February 25, 2023

Käärijä wins UMK for Finland 2023

Tonight was the big final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023! Just like last year, the Finnish national final was really strong. We’ve had big superstars, and new talent compete at this years UMK. The most famous one being Robin Packalen. He’s a been singer in Finland since 2008. The newest talent tonight was female pop singer Keira with “No Buisness On The Dance Floor”. She was the runner up of last years The Voice Of Finland. However the most popular superstar of tonight was Käärijä. He began his music carreer in 2016 with Urheilujätkä. The song didn’t blow up, but also didn’t stay unheard as it has gathered one million streams. He has been able to find himself in this music industry, as he released “Cha Cha Cha” for his UMK entry. The song went viral on Spotify, and was the number one in the Finnish charts for several weeks. Tonight he competed and won over the public & jury vote. He has been number one in the odds for a month, and now recieved the ultimate price. Käärijä will represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in the first Semi Final.

Iceland: finalists known

Tonight’s two Icelandic finalists are known. The two songs will join last weeks finalists in next week’s Icelandic final. However, there was also a wildcard. And the wildcard goes to one of last weeks contestants, The Celebs with “Dómsdagsdans”. The finalists are in bold letters: Kristin Sesselja, “Óbyggðir” Langi Seli & Skuggarnir, “OK” Silja Rós & Kjalar, “Ég styð þína braut” Úlfar, “Betri maður” Sigga Ozk, “Gleyma þér og dansa”

Sweden sends Loreen and Smash Into Pieces direct to final

Tonight was the final heat in Melodifestivalen 2023. We’ve now seen every song competing in this years’ show. This week we’ve seen some familair faces, as Loreen & Mariette competed for a spot in the final. And with that, Loreen succeeded to get a spot in the final, as she won this weeks heat with the most votes of the evening. Earlier this week her rehearsal made a magnificent change in the Eurovision odds, as it doubled the Swedish percentage, and now is first. The second qualifier was Smash Into Pieces with “Six Feet Under” winning the twelve points in four different age groups! It’s the debut of the band at Melodifestivalen, and they are of to a great start! The two semi final qualifiers were Marriete and Kiana. Mariette is known in the Eurovision family, as she has competed in Melodifestivalen five times. Her highest result was fourth in 2017 with “A Million Years”. Kiana is an upcoming music talent in Sweden. In 2021 she participated in Sweden’s got talent, and qualified for the final, and eventually was the runner up of the show. This year she tries to represent Sweden, and will try to succeed her place in the Semi Final.

San Marino selects a song

After a week of semifinals, it is the moment that San Marino selects a song. Out of 22 entries, the smallest country on the current Eurovision map will select one. The show starts at 21:00 CET and can be seen here. Below you will find the participants: 1 Alfie Arcuri Collide 2 Deborah Iurato Out of space 3 Deshedus Non basterà 4 Edoardo Brogi Due punti sull’equatore 5 EEF Something for you 6 Eiffel 65 Movie star 7 Ellynora Mama told me 8 Iole Sui tetto del mondo 9 Kida Stessa pelle 10 Le Deva Fiori su marte 11 Lorenzo Licitra Never give up 12 Mate Prisma 13 Mayu C’è qualcosa in me che non funziona 14 NeVruz L’alieno 15 Piqued Jacks Like an animal 16 Ronela Hajati Salvaje 17 Roy Paci Tromba 18 Simone De Biagi Catching memories 19 Thomas 23:23 20 Tothem Sacro e profano 21 Vina Rose Oblivious 22 XGiove Fuoco e benzina Alfie Arcuri became 5th in Australia You Decide in 2019.Deborah Iurato became 3rd in the Festival Di Sanremo 2016.Deshedus became 9th in Una Voce per San Marino 2022.Mate became 17th in Una Voce per San Marino 2022.Ronela Hajati took part in Festival i Këngës 2015 (11th) and 2022 (1st). She represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Sekret”.Roy Paci became 8th in Festival Di Sanremo 2018.Vina Rose became 7th in Una Voce per San Marino 2022.

Finland selects for Liverpool

Tonight Finland will decide which song will represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest. Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) is the name of the national selection. Just as the last few years, seven songs will compete in the contest. The show starts at 20:00. You can choose to watch it without commentary, or with English, Swedish, Ukrainian or Russian commentary. Below you will find the field of songs for tonight: 1 Robin Packalen Girls like you 2 Kuumaa Ylivomainen 3 Käärijä Cha cha cha 4 Keira No business on the dancefloor 5 Benjamin Hoida mut 6 Lxandra Something to lose 7 Portion Boys Sama taivasta katsotaan None of the artists took part in UMK before.

Portugal: Festival Da Canção starts

Portugal starts the national final tonight. The tradition is that there will be two semifinals and a final. Every semifinal contains 10 songs, and so does the final. That means that from tonight’s semifinal, two songs will go through two the final. The show will be broadcast on 22:00 CET and you can watch it here and here. These are the participating songs: MoYah sings “Too much sauce” Bolha sings “Sonhos de liberdade” April Ivy sings “Modo voo” Churky sings “Encurzilhada” Cláudia Pascoal sings “Nasci Maria” Sal sings “Viver” Mimicat sings “Ai coração” You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown sings “Contraste mudo” Neon Soho sings “Endless world” Esse Povo sings “Sapatos de cimento” Cláudia Pascoal won Festival Da Canção in 2018 and represented Portugal at the festival in Lisbon with the song “O jardim”.

Iceland: Söngvakeppnin continues

Tonight the Icelandic national final Söngvakeppnin will continue. You are able to watch the second of two semifinals. Two more songs will be selected. In the end, probably later this week, a wildcard will be given to a 5th song. The show will start at 20:45 CET and you can watch it here. The songs in tonight show will all be sung in Icelandic. For the final, however, artists have the right to sing their song in English. These are tonights titles: Kristin Sesselja sings “Óbyggðir” Langi Seli & Skuggarnir sing “OK” Silja Rós & Kjalar sing “Ég styð þína braut” Úlfar sings “Betri maður” Sigga Ozk sings “Gleyma þér og dansa” None of the participating artists took part in Söngvakeppnin in the past.

Sweden: Melodifestivalen heat 4 is on

The very popular Swedish national selection Melodifestivalen will have it’s 4th and last heat tonight. Seven songs will compete, two will head directly to the final while two other songs will go to the semifinal. The show starts at 20:00 and you can watch it here. The participating songs are: Kiana sings “Where did you go?” Signe & Hjördis sing “Edelweiss” Smash Into Pieces sings “Six feet under” Mariette sings “One day” Emil Henrohn sings “Mera mera mera” Axel Schylström sings “Gorgeous” Loreen sings “Tattoo” Mariette became 3rd in 2015, 4th in 2017, 5th in 2018 and 10th in 2020.Axel Schylström reached Andra Chancen in 2017.Loreen reached Andra Chancen in 2011, won Melodifestivalen 2012 and reached Andra Chancen in 2017. Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the legendary song “Euphoria”!