As if Yle’s handling of the UMK contestants wasn’t confusing enough already, Ilta Sanomat dropped this article. HS also commented on the topic.
They outline a few things that I think people should know:
Despite what was said in the guidelines for UMK participation and what UMK head show producer Anssi Autio told the media, the winner will not be forced to participate in eurovision, and can in fact refuse
Yle has told the artists not to comment whether or not they are prepared to represent Finland if they win. This is in their contracts and it specifies that they cannot comment if they know they will not participate. An artist can say they will represent Finland, but they can’t say they won’t
This has led to all the artists giving very cookie cutter press statements right now. They can still talk about other things related to eurovision, but not their stance on participation unless it is a certain yes
This has been done to avoid the kind of sudden pressure Windows95Man and other 2024 artists were left do deal with alone at the time. They can now lean on Yle in front of the press
This has also been done to protect the contest, as artist stance on participation to eurovision could sway the vote
These have been stated to the press, so the press is aware that artists will not comment on wheter or not they’ll participate in eurovision, shall they win.
So, effectively, to hear the artists real statements you do have to wait until the results for UMK are in. Until then the artists will not say that they aren’t willing to go.
Yle also admitted that the request media not ask about the politics is completely unrealistic, but they still had to make the request. And audieneces already find it frustrating that Yle wants audiences to pay to see a show, depsite Yle already knowing that some competitors might not take their winning seriously or even want to win necessarily.
And of course this puts artists like Antti Paalanen under heavy stress, as he has signed the eurovision boycott in 2024 and has written a song about the humanitarian war in Gaza back in 2008. And now he can’t say anything other than yes to the press.
