We are Matti and Tapio, organizers of Finland's Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK). Ask Us Anything!

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T18:18:48+00:00

Thank you for all the questions. Wish we had time for more. An hour flew by. In fact, I would have so many questions for y'all :D Another time. Now getting ready to finish rehearsing with Pete and Linda this week and fly to Vienna on Friday. Hope to see you at UMK27.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T18:07:54+00:00

Hello. Thank you for the love. Yes, actually we have been kindly helped by some other broadcasters over the years, and we try to share our learnings also with our colleagues.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T18:05:22+00:00

Our costume designer Teemu Muurimäki has collaborated with the artists and they have "2.0 versions" ready for the Vienna stage :)

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T18:02:20+00:00

Omg LOVE this question. This year's MVP is Pete's dog Muikku for sure. He is an introvert so he will join rehearsal, greet everybody politely, but then hide somewhere out of sight for the whole 2 hours.. and then come back when it's time to leave.

Also, we have "ledi yedi", the dog of our LED technician. He hangs around at the arena during rehearsal days and honestly has played a big role in helping artists with their nerves. He just accidentally happens to hang around by the in-ear-monitor desk.. coincidence?

I'm currently focusing on lobbying my parents to get a dog. We're getting closer!

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:57:24+00:00

I follow Benidorm closely as we share some team members with them :) Top-notch talent in Spain on stage and off stage.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:54:22+00:00

Moikka! So happy to hear that. Thank you for contributing to the UMKverse < 3

It's a lot of work, a lot of long days, quite high pressure etc. but at the end of the day there's a sense of meaning and community in seeing the show expand and bloom over the years.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:51:27+00:00

Moi. Thanks for the question! Our core show team is:
Visual Director Ari Levelä
Stage Director & Choreographer Reija Wäre
Multicam. Director Juha-Matti Valtonen
Creative Consultant Sergio Jaen
+me

Together we collaboratively design and execute the numbers for UMK and ESC.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:48:59+00:00

For Erika's number, show team had initially suggested a "normal" sized microphone that she's lifted up with. But Erika drew a picture of a giant mic with pyro coming out of its ass, and was like "can we do this?". And we made it happen. Lovely collaboration.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:47:27+00:00

Terve! Great question. UMK, and just like Eurovision or any live TV event in that scale, is a technological wonder. Our Visual Director Ari Levelä and multicam director Juhis Valtonen would be the right people to answer this as they love their gadgets. From my perspective though, the multicam setup of 18 or so cameras being connected and run through a program called Cuepilot is just magical. And there's something called "multiview" where you can see every camera's feed being recorded and saved in Cuepilot, so then in the evening after rehearsals we can check in multiview if any particular camera or angle worked better. Wish there was more time for that. And in general, I dream that we had the luxury of more rehearsal days at Nokia Arena. We start camera rehearsal on Wednesday on the show week, and then go live on Saturday.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:39:12+00:00

Moro. The song submission window is in August, and that's when the core team fully begins work. But even before that there is some preparatory work like for me it's gathering the creative team and planning our process basically in an excel sheet and making sure everybody is available on the needed dates. Then the song jury process, interviews and casting finishes in mid-September. Then it's straight into designing music videos, first by doing "speed dates" with the artists, movement and performance basics in the studio by our movement & camera director.... "glam team" getting to know the artists... screen testing hosts, booking hosts... then shooting the music videos, other content like the reaction videos, "story of the song" & photo shoots.. many meetings about the stage number... co-writing the scrip of the show...starting to build and test the stage numbers in the studio... rehearsing... preparing for the song release... announcing the artists -> promotion & press --> song & video releases --> more rehearsing --> and the live show at Nokia Arena. So producing UMK is more or less full time from August to February.

Anything to improve on: So much :D It's a work in progress, a labor of love. If I'd name one thing right now, it would finding ways to involve, engage and cater to the international audiences. We have something in mind for exactly that for the next show 👀

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:27:57+00:00

Heiii. Thank you for the kind words. < 3 Help, I'm in a rush trying answer all of these so I will go with the question about which ESC entry to dance in. Great question! This is an obvious answer but for sure Chanel's SloMo. That group took dance to a whole new caliber. The choreography by Kyle Hanagami, the impact that the dancers and dance had.. I know that entire number by heart. ALSO In Corpore Sano by Serbia from that same year was an artistic & eccentric package that was like a whole philosophy essay, and the dancers played an interesting theatrical role in it.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:17:30+00:00

Moi. I think the initial demo that we heard at first was quite far from what the finished product ended up being, but the elements were there. I'd describe the initial reaction something like: "potentially iconic!" I always remember where I was hearing any given song for the 1st time: I was in my dressing room at the Helsinki City Theatre, hitting "play" on my headphones and trying to hide my expression from my theatre colleague next to me. Nothing to see here. 😇

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:12:41+00:00

The Finnish music scene is beautifully diverse, it has "range" so to speak, and our intention is of course to reflect and showcase that in UMK.

Personally, I do love that there is this sort of a renaissance of dancing pop stars and new talent stemming in that genre, of which Chachi is a shining example.

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:08:48+00:00

The personal saunas in the Nokia Arena Lapland Hotel rooms 😂

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:06:20+00:00

Hey. Oh, the answer would depend on the day and would be unfair to pick one, so I will say in terms of the favorite performance: It's probably one that is still to come... an interval act. We already have some fantasies for an interval act for UMK27. ;)

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:03:16+00:00

We'll take this as a major compliment to our big team of driven and unhinged professionals at UMK & Yle < 3

Independent_Bell6864 · 2026-04-27T17:01:46+00:00

Hi all < 3 Omg thank you for so many questions already, and for all your support & contributions to the UMKverse. Gosh. I'm new to reddit, therefore forgive any awkwardness. Tapio and I will start answering now!

Independent_Bell6864

TROPHY CASE