Yle, the Finnish national broadcaster, has revealed the participants for Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2026.
The seven participants in Uuden Musikiin Kilpailu (UMK) 2026 were revealed this evening. The participants were revealed during a live broadcast on Yle TV 1 and YLE Areena. The show was hosted by Jasmin Beloued, who hosted UMK 2025. She was joined by Eva Frantz, BESS, Samuli Väänänen and DJ Orkidea (Tapio Hakanen).
Joining the live studio audience of 300 fans was commentator Mikko Silvennoinen and radio presenter Katri Norrlin. Mikko interviewed the seven acts being announced, while Katri chatted with the audience. English commentary was provided by Jaakko Oleander.
The artists are:
Etta – “Million Dollar Smile”
Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius – “Liekinheitin” (Flamethrower)
Komiat – “Lululai”
Sinikka Monte – “Ready to Leave”
Antti Paalanen – “Takatukka” (Back hair)
CHACHI – “Cherry Cake”
KIKI – “Rakkaudenkipee” (Love hurts)
The seven entries will be released every weekday at midnight EET from January 15 to January 23. The release schedule is as follows:
January 15 – Etta
January 16 – Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius
January 19 – Komiat
January 20 – Sinikka Monte
January 21 – Antti Paalanen
January 22 – CHACHI
January 23 – KIKI
Tapio Hakanen, chair of the UMK jury commented:
“This UMK season is set to be unique in many ways. We handpicked the contestants from a record number of applicants, and the entries range from pop to folk music, dance, and light dance music. In UMK, the song really determines who gets to compete, so both self-funded artists and seasoned legends can take part. I am really excited that UMK26 will feature new artists who are not familiar to most Finns, and that the selection of instruments is so varied, including a violin, accordion, whistling, delicate singing, club bass drum and rapping.”
UMK 2026 will take place on February 28 in Nokia Arena in Tampere. The winner will represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna.
Erika Vikman represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with “Ich komme”. Finland finished 11th in the final scoring 196 points. Finland received 12 points from the Austrian jury and received 10 points from the public in Sweden, Australia and Estonia.
Source: Yle
Finland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. They debuted alongside Spain and Yugoslavia. Finland has finished last in the contest on 10 occasions and has received ‘nul points’ three times. It wasn’t until 2006 that Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi represented the country in Athens with the song “Hard Rock Hallelujah” scoring 292 points, a record total at the time.