YLE, the Finnish national broadcaster, has announced today that the UMK 2025  song submission is open as of today with the deadline set for 25 August.

Finland has kicked off its search for its Eurovision 2025 act. The Finnish national final is set to take place in February with the exact date and venue yet to be determined.

YLE has published the rules and regulations for UMK 2025.

YLE’s official media release reads:

UMK is Finland’s largest music show and one of the most prestigious national selections in the Eurovision Song Contest world. UMK launches artists in front of millions of viewers first in Finland, and then presents the winner’s song in the world’s biggest music show, the Eurovision Song Contest, in front of hundreds of millions. The UMK25 event will be held in February 2025 and the next ESC will take place in Switzerland in May 2025.

As in previous years, UMK’s song and artist selections will be handled by a jury of music professionals chaired by YleX’s Head of Music Tapio Hakanen. You can apply with the form available at yle.fi/umk. The website also has the contest rules in Finnish, Swedish and English. The application period starts today, 19 August at 8:00 a.m., and ends on 25 August at 11:59 p.m. All applicants will be contacted at the latest in October.  

Tapio Hakanen, Chair of the UMK jury say:

In the previous season, UMK became an arena-size event at Nokia Arena in Tampere, with two sold-out shows and, at the same time, the entire production was taken to a whole new level. It was great to see how UMK artists got to take a big career step towards larger stages, greater popularity and gold and platinum records.

I’m very excited to see what kind of songs and artists the new season will offer. UMK does not have a specific musical format: hopefully, as diverse a group of artists as possible will apply and take this chance to inspire audiences both in Finland and around the world!

Source: YLE/ UMK
Photo credit: YLE/UMK