Interview: Bess (“UMK 2022” Participant, Finland)

Today we have the honor to hold an interview with a special guest.
She is one the promising names in her country.
Her debut album has achieved more than 20 million Spotify streams to date.
She has tons of charisma and songs that will stick to your mind for hours.
This year she will try her luck by competing in the national selection for Eurovision 2022.
We are talking about Bess

Bess, thanks for accepting our invitation for an interview.

Thanks for having me, Doron. I am happy to be here!

1. Can you tell us what led you to submit an entry for “UMK 22“?

It has been a long time coming, now I just felt that stars were aligned and decided to give it a try



2. How was “Ram pam pam” created? 


We had a studio session with Jonas Olsson and Tomi Saario, two greatly talented songwriters. We had a lot of fun while making this song and it came together quite smoothly actually and I feel that you can kind of hear that in the song. Tomi had a good idea to start with and we gave it a go and hit it off!



3. What’s the story behind the lyrics of the song?

The idea for the song was from a true story of Tomi’s friend, who’s girlfriend shouted an iconic sentence to him “I don’t want to go to Paris, I want to get married” after winning a dance competition in a night club. The prize of the competition was a romantic trip to Paris. Fun fact: the couple is happily married these days so that epic one-liner was well worth it!  



4. The video clip of “Ram pam pam” is eye-catching, can you tell us about the idea behind it?

Two creative geniuses met and created this masterpiece: All thanks to Heikki Slåen & Elias Koskimies. I simply couldn’t say no after hearing the idea for the video, and it turned out PERFECT!



5. Like other artists, you choose to perform a song in the Finnish language. Was it a clear choice for you to begin with?

Actually no, since I’ve been performing and making songs in English in the past. Then we made the song in Finnish and it felt natural to go with “Ram pam pam“, so here we are 



6. What do you think about the Finnish selection this year? Which songs are your favorites?

I love every song and all artists & bands are just super! It’s almost impossible to choose a favorite but there is one groove above others for personally and that song is “KUUMA JÄBÄ!” by Iscaac Sene


7. What are your staging plans?

It’s going to be wild and explosive so get your foam extinguishers ready



8. What’s your favorite “UMK” song that didn’t end in the first place?

Cristal Snow – “Love is Blind” from UMK 2016



10. What’s your favorite song from Eurovision?

My forever favorite Eurovision-song is “L’Oiseau et Enfant “by Marie Myriam!

And Celine Dion – “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi”



11. When can we expect your new album? Will it be in Finnish / English/ mixed?

My second album will be in Finnish and I’ll let you know once it’s ready. But first I have a song competition to win, you know, UMK22 😉



12. Your debut album “BESS” has achieved more than 20 million Spotify streams! Can you tell us about the creation process of the album? Any challenges you went through?

It was a long and educational process, the first album is always the first one, and it was a great start for my hopefully long-lasting career



13. What are your hobbies except for music?

Hot yoga, petting and taking care of my cats, eating raw chocolate and reading Dalai Lama’s book “Compassion”, a great book by the way. You can never read too much of it!



14. What’s your message to ESCBEAT readers?

Thank you for your love & support and kind words, I truly appreciate it. I wish all the best for all of you and encourage you all to chase your dreams and live true to yourself. Peace & love!

Thank you BESS for the wonderful interview.
We hope to see BESS carrying the Finnish flag in Turin in May 2022!
The Finnish selection “UMK 2022” will be held of the 26th of February 2022.

You can find our “UMK 2022” review here:

You’re welcome to read all about Eurovision 2022 on our homepage

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Doron Lahav is 30-year-old, who lives in Israel. Doron has been watching the Eurovision Song Contest since early 2000s. Doron works as a Data Scientist and shows interest in singing and writing.

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