The hosts for Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2024 have been releaved.
The Finnish broadcaster has revealed the names of the hosts for next years edition of UMK at the Nokia Arena in Tampere on February 10th, and for the first time ever, the show will see three hosts.
UMK 2024 sees actress and writer Pilvi Hämäläinen, singer Benjamin, and presenter and actress Viivi Pumpanen, all come together to host Finland’s national final for Eurovision 2024. This will be the first time that each of them will host UMK, and they are all very excited about this new venture.
"UMK has become a really special thing in recent years, and around the time of the previous five-year-old, I once again found myself thinking that it would be cool to be a part of it. Even though I myself have a lot of experience with live broadcasts, being a presenter feels new and different. I believe that together with this team we will make the UMK show of all time!"
Pilvi Hämäläinen
"Last year's UMK was an incredible experience, and I wanted to be involved in some way this year as well. Since I was born a Eurovision fan, this kind of drinking party is a dream come true! My actual hosting experiences are limited to elementary school Christmas parties, so this is an exciting jump into the deep end."
Benjamin
" It's extremely sweet to be able to build a feel-good show aimed at the whole family. I can only imagine the host's tickling feeling that night. Big moments are also where you learn a lot, and I'm looking forward to this experience from that point of view as well. And of course I'm also looking forward to working with Pilvi and Benku - our trio has a very positive vibe!"
Viivi Pumpanen
Who are Pilvi, Benjamin and Viivi?
Pilvi Hämäläinen is an actress and writer, most known for her work with television mini series Putous Allstars (2020); Finnish film Aika jonka sain (2020) and television series Keisari Aarnio (2018).
Benjamin is a singer-songwriter, who many fans will remember for his participation in UMK 2023 with “Hoida Mut”. He released his first single “Underdogs” in September 2014, and since then, has gone on to release a handful of other singles, and two albums in 2016 and 2020.
Viivi Pumpanen is a beauty pagaent title holder, and was crowned Miss Finland in 2010. In 2011, she won the Finnish version of Dancing With The Stars, (Tanssii tähtien kanssa), and appeared on Masked Singer Suomi in 2020. She has also had small acting roles in a few television shows and films between 2013 and 2022.
The artists competing in UMK 2024 will be revealed during a live television broadcast from 20:00 to 20:30 EET, on January 10th 2024. The show will provide commentary in Finnish, Swedish and English, and will be broadcast live on Yle TV1, Yle Areena, and UMK’s official YouTube channel. Alexander Beijar will provide the Swdish commentary, Katri Norrlin the English commentary. There will also be a UMK chat hosted by Henkka Remes.
What are your thoughts on the three hosts for UMK 2024? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Photo credit: Nelli Kentä / Yle