This year's Finnish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest will be revealed at the UMK event on February 8th – but let's not get ahead of things, and first enjoy the race! The seven contestants at UMK 2025 include dance pop powerhouse Neea River, jolly metalcore gang One Morning Left, and alternative-pop phenomenon Goldielocks.

One of Europe’s most anticipated Eurovision national selections kicked off on Wednesday, January 8th, when the Finnish contenders were revealed. The UMK, an annual music competition organized by the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, has grown in popularity in recent years, both within Finland and internationally. It has evolved into a major event that not only gives artists the chance to compete for a spot in the Eurovision Song Contest but also offers a substantial increase in visibility and recognition.

Just like previous seasons, speculation about this year's artists has been abundant. Now the rumors and conjectures are finally over, as we can share the final list of all the Finnish contestants! One of these acts will follow the footsteps of Blind Channel, Käärijä, Windows95Man, and indeed – Lordi!

The 2025 UMK artists are the following (in order of release date): Neea River, Nelli Matula, Costee, Viivi, One Morning Left, Goldielocks, and Erika Vikman. Listen to all of the competing songs in the Spotify playlist embedded under this story, updated as the songs are released.

Get to know the UMK 2025 artists

First contestant to release a song on this UMK run, Neea River has had a passion for an international music career since her teenage years. A breakthrough came unexpectedly when her Instagram singing videos caught the attention of U.S. producer who invited River to his studio. After spending time in Los Angeles, River moved back to Finland to pen hits for both local and international artists (such as this), solidifying her place in the music industry. Eventually, she shifted focus from writing for others to pursuing her own artistic path, launching a record label to release her own songs, filled with euphoric dance-pop bliss. UMK will mark the first time River performs her music live. Neea River's song "Nightmares" was released on January 9th.

The metalcore band One Morning Left has been making music for 16 years and is made up of five members from various regions of Finland. Their debut EP came out in 2008, and the following year they embarked on their first European tour. To date, they’ve released five albums, with their latest, Neon Inferno, dropping last year. In 2022, One Morning Left toured Europe alongside 2021 UMK winners Blind Channel and German rockers Electric Callboy. Currently, the band is signed to the German label Arising Empire. Known for their energetic and genre-defying style, One Morning Left describes themselves as a feel-good, high-octane act, and their distinctive sense of humor sets them apart from other Nordic metal bands. One Morning Left's competing song "Puppy" will be out on January 15th.

Alternative pop artist Goldielocks’ career path has taken her from Joensuu via Helsinki to her current home town Berlin. Prior to her solo career, she has written music for some of Finland’s biggest pop stars. Her first solo single, "Electrifying", was released in the spring of 2023, and she went on a tour in the fall the same year. Goldielocks has already performed on many major stages in Finland, and is now striving to duplicate these steps outside her original homeland. Her song "Made Of" will be out on Thursday January 16th. Read our feature interview on Goldielocks.

One of the brightest stars in the Finnish pop world, Erika Vikman, returns to UMK after five years – in 2020 she came in 2nd with her breakout hit "Cicciolina" – let's see how she does with this year's "Ich Komme", out on 17th January. Viivi and Nelli Matula are both major domestic pop stars with a huge amount of followers, hit singles, albums and years of experience behind them – Matula's song "Hitaammin hautaan" will be available on 10 Jan and Viivi's track "Aina" on 14 Jan. Finally, we have Costee, an alternative pop artist seven years into his solo career, who has over 100 million streams, three hit albums and a large number of sold-out gigs behind him – his track "Sekaisin" will be released on January 13th.