Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2014 was the third edition of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the music competition that selects Finland's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition consisted of four shows that commenced with the first of two heats on 11 January 2014 and concluded with a final on 1 February 2014. The four shows were hosted by Yle youth radio channel YleX DJs Anne Lainto and Ile Uusivuori.[1][2] All shows were broadcast on Yle TV2 and online at yle.fi/umk. The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[3]

The format of the competition consisted of four shows: two heats, a semi-final and a final. Six songs competed in each heat and the winning entry from each heat qualified directly to the final, while the entries placed second to fifth qualified to the semi-final. Eight songs competed in the semi-final and the top six entries qualified to complete the eight-song lineup in the final. The results for the heats, the semi-finals and the final were determined by the 50/50 combination of public voting and a four-member jury panel who each assigned scores to each entry ranging from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Public voting included the options of telephone and SMS voting.

The four-member jury panel participated in each show by providing commentary and feedback to the competing artists and selecting entries to qualify. The jury panel consisted of:[2]

• Toni Wirtanen – Heavy metal singer and leader of the band Apulanta
• Aija Puurtinen – Singer and music professor
• Tomi Saarinen – Head of Music at YleX
• Redrama – Rapper

A submission period was opened by Yle which lasted between 10 July 2013 and 16 September 2013.[4] Each artist could only submit one song, while songwriters were allowed to submit more than one song. At least one of the writers and the lead singer(s) had to hold Finnish citizenship or live in Finland permanently in order for the entry to qualify to compete. A panel of experts appointed by Yle selected twelve entries for the competition from the 420 received submissions.[5] The competing entries along were presented during a live streamed press conference on 10 December 2013.[6] The competing entries were also presented over three introduction shows pre-recorded in November 2013 and aired between 26 December 2013 and 4 January 2014. The artists performed demo versions of their entries during the second and third introduction show and the jury panel provided feedback and suggestions on the final versions of their entries.[7][8][9] The final versions were presented during a special radio broadcast on Yle Radio Suomi on 1 January 2014, hosted by Harri Hakanen and Anssi Autio.[10]

1.^ Selja is a proper noun in the context of the lyrics; otherwise it translates as Elder.

The first heat took place on 11 January 2014 at the Peacock Theatre in Helsinki.[10] Based on a 50/50 combination of public votes and the jury panel, "Something Better" performed by Softengine qualified directly to the final, while "God/Drug" performed by MIAU, "My Little Honey Bee" performed by Dennis Fagerström, "Selja" performed by Hukka ja Mama and "Kertakäyttösydän" performed by Jasmin Michaela qualified to the semi-final.[11]

The second heat took place on 18 January 2014 at the Peacock Theatre in Helsinki.[10] Based on a 50/50 combination of public votes and the jury panel, "Hope" performed by Hanna Sky qualified directly to the final, while "Going Down" performed by Lauri Mikkola, "Top of the World" performed by Clarissa feat. Josh Standing, "Sängyn reunalla" performed by Mikko Pohjola and "Shining Bright" performed by MadCraft qualified to the semi-final.[12]

The semi-final show took place on 25 January 2014 at the Peacock Theatre in Helsinki and the top six from the eight competing entries that qualified from the preceding two heats qualified to the final based on the results from the public vote. "Shining Bright" performed by MadCraft, "Selja" performed by Hukka ja Mama, "Going Down" performed by Lauri Mikkola, "God/Drug" performed by MIAU, "Sängyn reunalla" performed by Mikko Pohjola and "Top of the World" performed by Clarissa feat. Josh Standing qualified to the final.[13]

The final took place on 1 February 2014 at the Barona Areena in Espoo where the eight entries that qualified from the preceding two heats and the semi-final competed. "Something Better" performed by Softengine was selected as the winner. The winner was selected by a 50/50 combination of public votes through telephone and SMS voting and the jury panel.[14][15]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured 2013 Finnish Eurovision entrant Krista Siegfrids.

The following five members comprise the Finnish jury:[25]

• Kaija Kärkinen – Chairperson – artist, composer, represented Finland in the 1991 Contest
• Saara Törmä – lyricist
• Rauli Eskolin – producer
• Jaako Hurme – radio DJ
• Annette Lundell (Clarissa) – artist

The Finnish votes in the second semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.[26]

Semi-final 2 – Finnish Results
Draw	Country	K. Kärkinen	S. Törmä	R. Eskolin	J. Hurme	A. Lundell	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Malta	3	3	6	3	5	3	11	6	5
02	Israel	12	13	4	11	6	10	5	8	3
03	Norway	2	2	7	4	3	2	2	2	10
04	Georgia	8	7	2	14	14	8	12	11
05	Poland	14	14	11	9	10	14	7	12
06	Austria	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	12
07	Lithuania	11	11	14	5	4	9	13	14
08	Finland
09	Ireland	9	12	13	13	7	13	9	13
10	Belarus	6	8	8	7	13	7	6	4	7
11	Macedonia	7	6	5	2	12	5	14	10	1
12	Switzerland	5	4	9	8	9	6	4	3	8
13	Greece	13	9	12	6	11	12	3	7	4
14	Slovenia	10	10	10	12	8	11	8	9	2
15	Romania	4	5	3	10	1	4	10	5	6

The Finnish votes in the grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.[27]

Final – Finnish Results
Draw	Country	K. Kärkinen	S. Törmä	R. Eskolin	J. Hurme	A. Lundell	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Ukraine	20	12	20	22	14	18	7	9	2
02	Belarus	12	18	23	16	19	19	15	19
03	Azerbaijan	10	2	11	11	13	8	24	16
04	Iceland	19	10	7	6	18	14	12	12
05	Norway	2	6	12	12	10	6	4	4	7
06	Romania	13	14	19	23	7	16	21	21
07	Armenia	9	20	16	5	5	12	6	7	4
08	Montenegro	21	21	21	25	25	25	25	25
09	Poland	25	25	24	17	20	24	11	20
10	Greece	23	17	25	15	17	21	13	18
11	Austria	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	12
12	Germany	8	11	9	19	23	15	23	22
13	Sweden	4	9	3	7	3	2	2	2	10
14	France	7	7	13	13	12	11	14	10	1
15	Russia	24	24	15	20	22	22	8	15
16	Italy	6	3	10	21	16	13	20	17
17	Slovenia	18	22	22	18	15	20	19	23
18	Finland
19	Spain	17	19	2	9	2	9	16	11
20	Switzerland	15	15	14	14	21	17	10	13
21	Hungary	14	13	4	10	8	10	5	6	5
22	Malta	3	5	6	8	9	3	17	8	3
23	Denmark	11	4	18	2	6	5	9	5	6
24	Netherlands	5	8	8	3	11	4	3	3	8
25	San Marino	22	23	17	24	24	23	18	24
26	United Kingdom	16	16	5	4	4	7	22	14