The seventh edition of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK18) will take place on 3rd of March at Espoo Metro Arena. All three entries will be performed by Saara Aalto who was internally selected by the Finnish broadcaster Yle. Watch all 3 official music videos below and STAY TUNED for our live coverage of UMK 2018.

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Unique and exciting show ahead

The UMK show will be hosted by Krista Siegfrids and Mikko Silvennoinen, and among others Saara’s childhood idol Melanie C from the Spice Girls will perform during the show.

Each of Saara’s three shows has been choreographed by Brian Friedman, who has worked as a choreographer for Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Mariah Carey and for X Factor both in Britain and in the US. The stage shows for UMK18 will be the same as they would be on the Eurovision stage in Lisbon.

The producer of UMK18, Anssi Autio says that there has never really been shows like this in Finnish television. With a team of talented people from Sweden, Britain, USA and Norway, the shows are really exceptional.

Friedman is accompanied by the choreographer Lukas Farlane and Reija Wäre. The two professionals are in charge of the practical side of every second in the shows, taking care of the details.

Song 1 – Monsters

A strong, perfectly crafted pop song with Swedish influences

“Monsters” is a strong, perfectly crafted pop song with a catchy chorus, melodic hooks, modern arrangement and Saara’s voice which can reach both high and low parts of the song. It’s a streamlined dancepop tune with a flamboyant chorus.

Saara has written “Monsters” together with Joy and Linnea Deb from the Swedish songwriting team The Family, and the British producer-songwriter Ki Fitzgerald. The Family is known for Eurovision success: they have written the winning song “Heroes” for Måns Zelmerlöv in 2015. Fitzgerald has collaborated with artists like Jonas Brothers and Pitbull. It only took about four hours for the team to write the song in December. They all agreed that the song should be one of the Eurovision candidates.

The Swedish influences in the music can certainly be heard. The song sounds very international, and in the ears of a Eurovision fan, it sounds like something you could expect from artists like Lady Gaga, Loreen or some of the very best Melodifestivalen entries.

The lyrics continue the theme of Saara’s previous UMK tune “No fear” (2016) about winning your fears and getting rid of monsters inside of your head. “I ain’t scared no more”, she shouts. According to Saara, the song is about traumas and fears and competing them, and feeling accepted as a person. And we can’t escape the thought that Finland has already once won with ‘monsters’ – the country took the victory with the monster band Lordi in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.

In the music video, we can see Saara as a stylish warrior woman – and in the indoor scenes she looks really sultry surrounded by a group of drag queens. The video definitely shouts “Eurovision!” all over it.

Stage show: “Monsters” – movement on the stage

Saara herself described the stage show of “Monsters” the most challenging to be held together. The show is like a journey where Saara transforms from a closed and isolated figure into a character which praises the diversity of life. There will be a lot of movement on the stage as well as co-operation between the dancers and backing singers.

The biggest challenge for the “Monsters” show will be its mobility – how to make the pieces of the puzzle to work together. There will be many different stage elements and costumes. “When we get the show ready, it’s going to look epic”, says McFarlane.

Song 2 – Domino

Super songwriters – and big emotions – behind “Domino”

“Domino” is written by Saara together with Thomas G:son, the Eurovision veteran and the man behind Loreen‘s Eurovision winning song “Euphoria”. G:son has created a huge number of songs to the contest and different countries’ national finals. “I was so excited to go to the studio with G:son. I thought he is a really huge person, but he turned out to be a really relaxed guy wearing sweat pants”, Saara laughs. She spent two days modifying the song with him. It has always been important to Saara that she can fully stand behind the message of her songs.

“Domino” also has contributions from Bobby Ljunggren (songwriter of e.g. Carola’s “Invincible”, Charlotte Perrelli’s “Hero”), Johnny Sanchez and Will Taylor. The music video for the song is sophisticated and very glittery!

Stage show: “Domino” – Saara in the air?

As there won’t be any backing screens on the Eurovision stage in Lisbon, they won’t be seen in the UMK18 shows either. Instead, a lot of effort is put into physical stage elements. The “Domino” show will feature a unique, four meters tall structure consisting of domino blocks. McFarlane is sure that “Domino” will surprise the viewers. Ballads are usually not expected to have such high production values. “Saara might float in the air – or then not”, he says mysteriously.

Song 3 – Queens

A sequel to Saara’s “No fear” – a song of love, light and positivity

“Queens” is a song which was written in January 2017 while Saara stayed in London. She went to the studio with three men she did not know at all – they were Tom Aspaul, Farley Arvidsson and Charlie Walshe. Aspaul has written songs to Kylie Minogue and Matt Terry. The song has been arranged and produced by Arto Ruotsala, who is also familiar to the UMK audience as a producer of Alva‘s “Arrows” in 2017.

“I suddenly remembered the melody, I had written two years ago for my UMK16 song “No fear”. The outline was kind of Egyptian and I thought that the melody is strange”, Saara remembers. It turned out the songwriting team liked her strange melody and was ready to make it into a cool song.

Before the release of the song, Saara has listed women who are her queens and who have made a huge impression on her and inspired her to write the song, such as Oprah Winfrey, Dana International (winner of ESC 1998), Tove Jansson (Finnish artist and author, creator of the Moomins), Princess Diana, Melanie C and Saara’s girlfriend Meri.

Saara sees that the song describes people, who want to get rid of old, non-functioning structures, create new rules and build a world where love, light and positivity are in the center of everything. It seems that the new world has been realized in Saara’s life as well. And what else could better suit to Eurovision than thoughts like this!

In the music video, Saara sports as a kind of modern and sexier version of Marie Antoinette. The different styles and costumes suit well to the very theatrical song.

Stage show: “Queens” – the most difficult show ever

It will be worth waiting for the stage show of “Queens” – it’s something unique that we have never seen on stage in Finland before. Saara thinks the show is more massive that her shows for the British X Factor. There are huge stage structures and a lot happening. The dancers and backing singers will need to work with extreme precision and watch out for the special effects. The choreographers are sure it’s a show that will be remembered for a very long time.

Which of the three songs will win the battle?

Throughout the three weeks, “Monsters” has clearly dominated the charts and polls. The song got a lot of visibility because of it being the first to be released. It’s a strong dancepop tune, so we would not be surprised to see it winning. We also do not believe in conspiracy theories depicted in the media, but think it has been thought as a fair game between the three songs by Yle and Saara’s record company.

“Queens” seems slightly more popular than “Domino”, but haven’t manage to catch up with Domino on either Spotify streams or Youtube views.

According to the bookmaker odds “Monsters” also has a very big lead. Now it will be up to the live performances – and those are definitely one of Saara’s biggest strengths. Finland is currently one of the top countries in betting odds, so the question is, could the country ever lose with monsters?

Saara’s new album coming out before Eurovision

Saara has also made an announcement about her further plans for this year. Her new album (yet untitled) will be released before the ESC in May. The three UMK candidate song will all be featured on the album. Saara promises the album will be a strong and versatile pop record.

In the autumn, Saara starts a concert tour in Finland, covering 16 cities. The tour will start on 17th October and ends on 10th November. Saara is naturally very excited to be able to perform her new songs with dashing shows.

More Eurovision fun in Helsinki – UMK afterparties

After the UMK show, Helsinki’s biggest gay night club Hercules will have a guest from Iceland as Hera Björk will take the stage. She represented her country in 2010 with “Je ne sais quoi”.

The night club DTM will hold the official UMK afterparty on Saturday right after the tv broadcast.

Youtube views Spotify Monsters 1.186.165 Monsters 884.844 Domino 614.013 Domino 289.737 Queens 508.425 Queens 104.409

More videos: Follow Saara Aalto on her road to UMK18 and Eurovision – watch more videos behind the scenes on Yle Areena.