Eurovision 2014: Finland

Thanks to eurovision.tv, the official web site for the Eurovision Song Contest, I'm able to view many of the national finals in their entirety, and last night's viewing was the Finnish national final, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu.

Finland has used UMK for the past three years to choose their song to send, and after a three show preliminary, the final was broadcast on February 1st.

Watching Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, the Finnish national final, I feel like I've been sucked into a world where things don't make much sense, starting off with the opening number.

It's like a black comedy version of an Olympic opening number--colorful, confusing, and really foreign.  It's not bad--just very Finnish.

The songs were confounding as well.  I still can't figure out why some of these songs were in the final of the Finnish national final.

MadCraft  "Shining Bright"

I hadn't realized that skater culture had a following in Finland, and MadCraft is aping the look and feel of skater punk bands like Blink-182.

Nor had I realized that punk girl groups were still alive in Finland.

MIAU  "God/Drug"

Hukka ja Mama  "Selja"

And I have no clue what this is--Finnish folk country?  Or just the song to accompany one of my pizza induced dreams...

But when all was said and done, the Finnish jury and public chose the most commercial song in the finals

Softengine  "Something Better"

It's a rock song that doesn't sound dissimilar to something Coldplay or U2 might have performed about five years ago and feels very much like this song from the 2011 contest.

A Friend in London  "New Tomorrow"  Denmark 2011

Denmark did quite well with their rock anthem, coming in fifth back in 2011, and Finland has a chance to do the same with Softengine.

The only thing they need to work on is their performance.  There's a lack of energy in "Something Better" that makes the song feel generic.  With a little bit of work on the presentation of the song, I could see this finishing quite well on the night of the finals.