{"id":28490,"date":"2026-03-01T14:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T14:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/28490\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T14:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T14:59:08","slug":"demonstrators-call-for-eurovision-boycott-during-finlands-umk-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/28490\/","title":{"rendered":"Demonstrators call for Eurovision boycott during Finland\u2019s UMK final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Demonstrators gathered outside Tampere\u2019s Nokia Arena on Saturday evening calling for a boycott of Eurovision over Israel\u2019s participation, as Finland selected its entry for this year\u2019s contest in Vienna.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Between 50 and 100 people assembled near the arena hours before the live broadcast of the UMK (“New Music competition”) final, according to Finland\u2019s Interior Police and reports by Iltalehti<\/a>. Activists waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans including \u201cDown with Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

The protest was organised by the Tampere with Palestine collective and Sumud Tampere. In their call to action, organisers said they did not accept sharing an event \u201cwith war criminals who weaken international law daily\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The groups set out four demands: that Israel be barred from Eurovision, that Finland\u2019s public broadcaster Yle boycott the contest, that the UMK winner refuse to take part in Vienna, and that the European Broadcasting Union suspend Israel\u2019s participation until international law is respected.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Yle<\/a> reported that more than 2.5 million viewers followed the UMK final on television and its Areena streaming platform, equivalent to around 44 per cent of Finland\u2019s population. Nearly 447,000 votes were cast, more than 100,000 higher than last year.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At the end of the three-hour show, Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen won the competition with their song \u201cLiekinheitin\u201d (\u201cFlamethrower\u201d), securing 570 points. Three quarters of the score came from the public vote, with the remaining 25 per cent awarded by an international jury.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Raspy-voiced accordionist Antti Paalanen finished second with 210 points for \u201cTakatukka\u201d. Boy band Komiat placed third with 116 points. The remaining finalists each scored fewer than 100 points.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n\"\"\/
\n
\n
\nViolinist Linda Lampenius and singer Pete Parkkonen, winners of the Finnish song contest UMK (Contest for New Music) perform after securing victory in the contest in Tampere, Finland, on February 28, 2026. Photo:\u00a0Heikki Saukkomaa\u00a0\/ Lehtikuva
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

Lampenius, 56, is known for a career that spans classical and pop music. She has also written an autobiography and featured in a documentary series about her life. Parkkonen, 36, began his career after finishing third in Idols in 2008. He later won Dancing with the Stars Finland and released the platinum-selling album PETE in 2018.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Finland has won Eurovision once, when Lordi took the title in 2006 with \u201cHard Rock Hallelujah\u201d. Yle reported that according to the betting aggregate site eurovisionworld.com, Finland ranked first on Sunday with an 18 per cent estimated chance of winning the 2026 contest.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s participation in Eurovision has faced criticism<\/a> in several countries over the genocide in Gaza. The European Broadcasting Union has maintained that the contest is a competition between public service broadcasters, not governments.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Earlier in the week, Yle said it could not compel the UMK winner to compete in Vienna. The competition rules state that the winner commits to representing Finland at Eurovision, but participation ultimately depends on agreements between the artist and the broadcaster.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Vienna in May.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

HT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Demonstrators gathered outside Tampere\u2019s Nokia Arena on Saturday evening calling for a boycott of Eurovision over Israel\u2019s participation,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[87],"tags":[1261,158,113,3126,18010,18006,18009,18007,18008,18005,6675],"class_list":["post-28490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-helsinki","tag-eurovision","tag-finland","tag-helsinki","tag-israel","tag-liekinheitin","tag-linda-lampenius","tag-nokia-arena","tag-pete-parkkonen","tag-tampere-protest","tag-umk","tag-yle"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}