The Finnish broadcaster, YLE, kicks off their national selection UMK tonight with a marathon featuring the preview videos of all the 18 participants to be judged by an expert panel. Before the live shows start next Saturday, a special feature to get to know the artists will be launched tomorrow on Facebook.
Today, Saturday 30th of January at 20:30 (CET), there's a UMK preview marathon, a show which will feature the music videos from the UMK'16 contestants - all 18 of them! You can follow it through the official UMK website.
The videos will be discussed and rated by a panel of four Eurovision enthusiasts: Jaana Pelkonen (a member of the Finnish parliament & one of the hosts of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, Essi Hellen (an actress and a comedian), Mikko Silvennoinen (a tv professional) and Tommi Manninen (a morning show host at the YleX radio channel).
The preview show will be hosted by Rakel Liekki. Feel free to comment on the music videos and the panelists in social media with #UMK16.
Facebook Live videos
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu UMK is keen on trying out new things. This season they will launch Facebook Live videos on the UMK's Facebook page. It means that the UMK will broadcast live directly on Facebook for three weeks - six nights a week making it to a total 18 Facebook Live sessions!
The main idea is simple - every artist will have their dedicated Facebook Live day on the UMK's official Facebook page. The content of these live sessions is entirely up to the artists. FB Live viewer can expect to see anything from live music concerts to cooking shows and perhaps even some skiing! This is a great chance for you to see the artists up close and personal, live on your mobile or desktop. And why not throw some questions at them - we're sure they're happy to reply!
You can catch all the UMK'16 artists live from Sunday to Friday at 20:00 (CET), starting from Sunday Jan 31st. You can view each recording for 24 hours after being broadcast.
