Here is the winner of UMK 2016: Sandhja with "Sing it away"
First thing Im going to say is: "FUCK YOU YLE!" I just really dont get the point of having random people as juries or having "eurovision experts" talking shit about the songs while the public is voting.
I knew this was coming when I saw the list of juries but whatever! I gave up UMK last year when I heard the songs but Im glad I came back to it this year cause there were really nice acts in the competition.
Congratulations to Sandhja, who I really like as an artist but I wish she had a better song. It might grow on me later but right now is not one of my favorites. Good luck in may!
Welcome to the UMK Semifinal 2 post, here are my comments about this weeks performances:
1.Attention 2 - Ready For The Show
I feel like this entry wasnt in the right competition. This could have been a fun Junior Eurovision entry.
2.Cristal Snow - Love Is Blind
I kinda like the song and Im glad his performance wasnt over the top but his vocal performance was a bit bad.
3.Annica Milán & Kimmo Blom - Good Enough
I like the song and the idea of the performance but they need to find a way to make it flow cause there were some parts were I felt they got stuck and the performance looked empty.
4.Rafaela Truda - Rise Up
Im not a fan of this act but it wasnt bad.
5.Ylona - Blazing Fire
Meh...(She looked beautiful, shame about the song)
6.Mikael Saari - On It Goes
1 word: BEAUTIFUL! Mikael is so fucking talented! Those vocals turned me on! I love the song and the performance was brilliant! There are some little parts that they need to work on but I think this could give Finland a great result in May. C'mon Finnish people dont break my heart! GO MIKAEL!
Hello Finland! Are you ready for the first UMK 2016 interview? I AM! He came 2nd in 2013 with "We should be through" and this year he is back with another incredible song. Here are the answers of MIKAEL SAARI:
Where are you right now? - Home, in bed, having a really annoying cold.
3 things that make you happy: - Friends, Family, Kindness
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? - Old Finnish instruments
Childhood memory: - Football. I have so bad knees I haven’t played for years.
Celebrity crush: - Emma Watson
Tell me a lie: - Cottage cheese is made of moomins.
How would you like to die in a horror movie? - By being hit by an airplane
What is the best gift you have ever received? - a lego pirate ship
If you were a product, how would you sell yourself? - It cleans itself
Craziest thing you've ever done: - published my own music
Favorite TV series: - Friends, Simpsons, Monty Python’s Flying Circus
If you were a girl for a day, what would you do? - Scare my friends
Name a song that never fails to make you dance: - I don’t dance :)
When did you start writing? - When I was four
Can you teach me some interesting words in finnish? - interesting is ’mielenkiintoinen’ in finnish!
Hello Mikael! Welcome back to UMK! How are you? I’m good, thank you, I have a bit of a cold, but luckily I have a few days now to do nothing with, so I can lay in bed.
What did you learn from your UMK 2013 experience? I don’t think I necessarily learned anything, I had such a good time!
Now let’s talk about UMK 2016. How did it all begin? In August I received a phone call from the UMK producers asking me to think of participating again. I hesitated for a few days, but here we are now!
“On it goes” is the title of your song. What’s the story behind it? The protagonist of the song hasn’t been quite the best of characters in the recent future, and the lyrics are a kind of depiction of his thoughts about that.
Photo: YLE
Describe the song with 4 words: Organic Human Raw Skin-deep
What can we expect to see on stage for the performance? I won’t be revealing too much at this point! But I can say that it is going to be personal, powerful and beautiful.
Tell me about the official video of “On it goes”: I had fun writing the video and during the shoot, all the people seen on the video are friends and family. It was one day, one location, a very compact production, and I’m happy about it.
Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word:
Art: Everything
Darkness: Paramount
Sauna: Health
Musical: Les Miserables
Clones: Star Wars
Krista Siegfrids: Friend
Dreams: Future
What are your plans for 2016? Gigs and Theatre work, and a healthy amount of free time with my family. Just the way I think best.
Is there anything you want to say to close the interview? All the best to you, and a very happy start to the year 2016!
Thanks to Mikael for the interview. Wish him all the best in UMK! Team Saari all the way!
Now its time for the 2nd interview of the year! Wohooo! and its the turn of a very interesting finnish artist. He is one of the finalists of the UMK 2013 and he is also one of my favorites in there so lets get to know him better. Here are the answers of MIKAEL SAARI:
Name:Mikael Saari Age: 24 Zodiac sign:Pisces Height: 1.82cm Favorite Color:the colors of the fall. Ruska in finnish. Favourite food:various. French fries and a good steak. Shoe Size:43 Eye color:grey Where are you right now?: Home in Lahti 3 Fears:deaths of close people, sickness and loneliness What’s your strangest talent?: i can dig my nose with my tongue Do you have any nicknames?: Many.. miksu and miklu are the most common Home alone and your bored. What do you do?:I play the piano or the guitar, or just watch TV. There's nothing better than to eat and drink and watch Simpsons. What are you really good at?:Cooking! I wish What are you really bad at?:Drawing. It's crazy how bad I am. Childhood idol:I don't remember having any. I was dull Tell me something no one knows about you:I can twist my ankle behind my head. I don't think anyone's ever seen me do that What would you do if you were invisible?:I'd sneak a peek of great composers doing their work. I'd like to know where their inspiration really comes from and how they do their jobs. Favorite movie:Airplanes! Tell me a super power you wish you had:Read minds! Of course What's your favorite part of your body?:my fingers maybe? Tell me one of your insecurities: I worry about work, what will i become after I finish school. What is your guilty pleasure?:Fast food. Oh yeah Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Bohemian Rhapsody Can you teach me some interesting words in Finnish?:Ruska is a great finnish word, it's when the green of treeleaves changes to all colors of red and yellow and orange. Tell me some of your bad habits:I drink too much and eat too much fast food. And I'm very bad at waking up in time in the morning and I'm always late from everywhere. Which famous artist would you like to work with and which song would you like to feature?:I know I'll never what it takes to do that but I would like to become Adam Lambert and lead Queen in concerts... When did you start singing?:Publicly when i was 15.
The live shows are getting closer. How do you feel right now? Beforehand I imagined that i would be terrified, but now I just can't wait to get on the stage! And it's still almost two weeks to go... Luckily I have other gigs before that, so time flies.
How would you describe as an artist? I'd like to say that as an artist I'm versatile. I make musicals and acoustic gigs and showbandstuff, all kinds of very varying stuff.
You are one of the finalists in the UMK 2013 selection. How did it all begin? I had written songs for my debut album, and then came across this oportunity. So i chose one of the songs to be sent to the competition, and that's how it started. We should be through is the title of your song. What is the song about? and what made you write it? I wrote the piano parts on my ex-girlfriends piano, in our ex-house. The lyrics came afterwards, and were inspired by that.
Photo: anatom.fi (Tom Hakala)
Describe your song with 4 words Dramatic, intimate, in-your-face, ballad How did you feel the day of the performance for the juries? I had mixed feelings, i was very nervous performing the song for the first because it was also the first time I saw who the judges were. During the first verse I was just squinting to the audience.
What do you feel about the reaction of the public with your song? It has been overwhelming, I didn't expect anything like this, it has been great, and the whole hasn't even really started yet. There's a lot of people loving the jumper you wore in the performance for the juries, do you know what are you going to wear for the live shows? I do, but let's keep it a secret for now!
Did you start preparing the next performance? what can you tell me about it? I think we will keep it very simple, but I'm glad i will have my band my band with me on stage! What do you think about the other songs in the competition? There are so many great songs! I'm so proud to be amongst them, It's great. What do you like about Eurovision? There is something about the grandeur and feeling about it that cannot be explained. It's unique.
What do you dislike about Eurovision? I've heard a lot of discussion now about what kind of songs would maybe be succesful in the contest, and I don't like that at all. People shouldn't of anything like this a competition. Just vote for the song that you yourself like, without any speculation. Do you like any Eurovision song from Finland? I don't have a very close relationship with any of them, I have to say. But of course i've liked many of them, Hard Rock Hallelujah for example!
Did you watch Eurovision 2012? what do you think about the winner and the finnish song? Our Pernilla was so good I liked her a lot! And I loved Estonia's Kuula and the song Suus from Albania I think? Many great songs there.
Is there anything you want to say to close the interview? Thank you very much for this, it was a pleasure share with you my thoughts! See you soon! Mikael
Thank you Mikael! I loved the answers and i really like"We should be through" so i wish you all the best in the UMK selection.
