YLE, the Finnish national broadcaster, has opened the song submission window for UMK 2026.
YLE and Finland are gearing up for Eurovision 2026 in full steam in their quest to search for the 2026 Finnish Eurovision act and entry. The UMK 2026 song submission window is open as of today 18th August and will close on 24th August.
- If you wish to partake at UMK 2026 you can apply here.
- You can read the UMK 2026 rules and regulations in English here.
The 2026 Finnish national final is scheduled to be held on February 28 at the Nokia Arena in Tampere. Finland. The competing acts and entries will be unveiled in Janauary 2026.
Tapio Hakanen (Chair of the UMK 2026 Jury) says:
UMK’s influence in creating Finnish music phenomena has grown stronger year by year. The successes of the previous season included Erika Vikman’s ICH KOMME with around 30 million streams, Nelli Matula’s biggest radio song of the year Hitaammin hautaan , and Goldielocks’ breakthrough and great success with the English-language song Made Of .
UMK has no genre restrictions and we hope to have the most diverse song coverage possible for our professional and public juries to judge!”
YLE’s official press release reads:
UMK has become one of the most followed local competitions in the Eurovision world during this decade. In Finland, UMK has established itself as a springboard for new artists and songs, and numerous songs that have participated have become big hits both at home and abroad. The UMK26 winner will represent Finland at the next Eurovision Song Contest in Austria in May 2026 and perform there for hundreds of millions of viewers.
The 15th New Music Competition, UMK26, will be held at Tampere’s Nokia Arena on February 28, 2026. The selected artists and songs will traditionally be announced in January.
This year, several juries will be responsible for the song and artist selections for UMK. The jury, consisting of music professionals and chaired by YleX’s music manager Tapio Hakanen , has the greatest influence . In addition to the professional jury, five public juries, which include a diverse group of representatives from different fields, influence the selections. The jury reform launched last year was successful and will be continued this year.
Finland at Eurovision
Finland debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 and has won the competition once, namely in 2006 when Lordi brought the coveted trophy to home soil for the very first time with Hard Rock Hallelujah. The Nordic country has competed 58 times in Europe’s favorite television show.
In 2025 Erika Vikman represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest with her entry ‘Ich Komme’.
