top of page
Search

Linda and Pete win UMK to represent Finland at Eurovision 2026

  • Writer: Kiel Egging
    Kiel Egging
  • Mar 1
  • 2 min read
Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius will represent Finland at Eurovision 2026. Image: Nelli Kenttä / Yle
Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius will represent Finland at Eurovision 2026. Image: Nelli Kenttä / Yle

Finland has chosen its Eurovision entrant for 2026 with duo Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen winning the country's national selection contest Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) with their song Liekinheitin (Flamethrower).


Linda and Pete triumphed with an astonishing 570 points, more than 350 points ahead of second-placed Antti Paalanen with 210 points, with Komiat finishing third on 116 points.



The final overall scores were:


  1. Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen – Liekinheitin - 570 points

  2. Antti Paalanen – Takatukka - 210 points

  3. Komiat – Lululai - 116 points

  4. CHACHI – Cherry Cake - 99 points

  5. Sinikka Monte – Ready to Leave - 97 points

  6. Etta – Million Dollar Smile and KIKI – Rakkaudenkipee - 42 points


Linda and Pete were almost unbackable favourites to win this morning's contest, with EurovisionWorld ranking them a 79% chance of winning on their odds page. Many Eurovision fans have also rated them as one of their early favourites to win this year's content for Finland in Vienna in May.


They won the jury vote with 78 points, with six of the seven international juries giving them 12 points. Only Austria didn't give them the top ranking, where they were pipped by Antti Paalanen.


Their victory was confirmed with an insane public vote score of 492 points - ahead of Paalanen on 152 points and Komiat on 76 points.


Linda and Pete's 570 points is the highest overall score recorded at UMK this decade, topping the previous benchmark set by Blind Channel who won with 551 points in 2021.


At the time of writing, Finland are the bookies' favourites to win Eurovision 2026 according to EurovisionWorld, who rank them as a 16% chance of winning, followed by Greece (12%) and Denmark (10%).


UMK was staged at the Nokia Arena in Tampere and featured performances from seven acts - all of whom had not competed in UMK before. They performed in the following order:


  • Komiat – Lululai 

  • Etta – Million Dollar Smile 

  • KIKI – Rakkaudenkipee

  • Antti Paalanen – Takatukka

  • CHACHI – Cherry Cake

  • Sinikka Monte – Ready to Leave

  • Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen – Liekinheitin 


The show was opened by last year's UMK winner and Finnish representive Erika Vikman performing her new single and then doing a 'duel' with Austria's Eurovision 2025 winner JJ.


The winner was chosen by a combination of 75 per cent public votes and 25 per cent from a public jury.


Finland will compete in the first Semi-final of Eurovision 2026, to be held in Vienna, Austria on Tuesday 12 May.


For continued updates on all UMK 2026 and Eurovision 2026 news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Threads and Instagram. All the links can be found at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet

Comments

bottom of page