Finland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "", written by , Lauri Halavaara, Linda Lampenius, Pete Parkkonen and , and performed by Lampenius and Parkkonen themselves. The Finnish participating broadcaster, (Yle), organised the national final 2026 in order to select its entry for the contest.

Background

Prior to the 2026 contest, (Yle) has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Finland fifty-eight times since its first entry in . It had won the contest once in with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" performed by Lordi. In , "" performed by Erika Vikman qualified for the final and placed 11th.

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. Yle had been selecting its entries for the contest through national final competitions that had varied in format over the years. Between 1961 and 2011, a selection show that was often titled highlighted that the purpose of the program was to select a song for Eurovision. However, since 2012, the broadcaster had organised the selection show (UMK), which focuses on showcasing new music with the winning song being selected as the Finnish Eurovision entry for that year. Yle confirmed its intention to participate at the 2026 contest on 4 December 2025, announcing that its entry would again be selected through ; the decision had been delayed as Yle had outlined conditions for its continued participation, which were subsequently addressed and approved following the EBU's general assembly.

Before Eurovision

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2026 2026 was the fifteenth edition of (UMK), the music competition organised by Yle to select its entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition consisted of a final on 28 February 2026, held at the Nokia Arena in Tampere and hosted by , Jorma Uotinen and .

Competing entries A submission period was opened by Yle which lasted between 18 August 2025 and 24 August 2025. 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 nine experts appointed by Yle alongside five audience juries selected seven entries for the competition from 491 received submissions, a new record during the current format of the competition. The experts were Tapio Hakanen (Head of Music at YleX), (Head of Music at Yle Radio Suomi), Amie Borgar (Head of Music at Yle Svenska), (music editor at YleX), Samuli Väänänen (music professional), Pietu Sepponen (promoter at Sunborn Live), Jussi Mäntysaari (Head of Music at Nelonen Media), Stella Kylä-Liuhala (project director of Ohlogy) and (lecturer at Sibelius Academy and UMK vocal coach). The competing entries were announced in a televised show on 14 January 2026, hosted by Mikko Silvennoinen, Eva Frantz, Bess, Samuli Väänänen and Tapio Hakanen, while the music videos for each entry were released between 14 and 22 January 2026.

Artist Song Songwriter(s) "" Chachi "Cherry Cake" Etta "Million Dollar Smile" Kiki "" "Lululai" Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen "" "Ready to Leave"

Final The final took place on 28 February 2026 where seven entries competed. The winner, "" performed by Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen, was selected by a combination of public votes (75%) and seven international jury groups from Austria, Denmark, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom (25%). The viewers had a total of 882 points to award, while the juries had a total of 294 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 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 app voting. For example, if a song gains 10% of the viewer vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 882 points rounded to the nearest integer: 88 points. A record total of 446,681 votes were cast during the show: 91,128 votes through telephone and SMS and 355,553 votes through the Yle app.

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show was opened by Erika Vikman performing "Father (I Will Never Confess)" and her "" and JJ performing "Wasted Love", while the acts included Sonja Lumme performing her "", and , , Elastinen and Turisti performing "". +Final28 February 2026 Artist Song Jury Public vote Total Place Votes Percentage Points 1 Komiat "Lululai" 40 38,414 8.59% 76 116 3 2 Etta "Million Dollar Smile" 12 15,187 3.39% 30 42 6 3 Kiki "" 28 7,146 1.59% 14 42 7 4 Antti Paalanen "" 58 76,829 17.20% 152 210 2 5 Chachi "Cherry Cake" 32 33,947 7.59% 67 99 4 6 Sinikka Monte "Ready to Leave" 46 25,907 5.79% 51 97 5 7 Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen "" 78 249,248 55.80% 492 570 1 + Detailed international jury votes Song Total 1 "Lululai"10622104640 2 "Million Dollar Smile"442212 3 ""6266828 4 ""881010101258 5 "Cherry Cake"210642832 6 "Ready to Leave"4488126446 7 ""121212128121078 International jury spokespersons Kabir Naidoo Eleonora de Jager Vladana Vučinić Mercè Llorens Miriana Conte Sissal JJ +International jury members Country Jury members

Broadcasts and ratings The competition was watched by an average of 1.8 million viewers in Finland (0.32 more than in 2025), with a peak viewership of more than 2.5 million, making it the most watched edition of UMK since its establishment in 2012. +Local and international broadcasters of 2026 Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Yle Yle TV1 YleX rowspan="2" Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos OutTVKrista Siegfrids

At Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 took place at the in Vienna, Austria, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final will progress to the final. On 12 January 2026, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country performed in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.

Semi final Finland was allocated for the first semi final, and later, was announced to perform in position seven during the show. After the show, Finland were announced as one of the ten qualifiers, therefore, Finland moved on to the final.

Final Finland performed 17th, following Satoshi's performance of "Viva Moldova" (representing Moldova) and preceding Alicja's performance of "Pray" (representing Poland), and finished 6th overall with 279 points. Voting

Points awarded to Finland

+ Points awarded to Finland (Semi-final 1) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded to Finland (Final) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Finland

+ Points awarded by Finland (Semi-final 1) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Finland (Final) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Detailed voting results Each participating broadcaster assembles a seven-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent and two of which have to be between 18 and 25 years old. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. 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.

The following members comprised the Finnish jury: Erno Kulmala

Kari Hynninen

Ella Mäntynen Marja Kokko Sofia Ruija

+ Country Jury Televote Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Juror F Juror G Rank Points Rank Points 01 11 5 10 1 14 11 8 8 3 7 4 02 2 6 7 8 3 6 9 6 5 4 7 03 7 1 2 13 1 7 2 2 10 5 6 04 9 9 3 3 4 13 13 7 4 12 05 10 2 9 7 8 12 11 10 1 8 3 06 13 12 14 12 13 14 12 14 14 07 08 5 11 12 11 5 8 5 9 2 11 09 8 3 8 9 9 9 10 11 1 12 10 6 8 5 2 7 4 3 5 6 2 10 11 4 4 1 5 2 3 7 1 12 10 1 12 1 13 6 4 11 1 1 3 8 6 5 13 14 10 11 14 12 10 14 13 13 14 3 7 4 6 6 2 4 4 7 9 2 15 12 14 13 10 10 5 6 12 3 8 + Country Jury Televote Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Juror F Juror G Rank Points Rank Points 01 4 9 4 6 1 14 3 2 10 3 8 02 16 13 23 17 17 16 19 21 24 03 11 4 6 16 7 9 17 12 1 12 04 9 11 16 5 6 1 10 7 4 20 05 18 24 14 24 16 18 12 20 14 06 10 21 21 9 10 8 20 16 15 07 5 7 13 15 13 17 8 15 7 4 08 3 5 22 7 4 6 5 4 7 13 09 23 8 12 21 19 24 15 19 8 3 10 13 17 19 20 21 21 21 22 18 11 6 16 5 14 24 2 22 9 2 19 12 19 22 20 3 18 5 7 14 4 7 13 1 23 3 4 15 12 13 6 5 9 2 14 21 14 24 22 23 15 24 24 21 15 8 3 8 1 3 3 6 1 12 12 16 2 15 18 19 2 23 18 10 1 10 1 17 18 15 1 7 11 9 7 4 5 6 17 19 22 2 2 13 5 13 1 3 8 16 20 7 12 11 8 12 20 2 11 5 6 21 24 20 17 18 22 19 16 23 22 22 12 19 1 12 8 4 9 8 3 6 5 23 14 18 10 10 11 22 11 17 11 24 17 10 9 2 14 11 14 13 2 10 25 20 6 15 23 20 10 23 18 23

Notes

References

External links Official Yle Eurovision site Official Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu site