Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2016 was the fifth 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 three semi-finals on 6 February 2016 and concluded with a final on 27 February 2016. The four shows were held at the YLE Studios in Helsinki and hosted by Finnish actor/singer/rapper Roope Salminen and 2013 Finnish Eurovision entrant Krista Siegfrids.[3] Due to Siegfrids participation in the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest 2016 national final Melodifestivalen 2016 on 13 February, Salminen hosted the second semi-final alone.[4] Rakel Liekki and Mikko Silvennoinen presented an after-show programme that took place following the announcement of the qualifiers in each semi-final and during the final. All shows were broadcast on Yle TV2 and online at yle.fi/umk.[4] The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv as well as via radio on Yle Radio Suomi and with commentary in Swedish by Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos on Yle X3M.[5]

The format of the competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals and a final. Six songs competed in each semi-final and the top three entries from each semi-final qualified to complete the nine-song lineup in the final. The results for the semi-finals were determined exclusively by a public vote, while the results in the final were determined by the 50/50 combination of public voting and jury voting. Public voting included the options of telephone, SMS and online voting.[6] Prior to each of the four shows, the public was able to vote in advance online between Monday to Thursday.[6] The proceeds from the public voting were donated to the Nose Day Foundation (Nenäpäivä-säätiö), which funds projects in developing nations.[4]

A submission period was opened by Yle which lasted between 1 September 2015 and 8 September 2015.[7] The competition allowed entries longer than three minutes to compete, however, should the winning song be longer than three minutes, it would have to be shortened for the Eurovision Song Contest.[7] 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.[7] A panel of experts appointed by Yle selected eighteen entries for the competition from the received submissions.[7] The competing entries along with their promotional music videos were presented during a live streamed press conference on 12 January 2016, hosted by Krista Siegfrids, Rakel Liekki and Mikko Silvennoinen.[3][8] The competing entries were also presented in a televised preview programme on 30 January 2016, hosted by Rakel Liekki, where a panel of guests consisting of Essi Hellén, Mikko Silvennoinen, Jaana Pelkonen and Tommi Manninen discussed the artists and songs and together with an audience vote, determined which entry had the best music video.[4] The guest panel selected "Love is Blind" performed by Cristal Snow and "Sing it Away" performed by Sandhja as having the best music videos, while the audience vote was won by "Love is Blind" performed by Cristal Snow.[9] Between 31 January and 19 February, each competing artist held a Facebook Live session online, the content of which was up to each artist.[10]

The first semi-final show took place on 6 February 2016 and the top three from the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from the public vote. "No Fear" performed by Saara Aalto, "Ain't Got Time for Boys" performed by Stella Christine and "Draamaa" performed by Eini qualified to the final. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, hosts Krista Siegfrids and Roope Salminen performed the song "Juontoharjoitukset" as the interval act.[11]

The second semi-final show took place on 13 February 2016 and the top three from the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from the public vote. "Love Is Blind" performed by Cristal Snow, "Good Enough" performed by Annica Milán and Kimmo Blom and "On It Goes" performed by Mikael Saari qualified to the final.[13] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Robin performed a cover of the 1980 Finnish Eurovision entry "Huilumies" and his single "Miten eskimot suutelee?" as the interval act.[14]

The third semi-final show took place on 20 February 2016 and the top three from the six competing entries qualified to the final based on the results from the public vote. "Let Me Out" performed by Barbe-Q-Barbies, "Don't Wake Me Up" performed by Tuuli Okkonen and "Sing it Away" performed by Sandhja qualified to the final.[15] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Chisu performed a cover of the 1962 Finnish Eurovision entry "Tipi-tii" and her song "Tähdet" as the interval act.[16]

The final took place on 27 February 2016 where the nine entries that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals competed. "Sing It Away" performed by Sandhja was selected as the winner.[17] The winner was selected by a 50/50 combination of public votes and ten jury groups that represented different sections of Finnish society: Eurovision experts, musicians, the media, YouTube personalities, Finland Swedes, LGBT, members of parliament, asphalt constructors, children and bloggers.[18] The viewers and the juries each had a total of 430 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 1, 2, 4, 6, 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 430 points rounded to the nearest integer: 43 points.[12]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured Krista Siegfrids covering the first 1961 Finnish Eurovision song, "Valoa ikkunassa", 2015 Finnish Eurovision entrants Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät and Finnish Eurovision Song Contest 2006 winners Lordi.[5][19]

Sandhja's promotional activities in the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest were focused mainly in Finland where she released a new single, "Love Me High", and completed interviews and performances to promote the release of her album Freedom Venture, which was released on 29 April 2016.[20][21] In addition to her appearances in Finland, Sandhja took part took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel between 11 and 13 April where she performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.[22]

Sandhja during a rehearsal before the first semi-final

Sandhja took part in technical rehearsals on 2 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May.[30] This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[31]

The Finnish performance featured Sandhja performing in a blue jumpsuit joined by five backing vocalists wearing black outfits.[32][33] Sandhja and the backing vocalists performed a dance routine together that revolved around the microphone stands and made use of the catwalk and satellite stage. The LED screens displayed blue and purple designs with a liquid effect. The five backing vocalists that joined Sandhja on stage were Heini Ikonen, Reetta Korhonen, Jepa Lambert, Tuuli Ikonen and Linda Ilves.[34]

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.[35] It was later revealed that Finland placed fifteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 51 points: 16 points from the televoting and 35 points from the juries.[36]

Voting during the three shows was conducted under a new system that involved each country now 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.[37] 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.[38]

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:[36][39][40][41]

The following five members comprised the Finnish jury:[37]

• Jurek Reunamäki – music producer
• Hanna Kinnunen – radio host and producer
• Heimo Hatakka – lyricist, journalist
• Jori Sjöroos – producer, composer, lyricist
• Jannika B – singer, songwriter

Split voting results from Finland (Semi-final 1)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		J. Reunamäki	H. Kinnunen	H. Hatakka	J. Sjöroos	Jannika B	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Finland
02	Greece	16	17	17	15	17	17		16
03	Moldova	8	16	15	14	9	14		17
04	Hungary	7	15	14	12	6	12		7	4
05	Croatia	5	4	10	7	10	6	5	9	2
06	Netherlands	1	1	7	5	1	1	12	5	6
07	Armenia	6	3	6	8	7	4	7	10	1
08	San Marino	15	12	11	2	12	11		8	3
09	Russia	10	5	2	11	2	5	6	3	8
10	Czech Republic	3	2	5	6	3	2	10	11
11	Cyprus	11	13	9	13	13	13		4	7
12	Austria	2	6	13	1	15	8	3	2	10
13	Estonia	12	8	12	4	11	10	1	1	12
14	Azerbaijan	9	9	4	10	5	9	2	15
15	Montenegro	17	11	16	16	14	16		14
16	Iceland	13	7	3	9	4	7	4	6	5
17	Bosnia and Herzegovina	14	14	8	17	16	15		12
18	Malta	4	10	1	3	8	3	8	13

Split voting results from Finland (final)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		J. Reunamäki	H. Kinnunen	H. Hatakka	J. Sjöroos	Jannika B	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Belgium	18	22	14	19	17	22		17
02	Czech Republic	14	6	7	16	7	8	3	22
03	Netherlands	4	2	8	7	8	2	10	13
04	Azerbaijan	23	25	16	21	19	23		24
05	Hungary	21	23	21	25	20	25		12
06	Italy	16	11	10	3	12	9	2	16
07	Israel	12	7	12	4	1	4	7	14
08	Bulgaria	9	17	17	9	22	15		7	4
09	Sweden	2	1	3	1	6	1	12	2	10
10	Germany	13	19	24	10	14	19		25
11	France	17	20	4	11	3	10	1	8	3
12	Poland	10	21	11	22	21	20		6	5
13	Australia	3	3	15	8	4	3	8	4	7
14	Cyprus	24	26	25	24	26	26		10	1
15	Serbia	22	24	13	26	24	24		26
16	Lithuania	5	14	2	17	2	5	6	11
17	Croatia	11	15	23	20	10	18		20
18	Russia	26	10	6	18	11	14		3	8
19	Spain	19	12	1	12	23	12		15
20	Latvia	7	16	26	14	5	13		9	2
21	Ukraine	8	5	22	6	15	11		1	12
22	Malta	6	8	5	5	18	6	5	23
23	Georgia	25	18	9	13	25	21		19
24	Austria	1	4	20	2	16	7	4	5	6
25	United Kingdom	20	9	19	15	13	16		21
26	Armenia	15	13	18	23	9	17		18