The Finnish broadcaster YLE have announced that they will use the same system in 2013 to choose their entrant as they did in 2012. Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu wasn’t particularly successful and it had poor viewing figures. Pernilla Karlsson, who the Finns eventually sent in 2012, failed to qualify for the final in Baku. But YLE are going to tweak UMK and try again. It has been suggested that some viewers didn’t seem to appreciate it was to choose the Eurovision entry. YLE have therefore announced that they will be amending the rules slightly and they will publish the new rules for next years contest later this month. They will also then publish the website where songs can be submitted to.
Are YLE right to continue with this format which did not seem to capture the interest of the Finns, and didn’t produce a successful representative?
Last year’s was a bit messy. You had the online voting with real time voting available to view, which saw block voting by certain entrants and their fans. But then the juries had all the power and it suddenly all became less than transparent and mixed up. Will await the rule changes with interest. Wish they’d be a bit daring and send something more Lordi-esque again instead of the twee and safe songs we’ve had in the last two years personally.
I loved UMK 12 and I hope that the 2013 edition will be just as good.
I still listen to ‘Hooked on wii’. I love it. LOL
It was one of the best NF last year with 12 great/interesting songs, they should have gone for Aili, but Pernilla deserved top 10 and the Finns can’t be wrong by chosing right if Europe is just too stupid to prefer “Aphrodisiac” to the Finnish song, then that’s sad for Europe, not for Finland
I could not agree more. Acts like ‘Aphrodisiac’ and ‘Waterline’ do nothing good for ESC.
Not too fond of the idea..the whole concept was messy and overall too complicated for the viewers..And the final result was not that encouraging either..Poor Pernilla failed to communicate her song the night of the semifinal and that was the main disadvantage of this entry by the time it was chosen..No wonder it failed after all..Finland can definately do better than that..But then we can hope for some changes to the structure of the UMK format.
I also think it’s very sad to call people stupid because someone’s musical taste does not agree with others..
While acts like “Suus” are the best thing that could happen to esc for instance..oh please..
Well, in the long run Aphrodisiac and Waterline came 17th and 19th while Suus came 5th. That’s all there is to it, everyone is entitled to their own taste beyond that.
And “Lipstick” thankfully came 8th last year so not all hope is lost..Unfortunate results will always occur to esc for every taste..But my point was not that anyway..Don’t worry though I am familiar with such mentality.
yes I had Ireland 7th last year with “Lipstick”
That’s a pleasant surprise definately
Seeing your views till now I would never see that coming..I like being wrong !
You seem to contradict yourself.
So,is Europe stupid because they prefer Greece and Ireland 12 over Finland but smart enough to place Albania 5th and Greece 17th?I think that the final outcome is the result of many factors and Pernilla’s act as a whole was weak.That’s why strongest performances like the one from Albania or Estonia did so well while Finland stayed in the semi IMO.
I agree with everything you said, I just have one observation : I doubt Estonia would be that succesful if everyone who voted was aware of the original version of “Kuula”..
Guitar,we agree on that.Ott’s live performance was disappointing for me and many of us who knew the original version of the song.However,i doubt the juries had been listening to the songs before the semis so they fell for Ott’s shouty vocals.
The poor guy came across as someone who was having a fit! Ott performed those fits well, though. LOL
If we talk about the technical aspects of his perfomance,he was good but he ruined any kind of genuine feeling the song had triggered in me.
no I agree with you, what I hate is Guitaristbl comment on “While acts like “Suus” are the best thing that could happen to esc for instance..oh please..” I don’t see what was wrong with Shevek comment. He was right to think what he thought, and the esc results would seem to go in Shevek’s direction. Now you can either agree with the results or disagree with them, but what’s more relevant is that they have happened this way. Too bad for Finland, and good for Albania, you can think, but one should not bring his or her personal opinion when it comes to analyzing objectively the results. I was just annoyed at guitaristbl extremely rude comments to anyone else’s taste. I used to love Eurovision Times, and now all of the esctoday rude people have invaded here. And yes, that is just my opinion, but I didn’t see any insults on here until you guys all came along and that just made me really sick of Eurovision.
Just ignore him, Morgan.
Thank you for proving me right once again..Arguments and rationality always prevail against insults and the best the people who insult can do is ignoring..An evident lack of arguments to cover their direspectful behaviour against others..Again thank you !
Ok, I was too hasty to talk..I will just say that we obviously have very different definitions of rudeness or disrespect towards taste, since this is all i have been suffering for quite some time both here and in esctoday..anyway..Someone expressed his opinion on what is good for the contest and what is not and I did the same…But the cyber bullying towards those who dare to criticize Albania 12 is constant since december, we are almost afraid to voice our different opinion on this certain entry..If you don’t like me or anyone else you are free to ignore my comments..When I see rudeness and disrespect I will point it out though..And for the record you were the rude one on the topic by calling Europe and Europeans stupid for supporting acts you do not like…Have a very nice day !
Well,thanks for the warm welcome!I don’t think there was anything rude in my comment but anyway…I didn’t say that you can analyze the results objectively.We all make our assumptions based on our esc experience and we try to analyze why an entry did bad or unexpectedly good etc.It’s part of the fun IMO.I do believe that something must have been wrong with Pernilla’s performance that’s why she didn’t make it to the final.It wasn’t just bound to happen.As for Guitar,i’m not his attorney but he is just too vocal while expressing his point of view.He generally means well.
Thank you dimitris but I don’t feel the need to apologize to anyone honestly..We are here to voice opinions on esc and the songs, sometime it can be harsh but it should never become personal or offending (towards other members..)..Everyone is free to ignore every comment he/she disagrees with..That’s the way an internet forum works.
Hmm!I believe they had a good selection of songs there and Pernilla’s song was really good.However,they do need to make some changes.Too many shows for non obvious reasons.They should select 10 or 12 songs out of the top-40 and then organise 2 semis and select the winner via a 50-50 deliberation.Pernilla’s problem was her stage charisma or maybe to put it better,the lack of it.
Pernilla failed to connect with the viewers back home, I agree. That said, her song was still one of the best ones and she sang it well live (much better than some of the contraptions that reached the final).
That’s true..especially when the most evident example of a contraption made it to the final…
Shevek,i agree because Finland was my pre-contest number 4.However,the live performance is pivotal.We all knew Pernilla would be in serious trouble if her live performance(and i’m not speaking about her vocals)weren’t improved.I even remember we had this conversation right after the Finnish final.
Indeed, we had.
Off topic and for those who are interested: I have finished my 2012 rankings and put my commented list on my profile page. Feel free to respond but I would be very grateful if everyone could refrain from insults and foul language.
As Morgan has said, we always had civilised and respectful conversation here until the ESCToday crash and I hope that we will get back to discussing ESC without personally insulting everyone who has different taste soon.
Celebrate diversity!
@ Morgan, Shevek and oxi,
I will send my rankings by e-mail too. Waiting for your lists.
Have just read your rankings, togravus, a brilliant read
Only a couple I disagree with (just for personal taste reasons), and your comments about Kaliopi are absolutely spot on. It was an absolute delight to meet her and watch her this year, she is an amazing woman, we loved her. Ott was also one that grew on me massively. By the final, I actually even almost liked Suus 
Rona was awesome.
I actually made lots of money this year, I had money on Sweden, Russia, Serbia and Azerbaijan!
Congatultaions. So you are a wealthy girl now …
Btw, I am so jealous that you met Kaliopi. I would love to go out with her for a drink or two.
I took a look on the list on your profile, but I’ll wait for the email too
Thank you, Togravus!
Mine is already available here along with the 3 biggest mistakes of the season, imo.
Just looking at it right now, Shevek
For the three biggest mistakes, I agree with you 100%. Those are the three national final songs I listen to the most.
In a year with soooo many bad selections, Ukraine was the worst by far. That was the strongest national final of the year (a LOT of great songs), and they picked the most boring repetitive song in the bunch.
My number two would be Hungary. Several good songs there, but my favorite was I Love You by Andras Kallay Saunders. Probably wouldn’t have done that well at Eurovision, but it is exactly the type of song played on the radio (at least the stations I listen, to
).
Norway rounds out my three. I thought “Stay” was a horrible choice from the beginning (again a number of better songs), and its last place finish only supports my opinion.
Don’t agree with any of your mistakes, Shevek. While I think a lot of countries chose the wrong songs this year, I think that Austria, Belarus, and Romania chose their best songs.
Ok, I am out of the forum..I always knew it was a hostile environment with people who dont share the taste of the regular members but I made the mistake to stick around for a while..something that proved my point. “Suus” – lovers bullying, irony and well covered insults towards different taste seems to define “respectful” conversations around here so I don’t have much to say..I may comment if an interesting topic is on but that’s about it..I will update my profile with my ranking and commentary as well when it is ready (and as soon as I find out how to do it !) and that’s about it. I’ll stick around on esctoday (although not fond of the new design..)..Bye !
Oh my, you are a sensitive guy, aren’t you? You can criticize ‘Suus’ or any other song as much as you want to. We only object to insults directed at other members who have different taste here … F. e. Morgan hates Azerbaijan this year and I love it. No problem. Shevek liked Lithuania last year which I thought was the dullest ballad since … well, the 90s, I guess. No problem either. Shevek and I never agree on Turkish entries. No problem. Do you get the difference?
“We only object to insults directed at other members who have different taste here …” That’s what I object to around here all the time, that’s the essential difference. Your almost identical tastes provide an easy way to communicate on this forum (and minor disagreements like the ones mentioned cannot spoil that of course) and mocking people who can’t appreciate what you do is more or less a norm in here. Nothing I care about but I don’t want to be a part of it in any way…My decision only helps your purpose to have back your peaceful and “respectful” site anyway.
So there won’t be Nightwish the next year either? Well, maybe that’s good enough since Tarja Turunen is no longer a part of them.
I would like Finland to send a tango again. Like this Euroviisut classic, the saucy “Musta tango”, performed by Ritva Oksanen and written by the all-crazy M. A. Numminen.
Otherwise, I would just like to have Riikka back. “Toarie” is the best ESC-related song from Finland ever! Did you hear me, EVER!
Tarja could go and represent Finland by herself… It would be something new to ESC, and she can be awesome even without Nightwish. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about Nightwish without Tarja, although I do still love them.
Of course Tuomas Holopainen is the motor of Nightwish, and his songs are still excellent, but with Annette, I think that the special “x-factor” that made Nightwish Nightwish has perished.
And yes, Tarja would be awesome, doing some dramatic and passioned stuff. But without Nightwish, I think she should stay with something more calm. “Sleeping sun” rather than “Pharaoh sails to Orion”, so to say.
I agree, Tarja shouldn’t go with a very “heavy” song. Something like “I walk alone” or “Until my last breath”, to mention songs she made after leaving Nightwish, would be great, or “Sleeping Sun” as you said.
However, I think she said she was going to retire for a few years in order to take care of her personal life after the tour in January (I went to her concert, it was great
). So I guess Nightwish would still be more likely to participate.
Agreed about Tarja. I think “I Walk Alone” is a fantastic song, although “Minor Heaven” and “My Little Phoenix” were also nice. “Oasis” is a great song, but it doesn’t have enough vocals to keep audience interest.
Nightwish is still great, as it has been said that Tuomas Holopainen is keeping it going, although Anette Olzon isn’t the same as Tarja Turunen. No doubt Anette is good, but she’s not Tarja. And I think that suffices to summarise the extent of comparison… You can’t compare them. Not because Anette is worse, but because she’s different. I think Tarja OR Nightwish would be excellent for Eurovision—both have wide appeal.
Let them send “Rytmit rikkoutuu” for next year
Finland had a strong entry this year, which was well performed. Unfortunately trashy songs and guaranteed votes count more than quality and performance and Finland are still chasing a second high placing in the last 20 years. I’m still curious to know if they made the top 10 in the jury vote, are they not revealing the jury/televote totals this year?