YLE has got harsh critic by public in social medias and in press, and even from Finnish musicians association for the sudden change of UMK format, where they out of the blue internally chose Saara Aalto as the artist and literally threw the submissions (over 300) out of window stating they were not good enough and what they were looking for. And they all had spent a lot of time and money for the high quality demos YLE demanded the submitted entries to be.
As for Saara's choice as singer the nation is also divided - it seems everyone has an opinion of love or hate, no one's left indiffeent.....
As for Saara's choice as singer the nation is also divided - it seems everyone has an opinion of love or hate, no one's left indiffeent.....
Today YLE and UMK gave out a statement answering some of the burning questions.
Here are answers to the questions asked.
1. Does Yle work ethically this way?
YLE has the responsibility and obligation to make UMK an interesting and entertaining show for the public. The viewers have been wishing for more Stars in the contest and invitation method is an interesting opportunity for YLE to better serve Finns and to succeed in Eurovision.
Yle organized the open search for UMK, as it has been for the six previous years. The search did not give us suitable candidates even though there were good songs. We also wanted to look til the end of the application period, whether or not some of the more familiar artists already promised to take part actually did it.
For these reasons, it was decided to change the process of the competition. YLE has the right to do so, and it is clearly stated in UMK's rules. The participants have been informed already in early October that their song will not be in the contest.
2. How do you believe musicians will trust the next YLE competition and the legitimacy of its rules?
Open search belongs to the UMK concept and therefore still exists in the future. Next year, the search starts already in May in connection with Eurovision.
We believe in the value of open competition and new music and rising stars that are born through it. It would be desirable in the future that half of the competitors would be well-known artists and another half newcomers. The program concept may again be different in the following year.
3. Where and how do you select the three songs you are competing for?
We have listened to Saara Aalto's new songs and were are very pleased with them. The composition work is still further refined. Yle has set Saara requirements to produce three different songs to create suitable stage performances for Eurovision.
Everyone's common interest is to give the artist the best possible songs and spectacular performances.
Source: YLE
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