It's time for UMK, the Contest for New Music — it's the way Finland picks which act to send to the Eurovision Song Contest.
Yle will broadcast UMK's announcement of the seven finalists on Wednesday 14 January at 7:30pm Finnish time.
Due to major international interest in Finland's Eurovision fever, commentary will also be offered in English by the UMK team's Jaakko Oleander. The hour-long show will be broadcast live on Yle's multimedia streaming service Areena.
While the artists are being revealed, the actual song entries will be released gradually — one at a time, each weekday at midnight — starting just a few hours after Wednesday's announcement.
Each entry will be posted on Yle Areena and YouTube, as well as streaming platforms.
UMK published an article explaining details about how the acts were picked (it's several juries) and how the contest will proceed.
The UMK26 domestic qualifier will be held on Saturday 28 February at Nokia Arena in Tampere.
