Country Finland Selected song "Marry Me" | Selected entrant Krista Siegfrids | |
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Selection process Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2013 Selection date(s) Introduction shows:
27 December 2012
3 January 2013
10 January 2013
Elimination shows:
17 January 2013
24 January 2013
31 January 2013
Final:
9 February 2013 Semi-final result Qualified (9th, 64 points) | ||
Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Finnish entry was selected through the national selection Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), which consisted of a three introduction shows, three elimination shows and a final, organised by the Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle). Krista Siegfrids represented Finland with the song "Marry Me", which qualified from the second semi-final of the competition and placed 24th in the final, scoring 13 points.
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Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2013
On 4 June 2012, Yle announced that Finland would be participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 by announcing the rules for their selection process. Like the previous year, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) was used to select the country's entry. Artists were able to submit their songs to Yle from between 3–16 September 2012. One artist could only submit one song, while songwriters were allowed to send in more than one. At least one of the main artists and one of the song writing team must have Finnish residency and performers must also be at least 16 years old by May 2013. On the 26 September 2012, Yle announced that they had received over 470 demos.
Format
In a three-episode documentary series spanning three weeks from the 27 December 2012 to 10 January 2013, the 12 finalists introduced themselves to the Finnish public. After that, three live gigs from the club "Circus" in Helsinki took place each week from the 17–31 January, after which four artists were eliminated. The final with the remaining eight artists took place in the Barona Areena in Espoo on 9 February 2013. The hosts were Anne Lainto and Ile Uusivuori, both YleX DJs.
Judges
The judges were announced on 19 November 2012 by Yle. They assisted the 12 artists to find the best suitable performance for their song and were responsible for casting their votes during each live show. The panel was composed of:
Heat 1
The first live show took place on 17 January 2013 where the first half of the twelve competing songs presented their entries during a live performance at club "Circus". Diandra and Mikael Saari qualified directly to the final, while Iina Salin, Last Panda and Rautakoura qualified to the semifinal. Ilari Hämäläinen was eliminated from the competition.
Heat 2
The second live show took place on 24 January 2013 where the second half of the twelve competing songs presented their entries during a live performance at club "Circus". Arion and Krista Siegfrids qualified directly to the final, while Lucy Was Driving, Great Wide North and Elina Orkoneva qualified to the semifinal. Atletico Kumpula was eliminated from the competition.
Semi-final
The semi-final took place on 31 January 2013 at club "Circus" where the six songs from the previous two heats that did not directly qualify to the final would have a second chance to advance. Last Panda, Lucy Was Driving, Great Wide North and Elina Orkoneva qualified to the final. Iina Salin and Rautakoura were eliminated from the competition.
Final
The final took place on 9 February 2013 at the Barona Areena in Espoo where the eight finalist songs were performed and the jury and viewers selected a winner. The show featured interval performances by Teflon Brothers and Stig, last year's Eurovision Song Contest entrant Pernilla Karlsson, 2007 Eurovision entrant Hanna Pakarinen, Emma Salokoski and Suvi Teräsniska. After combining the jury (50%) and televote (50%), Krista Siegfrids and the song "Marry Me" emerged as the winner.
At Eurovision
Finland was allocated to compete in the second semi-final on 16 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Finland would perform 5th, following Azerbaijan and preceding Malta.
Finland qualified from the second semi-final, placing 9th and scoring 64 points. At the second semi-final winners' press conference, Finland was allocated to perform in the first half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Finland would perform 4th, following Moldova and preceding Spain. Finland placed 24th in the final, scoring 13 points.
In Finland, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on Yle TV2 and Yle HD, with dual language commentary provided by Aino Töllinen and Juuso Mäkilähde in Finnish, and Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos in Swedish. In addition, all shows were also broadcast via radio on Yle Radio Suomi, with commentary by Sanna Kojo and Jorma Hietamäki, and on Yle Radio Vega, with commentary by Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos.
The national jury that provided 50% of the Finnish vote in the second semi-final and the final consisted of: Patric Sarin, Sana Mustonen, Susanna Laine, Mikael Saari and Kyösti Salokorpi. The Finnish spokesperson in the grand final was Kristiina Wheeler.