Liekinheitin, the power-pop duet between lust-filled singer Pete Parkkonen and legendary violinist Linda Lampenius, won Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) by taking 56% of the total televote and topping the jury ranking to set a new score record for the competition.
Pete and Linda will now set their sights on the Eurovision Song Contest in May. As it stands, Finland goes into preparations for Vienna as one of the favourites to win the Song Contest, twenty years on from Lordi’s triumph in Athens, that is Finland’s solitary success in 58 attempts.
Readers will be aware that, ultimately, the rule changes implemented for the Eurovision Song Contest, which led to no vote to exclude Israel from participating, have resulted in five countries withdrawing from the contest. We are also aware of other artists withdrawing from the opportunity to participate in Eurovision selections because of the decision that the EBU landed on, of which Ylvis’ withdrawal from Norway’s MGP is arguably most notable in the public sphere.
However, for Pete and Linda, we know that the decision to go to Eurovision was one they have considered deeply. This article looks into Pete and Linda’s decision to go to Eurovision, the pressures put on artists at Finland’s selection for the Song Contest, and uses UMK 2026 as a snapshot for where these conversations are as we build up to another Eurovision Song Contest approaching in Vienna.
Discussions and Conversations
When Yle opened its one-week-long submission window on August 18th, the press release that followed didn’t show anything out of the ordinary. It was a call for songs to take part in its competition to select a song for Eurovision’s 70th edition in Vienna, with the goal of continuing Finland’s excellent run of five Eurovision qualifications on the bounce.
However, in September, the EBU announced that a vote on Israeli participation in the Eurovision Song Contest would be held. Ultimately, by December, when the EBU General Assembly met, a separate vote on that issue didn’t take place, as the majority of General Assembly delegates voted to agree that the new rules for the Eurovision Song Contest would be a sufficient course of action. Yle was one of those broadcasters in the majority, together with the fellow Nordic broadcasters who had agreed prior to the meeting on their stance and voting position.
Throughout this time, Yle had already been working intensely with their National Final acts. Though they were not yet announced, as winter set in, their music videos were in full production, and thoughts were zooming ahead to Tampere and perhaps Vienna down the line.
Ultimately, Yle had to speak up to protect their artists, who felt they were in the biggest catch-22 of their careers. Speaking in the days before the UMK final, Editorial Manager at Yle, Juha Lahti, made it clear that the broadcaster will not force any winning artist to fulfil their Eurovision obligations, stating, “we can’t force anyone to do anything. That wouldn’t produce a good outcome in any way.”
The purpose of the statement was to give artists some much-needed breathing room and distance from needing to tie their participation at UMK to a potential Eurovision visit. The statement goes further to say that artists, as a collective, have “asked that Yle tell other media that they do not want to talk about these political issues while the competition is in progress.” By publicly asking for space and time for the artists, and promising that the winning act will have a separate conversation with the UMK team after winning the competition, the aim was to knock questions and conversations about any particular artist’s participation back to the post-show universe.
Etta was one of the acts unsure about publicly stating their desires to participate in Eurovision before the UMK final (Photo: Miikka Varila, Yle)
Those plans ultimately failed. During media sessions with artists in the run-up to the final, and also during press conferences on Grand Final day itself, local Finnish media put each act on the spot to answer their personal position as to whether they would accept the ticket to Eurovision should they be victorious.
And as much as you, as the artist, may want to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest, you are acutely aware that there are many within Finland who demand you not accept that opportunity.
The Juxtaposition Of Celebration And Protest
On the UMK final day itself, there is a joy around the city of Tampere that rivals any other city hosting a National Final. Buildings are bathed in UMK’s iconic brand of purple, and you can’t get space in the city’s restaurants and bars in the build-up to over 15,000 descending on the Nokia Arena, just a ten-minute saunter from the train station.
En route, almost all visitors have to pass Sorin Aukio, one of the town’s squares, which was also a part of the city’s UMK celebrations, with an insulated and bright purple DJ booth warming up crowds passing through UMK and Eurovision hits galore.
This square was also the place of protest. Just hours before the competition at the Nokia Arena, a protest monikered “Israel Out Of Eurovision” by the local activist collective Tampere With Palestine took place. So ensued a standoff and juxtaposition between the Eurovision party anthems blasting out across Sorin Aukio and the pots and pans of protesters, wanting their songs and messages to be seen and heard by the thousands attending the show at the arena.
Protesters gather for the “Israel Out Of Eurovision” protest in Tampere (Photo: Ben Robertson, ESC Insight)
ESC Insight spoke to one of the collective’s founders prior to UMK taking place. While campaigning against Israel’s participation at the Eurovision Song Contest, the group had four demands that they levy on those involved with the Eurovision Song Contest today.
- That Israel should not be allowed to participate in Eurovision
- That Yle should take the stance that, if Israel participates in Eurovision, then Finland should withdraw.
- That, if Yle participates in the Eurovision Song Contest alongside Israel, then the winner of UMK should decide personally to boycott the event.
- That the European Broadcasting Union suspends Israel’s participation in the EBU until international law is respected.
The protest gathering was peaceful according to Finnish police, with up to 100 people gathered for the protest. However, we note that this is less than what the movement saw in 2024, the first year of their coordination, when the Tampere With Palestine group believed they saw 1,000 activists present. Instead, as the initial anger has mellowed, their activism has focused more on boycott campaigns, fundraising events like bake sales, and educational information to keep the topic in the spotlight.
“We have been trying to make people aware of how the ceasefire isn’t really a ceasefire and the genocide has definitely not stopped, and that Israeli soldiers are pushing the line and occupying more areas in Gaza. These are all really important topics and it’s a shame that we as individuals have to bring it to the streets for people to be somewhat aware of what’s going on.”
In terms of why the Eurovision Song Contest has been singled out as one of the group’s most significant points of protest, the spokesperson from Tampere For Palestine made clear that the rule changes to the Eurovision Song Contest “are not good enough” to solve this issue.
“There are specific standards globally and we believe that continuously breaking international law should mean that such a country is not allowed in such global events or global arenas, especially not to push this pinkwashing or a narrative of victimhood.
“It doesn’t do what needs to be done. As an example, the EBU did ban Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. We don’t think it’s much different from that.
“We think it is appalling to claim that this event doesn’t have anything to do with our global political arenas.”
We asked Yle if they wanted to comment on the protest taking place just a stone’s throw from the arena of their biggest production on Saturday. Yle replied that they refer back to their statement made after the EBU General Assembly vote in December, in which the Yle CEO, Marit af Björkesten, focused on “measures aimed at developing Eurovision” to “maintain the event’s credibility and independence.” Yle’s statement did not go into any reasoning based on the geopolitical situation, nor the Israeli state’s actions in Gaza.
With Yle satisfied that their demands from the EBU have been met for this year’s contest, the protesters’ demands instead get pushed onto the winning act.
For The Sake Of Music And Humanity
That Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius won Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu is little surprise; bookmakers had the act as one of the shortest favourites in National Final history, and polling prior to UMK saw nothing else in contention.
This meant that, while all seven acts were asked to give their opinions on participating in Eurovision in Vienna should they win. All eyes were upon how Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius would respond.
The duo took to Instagram on the morning of UMK’s final to make their decision clear.
“Tonight we compete for the victory of UMK. If we get the honor of representing Finland in Eurovision, we will do it for the sake of music and humanity.
We think the decision to allow Israel to participate in Eurovision is wrong. What’s happening in Palestine is inhumane and reprehensible.”
The burning confessional: Pete and Linda on stage at UMK 2026 (Photo: Miikka Varila, Yle)
As anticipated, much of the duo’s ten-minute press conference prior to their UMK performance was focused on the issue of Israeli participation, and Pete spoke more about how this impacted their stance, stating that “we are on the side of love.”
“The unfortunate fact is that everything is political from some angle. Terrible things are happening all over the world. This is also part of our profession, but our word carries more weight. That’s why we have to take it really seriously and focus on the matter.”
The duo could have accepted the Eurovision invitation without further comment. They could also have chosen to take the statement and withdraw from the competition entirely. This middle ground, competing yet speaking out about Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, might feel principled, but it risks being dismissed as cosmetic resistance by those critical. In the end, Parkkonen’s pivot that “this is about music, and we are here as artists” suggests the dilemma of ultimately wanting to be a pop star yet having to navigate the world’s toughest political decisions when others choose not to speak.
Tampere: The Goldfish Bowl Before Vienna
There are many who would have looked to the vote that took place in December at the EBU General Assembly as being the point when controversy about Israel’s participation would be put to bed.
Our experience at UMK suggests the reality is far from the truth. This is an issue that still drives media attention, with journalists seeking every opportunity to put opinions on the record. This is an issue that campaigners still protest about, working hard to keep it high up the agenda. And this is an issue that follows the Song Contest as a dark shadow, making an environment where artists are not free to focus purely on their art and enjoy it.
Pete Parkkonen felt that as well. He stated that the pressure to take a political stance on this issue felt unfair.
“It felt perhaps a bit unfair when the conversation immediately started demanding that we take a stand, when this is, after all, a music competition.”
It also means that during their time the duo know they need to be guarded about what it is they say. Pete pointed out at the press conference that he believes they need to be “alert” so that “their words are not misunderstood.”
UMK provided this great goldfish bowl for us to observe where the conversations about Israeli participation are in the Eurovision ecosystem during spring 2026. Here at UMK, we still see how hard it is to separate the Song Contest from its geopolitical shadow, and that’s despite a broadcaster that has been one of the most open about its stance and has tried to be supportive and protective of the artists caught in the middle.
The chaos as the climax comes in ‘Liekinheitin’: (Photo: Nelli Kenttä, Yle)
As Pete and Linda prepare for the pressures of Vienna, with the added burden of a favourite status that multiplies them, their journey won’t be purely as musicians; like many others, they will have to act as unwilling diplomats in this fractured geopolitical landscape. UMK 2026 has proven that no amount of branding, purple DJ booths, or EBU rule-tightening can fully insulate the Song Contest from one of its most challenging issues. For Finland, the dream of a second Eurovision trophy is closer than it has been in decades, yet the road to the finish line is fraught with more than just intense rehearsals for the Vienna stage.
In a contest that desperately wants to be United by Music, our experience suggests that the most difficult performance for any artist this year won’t be on the stage, but in the press room. Today, artists have to navigate a world where “doing it for the sake of music and humanity” is no longer a simple statement but a complex political balancing act.