* Was She Robbed?* UMK 2024: Sara Siipola - "Paskana"- Final Live

[@ynbtm]

Paskana was and is something more then just a typical ballad. Deep lyrics, big emotions, slow dance-beat, great production, native language. It seemed that Europe and why not overseas countries as well were ready to love this entry. A wasted chance, which was thrown away.

[@annarantanen3813]

I don't think so. I understand people liked this as the only ballad among the umk songs when the whole selection was quite mid but on the Esc stage the performance should have been absolutely breathtaking for this to stand out. And the lyrics... sad isn't automatically deep. The message is basically: I'm unhappy so everyone else has to be unhappy too. Shut down the world. Skeeter Davis did this kind of melancholy a lot better already in the 60's with The End of the World, with 0 screaming needed to add emotional impact.

[@toinenosoite3173]

This was a really good analysis. Yes, Finland has done much better with more rocky songs. Not so sure about the campy songs though... Please give me an example of those - except W95M of course. Yes, there was something wrong in the live performance of Paskana or that was at least my impression when I watched it on TV. Myself, I still voted for Sara Siipola, and I would have loved to have had her at the ESC final. In my ranking W95M was last before our national final, but it got up to fourth place after it. And I can understand why people voted for it.

[@katriperttuli427]

I tried to explain last year to a Swede that we Finns simply don't like slick and polished pop like Loreen. We have different kind of music taste! I liked Sara's song in the beginning before UMK but it lacked rawness and umph in the performance. It was just so extremely beige.

[@florenna]

I couldn't disagree more about her performance being "beige"!! It was mesmerizing & breathtaking, and everyone I know agrees.

[@Megg85]

Ohhh yes, she was robbed.😔❤

[@florenna]

Most definitely!

[@tommilaitinen5555]

I think those Finns that watch UMK and ESC are not anymore up for schlagers and generic pop songs. We have tried all this and that, but even listening to Katri-Helena's performance of Katson sineen taivaan from yesterday (she represented Finland in ESC back in 1979), that sounds better than many ballads that have represented Finland later. Katri-Helena's song sounds more right, and I think it could have more potential musically as a ballad than any of today's ballads. And that was over 40 years ago, so... Anyhow, times change and so do tastes and strategies: We are not going in for winning, but the songs are produced for domestic markets more than for international markets, because when Finns love the song, it could actually succeed in ESC: like Cicciolina from Erika Vikman and Ram pam pam from Bess a few years back. They were just not granted the chance and they too, very more to the fun side, than the serious. Part of the nostalgy is that you bring up "older" type of music in a new setting or package and see what happens. Because anyways music repeats itself like all art and culture repeat itself (and that is what W95Man knows as a visual artist). However, when it is done in a very serious manner, Finns do not mostly buy that. And I believe that is why last year Loreen got 0 from Finnish public: it was not authentic and it was made for international markets solely and Loreen fronting seemed even more less authentic choice: had it been some new face from Sweden, who knows how it would have succeeded. So Tattoo was nothing new to us, and it seemed like it was a product that was already bought over ten years ago. Watching which songs caught high points from Finland last year were Voyager (progressive metal) and Vesna (cross-over song with folk, rap etc. elements from Czechia). That should already tell a lot. And that is quite where we are at with our own selection as well. I like Paskana, but it sounds generic. Dancing with Demons is very much down my alley, but it also sounds a little generic except the instrumental "progressive" parts. The only two songs that I would have granted the place in ESC were Glow and No Rules, even though they are in English and I do appreciate songs performed in native language. So in general I would think Finns tend to lean toward progression, also in music these days, among those people who watch ESC. If there is gonna be a good progressive metal type of act (in three minutes) this year, votes are coming in from Finland (still hoping someday we will have another try with Nightwish - not gonna happen - or new attempt with Amorphis - probably not happening in the next 100 years). If there is gonna be another pop ballad that sounds like we've heard it already and it is written only for international charts and winning ESC, no thank you, but anyways out of the selection that ESC will have, we have to vote for someone. But this all is why I actually think it is W95M for Finland and fun and not more serious Sara Siipola (with it's raw power though I think it was not made to succeed internationally but domestically. It sounds and feels authentic, but not really anything new). I will give No Rules some time and see where it leads, because Paskana and Glow are the songs that keep on playing in my head.

[@MallaMoija]

I don't always agree with you but this time I'm with you. The live show was missing something and in my opinion her vocals were not that perfect as they with a ballad should have been (Sara's song was my favorite of them all before the live show). Nobody expected Windows95man to win but their show was just the best. :D

[@christianlangdale2043]

Masked Singer UK 2 shocking eliminations and unmasking Bigfoot is somehow still in the competition. Piranha might win now.