It’s fair to say that there was an unprecedented level of buzz and anticipation around UMK this year after the outstanding 2023 national final and Käärijä’s, well…everything he was and did at ESC. I remained wary but hopeful – I wasn’t sure how the new lineup would stack up against last year’s, and I have lingering concerns about the level of power allotted to voters at home to indulge in their silliest instincts, but I implicitly trusted Orkidea, the Head of Music at UMK, to select the 7 strongest entries without attempting to chase trends or replicate last year’s irreplicable antics. To his credit, he didn’t.
But – what we have here is a lineup featuring a potential ESC winner alongside six entries that might or might not qualify. Compared to last year, where we got 4 tracks that were all Top 10 ESC contenders (including one that ultimately came in second), I would call it a bit of a downgrade? I do not doubt for one second that the live show will be a state-of-the-art show (the final moved to the Nokia Arena in Tampere, the biggest one in the country), which is amazing and is only going to strengthen the status of UMK as one of the strongest, most thriving national competitions out there. And! Did I mention there’s a potential ESC winner in the mix? Let’s take a look at the songs that stood out the most:
ESC WINNER ALERT. I’m going to try my best not to write a whole book chapter about this song right here right now, but…whew. Everything about this is a paralyzing, annihilating serve. Even leaving aside the stunning visuals of the music video, which is more or less staged to give a visual representation of Sara’s mental prison as she’s singing about being stuck in her grief, I am such a sucker for dark bops and this is as perfect a dark bop as it gets. I think in many ways I’m bonding with this the same way I did with Hold Me Closer and Tattoo: phenomenal production + brutal lyrics + raw vocal. As a pop ballad with a hip hop slant, the track features a familiar structure which it wears like a second skin. What I find sets Paskana (which means “I’m a fucking wreck”) apart is the fact that it feels like a stream of consciousness put to music, with a level of honesty that is honestly really disarming. A lot of it has to do with the excellent, lived-in vocal supporting the song (when Sara almost speak-sings “Mut yks muisto susta, rakas/Tuo maailmanlopun takas” [“One thought of you, my love/Brings back the end of the world] in the first pre-chorus, it just cuts your legs off at the knees), but the way song reflects on the inability/unwilligness to move on after the end of a relationship feels so universally relatable, and then the second verse stabs you in the heart with this:
“Maybe it’s true that time will heal
But that’s what scares me the most right now
This safe pain I know so well
It keeps you alive within me, somehow”
Finland should send this, period. It would be such a departure from Cha Cha Cha, but it’s equally strong. If not better. I said it.
While I more or less had issues with all the other entries, I can’t deny that this is a fun bop carried by a confident, experienced performer. The visuals definitely pop, and the video reminded me a bit of Sugar by Natalia Gordienko (good cakes, fun vibes) suggesting there is a staging vision/theme that could translate well to the stage. I will say that this might not be a particularly immediate track, which tends to be a disadvantage at ESC for obvious reasons, and while the lyrics do get a deeper message across the finish line (the title translates to “peel me”) suggesting we should get to know Sini beyond the superficial layers and all the preconceived notions imposed onto her by others, ultimately the songs falls a bit short of just that: who exactly is Sini and what makes her and her music stand out?
Leaving aside the fact that Jesse is so hot I could cry and that I could watch him dance and bop along to his song all day, I like this for what it is – a fun, joyous track about self-empowerment that also feels like a slight throwback to ’90s freestyle – but I wish the lyrics were in Finnish because…yeah, it’s all a bit cringe. Every single time I listen to this and we get to the verse where he’s literally telling us to turn our lemons into lemonade, I just sort of check out mentally. It’s a bit of a shame, because the production on this is layered and interesting, but it just does not quite come together the way I wanted it to. That said…Jesse, call me.
ESC Etc. 
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