Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

{{main|Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest}}

Prior to the 2019 contest, {{lang|fi|Yleisradio|i=no}} (Yle) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Finland fifty-two times since its first entry in {{esccnty|Finland|y=1961|t=1961}}.{{cite web|title=Finland Country Profile|url=http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-country/country?country=22|access-date=18 August 2014|publisher=EBU}} It has won the contest once in {{esccnty|Finland|y=2006|t=2006}} with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" performed by Lordi. In {{esccnty|Finland|y=2018|t=2018}}, "Monsters" performed by Saara Aalto managed to qualify to the final for the first time since 2014 and placed twenty-fifth.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, Yle organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2019 contest on 13 September 2018.{{Cite web|date=2018-09-13|title=Finland announces date of UMK 2019 final, show will involve only one artist|url=https://wiwibloggs.com/2018/09/13/finland-date-format-umk-2019/226962/|access-date=2019-01-29|website=wiwibloggs|language=en-US}} Yle had selected its entries for the contest through national final competitions that have varied in format over the years. Between 1961 and 2011, a selection show that was often titled {{lang|fi|Euroviisukarsinta}} highlighted that the purpose of the program was to select a song for Eurovision. However, since 2012, the broadcaster has organised the selection show {{lang|fi|Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu}} (UMK), which focuses on showcasing new music with the winning song being selected as the Finnish entry for that year. In 2018, Yle opted to internally select the artist with the song selected through {{lang|fi|Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu}}, a procedure that continued for the entry for the 2019 contest as announced by the broadcaster along with its participation confirmation.

Yle announced that they had internally selected DJ Darude and singer Sebastian Rejman to represent Finland in Tel Aviv during a live streamed press conference on 29 January 2019, hosted by Krista Siegfrids, who represented {{esccnty|Finland|y=2013|t=Finland in 2013}}, Mikko Silvennoinen and Christoffer Strandberg. It was also announced during the press conference that their song would be selected through {{lang|fi|Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu}} 2019 with three songs competing.{{Cite web|title=It's Darude for Finland this year!|url=https://eurovision.tv/story/darude-to-represent-finland-in-2019|access-date=2019-01-29|website=eurovision.tv|date=29 January 2019 }}

{{lang|fi|Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu}} 2019 was the eighth edition of {{lang|fi|Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu|i=no}} (UMK), the music competition that selects Finland's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The three competing songs along with their promotional music videos were presented on 8, 15 and 22 February 2019, respectively, while the final took place on 2 March 2019 at the Logomo in Turku and hosted by Krista Siegfrids, Mikko Silvennoinen and Christoffer Strandberg. The show was broadcast on Yle TV2, online at yle.fi/umk and via radio with commentary in Swedish by Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos on Yle X3M.{{Cite web|date=27 February 2019|title=Näin äänestät UMK19: Darude -show:ssa suosikkikappalettasi - lataa yle.fi-sovellus kännykkääsi!|url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2019/02/27/nain-aanestat-umk19-darude-showssa-suosikkikappalettasi-lataa-ylefi-sovellus|access-date=11 January 2021|website=Yle|language=fi}} All three competing songs were performed by Darude and Sebastian Rejman and "Look Away" was selected as the winning song by a 50/50 combination of public votes and eight international jury groups from the United Kingdom, Norway, Spain, Czech Republic, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, and Israel. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 240 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 8, 10 and 12 points. The viewer vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through the following voting methods: telephone, SMS and online voting. For example, if a song gained 10% of the viewer vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 240 points rounded to the nearest integer: 24 points.

In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the interval act featured Danish Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner Emmelie de Forest performing her winning Eurovision entry "Only Teardrops".{{Cite web|last=Granger|first=Anthony|date=1 February 2019|title=Finland: Emmelie De Forest Named As Guest Act for UMK 2019|url=https://eurovoix.com/2019/02/01/finland-emmelie-de-forest-named-as-guest-act-for-umk-2019/|access-date=8 September 2021|website=Eurovoix}} The competition was watched by 358,000 viewers in Finland.{{Cite web|title=Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman (Finland)|url=https://esckaz.com/2019/fin.htm|access-date=8 September 2021|website=ESCKAZ}}

Darude and Sebastian Rejman made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Look Away" as the Finnish Eurovision entry. On 6 April, Darude and Sebastian Rejman performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Marlayne.{{cite web|date=6 April 2019|title=This was Eurovision in Concert 2019 in Amsterdam|url=https://eurovision.tv/story/eurovision-in-concert-2019-in-review|website=Eurovision.tv}} On 14 April, they performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.{{cite web|date=13 April 2019|title=18 Eurovision acts to perform in London on Sunday 14 A[p]ril|url=https://eurovision.tv/snippet/18-eurovision-2019-acts-to-perform-in-london-on-sunday-13-april|website=Eurovision.tv|access-date=17 April 2019|archive-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415190853/https://eurovision.tv/snippet/18-eurovision-2019-acts-to-perform-in-london-on-sunday-13-april|url-status=dead}} On 19 April, Darude and Rejman performed during the PreParty ES event which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain and hosted by Julia Varela and Tony Aguilar.{{Cite web|last=García|first=Belén|date=25 March 2019|title=PreParty ES 2019: New hosts and acts announced|url=https://www.esc-plus.com/preparty-es-2019-new-hosts-and-acts-announced/|access-date=8 September 2021|website=ESCplus}}

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Finland was placed into the first semi-final, held on 14 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.{{cite web|last1=Jordan|first1=Paul|date=28 January 2019|title=Eurovision 2019: Which country takes part in which Semi-Final?|url=https://eurovision.tv/story/semi-final-allocation-draw-results-2019|access-date=28 January 2019|website=eurovision.tv|publisher=European Broadcasting Union}}

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Finland was set to perform in position 3, following the entry from Montenegro and preceding the entry from Poland.{{cite web|date=2 April 2019|title=Exclusive: This is the Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final running order!|url=https://eurovision.tv/story/semi-finals-running-order-eurovision-2019|access-date=2 April 2019|website=eurovision.tv|publisher=European Broadcasting Union|df=dmy-all}}

The two semi-finals and the final were televised in Finland on Yle TV2 with a second audio program providing commentary in Finnish by 2013 Finnish Eurovision entrant Krista Siegfrids and Mikko Silvennoinen and in Swedish by Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos. The three shows were broadcast via radio with Finnish commentary by Sanna Pirkkalainen and Toni Laaksonen in the two semi-finals and by Sanna Pirkkalainen and Sami Sykkö in the final on Yle Radio Suomi.{{cite news|last=Herbert|first=Emily|date=24 April 2019|title=Finland: Krista Siegfrids Joins Mikko Silvennoinen in the Eurovision Commentary Booth|work=Eurovoix|url=https://eurovoix.com/2019/04/24/finland-krista-siegfrids-eurovision/|url-status=live|access-date=24 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424170059/https://eurovoix.com/2019/04/24/finland-krista-siegfrids-eurovision/|archive-date=24 April 2019}} The Finnish spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Finnish jury during the final, was Christoffer Strandberg.

File:ESC2019 - Finland.jpg

Darude and Sebastian Rejman took part in technical rehearsals on 4 and 9 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May. This included the jury show on 13 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The Finnish performance featured Darude with a DJ mixing table on a platform to the left of the stage and Sebastian Rejman performing on the triangular catwalk, joined by a female dancer performing a choreographed routine on a raised platform in the centre of the stage. The LED screens displayed images showing global warming and the dancer appearing underwater as she at times disappear from the stage.{{Cite web|date=4 May 2019|title=Don't 'Look Away' from Finland's first rehearsal in Tel Aviv|url=https://eurovision.tv/story/don-t-look-away-from-finland-s-first-rehearsal-in-tel-aviv|access-date=8 September 2021|website=eurovision.tv}}{{Cite web|date=9 May 2019|title=Don't 'Look Away'! Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman is back for Finland|url=https://eurovision.tv/gallery/dont-look-away-darude-feat-sebastian-rejman-is-back-for-finland|access-date=8 September 2019|website=eurovision.tv}} The female dancer that joined Darude and Sebastian Rejman on stage was Etel Röhr and additional off-stage backing vocals were provided by Heini Ikonen, Matti Leino and Petri Somer.{{Cite web|title=Finland|url=https://sixonstage.com/country/finland|access-date=8 September 2021|website=Six on Stage}}

At the end of the show, Finland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Finland placed seventeenth (last) in the semi-final, receiving a total of 23 points: 14 points from the televoting and 9 points from the juries.{{Cite web|date=15 May 2019|title=Suomi putosi jatkosta Euroviisuissa: "Harmittaa vietävästi"|url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000006105746.html|access-date=15 May 2019|website=hs.fi|publisher=Helsingin Sanomat}}

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.{{cite web|last1=Groot|first1=Evert|date=30 April 2019|title=Exclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!|url=https://eurovision.tv/story/exclusive-eurovision-2019-juries|access-date=30 April 2019|website=Eurovision.tv|publisher=European Broadcasting Union|df=dmy-all}}

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Finland and awarded by Finland in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

The following members composed the Finnish jury:

• Susanna Vainiola (jury chairperson){{snd}}music journalist, radio DJ
• Eva Louhivuori{{snd}}musician
• {{ill|Lasse Wikman|fi}}{{snd}}singer, songwriter, lyricist
• {{ill|Samuli Sirviö|fi}}{{snd}}producer, songwriter, musician
• Janne Hyöty{{snd}}songwriter, composer, producer, musician

{{Reflist}}

• [http://yle.fi/aihe/euroviisut Official Yle Eurovision site]

{{Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest}}

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2019}}

2019

Category:Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Eurovision

Eurovision