Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Their entry was selected through the national competition Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), organised by the Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle). Softengine represented Finland with the song "Something Better", which qualified from the second semi-final to compete in the final. Finland placed 11th in the final, scoring 72 points. This was Finland's best placing in the contest since Lordi's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.

Before Eurovision

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2014 
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, 2014, was the third edition of the Finnish national selection that selected Finland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.

Format
Three introductory shows on 26 December 2013, 28 December 2013 and 4 January 2014 commenced the competition with the presentation of the jury selection process and the first live performances of the competing songs from the artists in front of the judges. Two heats with six competing songs in each took place on 11 and 18 January 2014 where the artist and song that placed first automatically advanced to the final, while the artist and song that placed last was eliminated from the competition. The remaining four songs in each heat that failed to advance to the final or be eliminated proceeded to the semi-final on 25 January 2014 where the top six songs qualified to the final. The final with the eight remaining finalists took place at the Barona Areena in Espoo on 1 February 2014. The entire competition series was hosted by Anne Lainto and Ile Uusivuori.

Yle enlisted four judges in order to assist the 12 competing artists with developing their song and performance. On 4 November 2013, Yle announced that the judges from the previous year would return, consisting of:

Tomi Saarinen, head of Yle youth radio channel YleX
Aija Puurtinen, singer and music professor
Toni Wirtanen, heavy metal singer and leader of the band Apulanta
Redrama, rapper

Competing entries
On 10 July 2013, Yle opened the submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their proposals to the broadcaster, which lasted until 16 September 2013. A total of 420 entries were received, of which 12 were ultimately be selected to compete by a special jury. Yle webcast a special introduction press event regarding the competition on 10 December 2013, where the twelve competing acts were revealed.

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

Shows

Introduction shows
Three introduction shows were aired on 26 December 2013, 28 December 2013 and 4 January 2014. On 26 December 2013, the top twelve entries that were selected for the competition were presented through commentary from the judges and interviews with the selected contestants. On 28 December 2013 and 4 January 2014, in each show six competitors performed the demo version of their respective entry live in front of the judges for the first time. On 28 December 2013, MadCraft, Clarissa featuring Josh Standing, Lauri Mikkola, Jasmin Michaela, Hanna Sky and MAKEA presented their entries. On 4 January 2014, Mikko Pohjola, Hukka ja Mama, Dennis Fagerström, Softengine, Lili Lambert and MIAU presented their entries. The live performances were filmed in November 2013 allowing the competitors to take feedback and suggestions provided from the judges and apply changes to their entries prior to the release of the final versions of their songs. The final versions of entries were presented on 1 January 2014 during a special radio broadcast on Yle Radio Suomi, hosted by Harri Hakanen and Anssi Autio.

Heat 1
The first live show took place on 11 January 2014, where the first half of the twelve competing artists presented their entries during a live performance at the Peacock Theatre in Helsinki. The combination of jury voting and televoting determined the one direct qualifier to the final, the four qualifiers to the semi-final and the artist and song that was eliminated from the competition. "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 proceeded to the semi-final. "Let Me Take You There" performed by Lili Lambert was eliminated.

Heat 2
The second live show took place on 18 January 2014 where the second half of the twelve competing artists presented their entries during a live performance at the Peacock Theatre in Helsinki. The combination of jury voting and televoting determined the one direct qualifier to the final, the four qualifiers to the semi-final and the artist and song that was eliminated from the competition. "Hope" performed by Hanna Sky qualified directly to the final, while "Going Down" performed by Lauri Mikkola, "Top of the World" performed by Clarissa featuring Josh Standing, "Sängyn reunalla" performed by Mikko Pohjola and "Shining Bright" performed by MadCraft proceeded to the semi-final. "Painovoima" performed by MAKEA was eliminated.

Semi-final
The semi-final show took place on 25 January 2014 where four songs from each of the previous two heats had another opportunity to qualify to the final during a live performance at the Peacock Theatre in Helsinki. Public televoting solely decided which six songs qualified to the final and which two songs were eliminated from the competition. "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 featuring Josh Standing qualified to the final while "Kertakäyttösydän" performed by Jasmin Michaela and "My Little Honey Bee" performed by Dennis Fagerström were eliminated.

Final 
The final took place on 1 February 2014 at the Barona Areena in Espoo where the eight finalist songs were performed and the combination of votes from the jury and public televote selected a winner. In addition to the performances from the competing artists, the winner of UMK 2013, Krista Siegfrids, performed her single "Cinderella" during the interval. Softengine was the winner of the competition with the song "Something Better".

At Eurovision

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Finland was drawn to compete in the second half of the second semi-final on 8 May 2014. In the second semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Finland would perform 8th, following Lithuania and preceding Ireland. Finland qualified from the second semi-final, placing 3rd in a field of 15 songs with 97 points, and competed in the final on 10 May 2014. During the winner's press conference for the second semi-final qualifiers, Finland was allocated to compete in the second half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Finland would perform 18th, following Slovenia and preceding Spain. Finland placed 11th in the final, scoring 72 points, becoming the second best result of Finland since the introduction of semi-finals (after the victory of Lordi in 2006), and the best position for a non-winning song since 1989.

The Finnish performance featured the members of Softengine performing with a band setup that includes three guitars, a piano and drum kit. The stage atmosphere transitioned between red and white lighting and includes strobe light and spotlight effects.

In Finland, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on Yle TV2, with dual language commentary provided by Jorma Hietamäki and Sanna Pirkkalainen in Finnish, and Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos in Swedish. In addition, all shows were also broadcast via radio on Yle Radio Suomi and Yle Radio Vega. The Finnish spokesperson revealing the result of the Finnish vote in the final was Redrama.

Points awarded to Finland

Points awarded by Finland

Semi-final 2
Points awarded in second semi-final:

Final
Points awarded in the final:

Split voting results
The following five members comprise the Finnish jury:
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

Semi-final 2
The Finnish votes in the second semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.

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

See also
 Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
 Eurovision Song Contest 2014

References

External links 
Official Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2014 website

Category:Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Category:Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision
Category:Articles containing video clips
Category:2014 in Finnish television