There are 'No Rules'! Windows95man will represent Finland in Malmö
10 February 2024 at 22:08 CETUMK was the talk of the town in Tampere on Saturday 10 February, as the Finnish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest took over the Nokia Arena - the largest venue ever to host the song contest.
7 songs competed on the night. And with each of them having already made an impact on the charts in Finland, it was a competition that was wide open, with a conceivable path to victory for every song in the lineup.
In the end, however, only one could claim that UMK trophy - and it was No Rules performed by Windows95man.
The vote was decided by both the Finnish public, who contributed 75% of the scores, and an international jury who were responsible for 25%.
Windows95man topped the scoreboard with a whopping 313 points, with runner-up Paskana by Sara Siipola on a respectable 273 points.
No Rules will now move on to an even bigger competition - as it will represent Finland at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in May.
Windows95man is an embodiment of the '90s, who frees a once timid family man from his everyday life. It all started when Teemu Keisteri’s home videos on YouTube began to circulate all over the world. One of the videos even ended up in a commercial aired during an NHL game.
In 2013, a DJ gig at the Flow Festival brought the character known as Windows95man to life. His artist costume consists of a pair of very cut-off shorts made by Keisteri’s friend, and a Windows95 t-shirt ordered online. Since then, Windows95man has performed at Helsinki’s New Year’s celebration in 2022, as an opening act for Käärijä at the Helsinki Ice Hall and at numerous smaller events.
At UMK, Windows95man will be released his very first single, No Rules. The song title refers to the artist’s motto, which appears in both his music and other artistic productions. Henri Piispanen is the singer in No Rules. Keisteri explains that the chorus of the song was so challenging that he had trouble finding a singer with enough technical skill to pull it off. Piispanen was the only one whose voice could go high enough.
“In my opinion, all Finns are a bit looney-tunes deep inside, and I wanted to bring that out more. Now I can share my music with an even bigger audience as well as spread the joyous message of No Rules,” says Keisteri.
Also at UMK on Saturday evening, we got treated to a guest appearance from UMK 2023 winner Käärijä.
The raucous rapper performed his new single Ruoska, along with another Finnish pop icon Erika Vikman.
But of course he couldn't let the opportunity pass without performing the song which finished in second place for Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 - Cha Cha Cha!
Thank you for reminding us of that magical time in Liverpool, Käärijä!
Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest
Finland made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. And although they had an early start, the country had never placed in the Top 5 until Lordi won the Contest in 2006, with Hard Rock Hallelujah.
It’s fair to say that for a long period of Finland’s Eurovision history, the Nordic nation was considered to be something of an underdog, results wise. In 56 participations, Finland has finished in last place 11 times, scoring an undesirable 0 points on three occasions.
Finland’s win in 2006 saw it earn the record for the country with the longest wait for a Eurovision win - 45 years after its first participation. Finland held that record until Portugal finally achieved its first win in 2017.
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