Finnish broadcaster YLE has announced that “UMK 2026″ will be used as the selection process for Eurovision 2026. The submission window is open for a few days only.
“UMK 2026” – Known Details
- The submission window opened on August 18th and will close on August 24th, 2025.
- Submissions can be made online here.
- 6 Juries appointed by Yle will evaluate the competitors (performer + song) from among all songs submitted to the competition. The juries consist of people of different ages and backgrounds.
- The “UMK 2026” winner will be selected by a combination of international jury and public votes. Based on previous years, the ratio is expected to be 75% public and 25% jury vote.
- “UMK 2026” will be held on February 28th, 2026, in Nokia Arena in Tampere.
- There are no restrictions on languages.
- The songs mustn’t be published before.
- A performer can participate in the competition as a soloist with a maximum of three songs, and a maximum of one song per soloist can be accepted for the competition.
- At least one of the song’s authors and lead singers must have Finnish citizenship or permanent residence in Finland.
- The finalists and their songs are expected to be revealed in January 2026.
- The full regulations can be found here
Tapio Hakanen, YLEX Music Manager commented:
UMK’s influence in creating Finnish music phenomena has grown stronger year by year. The successes of the previous season included Erika Vikman’s “Ich Komme” with over 30 million streams, Nelli Matula’s biggest radio song of the year “Hitaammin hautaan”, and Goldielocks’ breakthrough and great success with the English-language song “Made Of”. UMK has no genre restrictions and we hope to have the most diverse song coverage possible for our professional and audience juries to judge
Erika Wikman represented Finland in Eurovision 2025
She performed “Ich Komme” and ended in 11th place
Eurovision 2026 will be held in Austria in May 2026
