The Contest for New Music, UMK
The Contest for New Music (UMK) is a competition organised by the Finnish Broadcasting Company. It is open to all music makers in search of the best new Finnish song. The performer of the winning song will represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Turin, Italy in 2022.
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