Finland: Erika Vikman releases her UMK 2020 entry “Cicciolina”
The second song to compete in the upcoming Finnish national final of UMK 2020, has gone public. Following Tika’s release of entry it was Erika Vikman’s turn to release her entry ‘Cicciolina’.
Listen below Erika’s entry entitled Cicciolina:
Erika Vikman stated on her UMK entry:
We made a song that felt strong enough to fit in with the Eurovision Song Contest. As I ordered, I heard that UMK’s open search is back. At first, the idea seemed crazy, but on the other hand, we realized that this is the way to go.
Her UMK song Cicciolina is a brisk Finnish disco that does not hide sexual freedom. The music includes the influence of both the past decades and Kikka. The Finnish act goes further saying:
For me, Cicciolina symbolizes courage, freedom and selflessness, and these are the things I want to pursue in life.
The idea for Cicciolina came about when Vikman saw a documentary about Italian porn actor and politician Ilona “ Cicciolina ” Staller . The song was created with Janne Rintala and Mika Laakkonen , who immediately became excited about Cicciolina’s emotive character.
About Erika Vikman
26-year-old Erika Vikman took part in Finnish Idol in 2013, but was eliminated before the semifinals. Three years later, in 2016, she was crowned as the Tango Queen at the Finnish tango festival Tangomarkkinat.
Since then, Erika has released four singles in Finnish and has moved from tango to more pop music. She is in a relationship with legendary Finnish singer Danny, who has also taken part in Finland’s Eurovision selection few times before in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
The Eurovision Story so far
Finland made its debut in the contest back in 191 and has once the contest, in 2006 , when the country was represented by Lordi and their entry Hard Rock Hallelujah. The country’s best result before then was achieved by Marion Rung with the song “Tom Tom Tom” in 1973, which placed sixth.
Finland has finished last in the contest ten times, receiving “nul points” in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final seven times. In 2014, the country had its best result in eight years when Softengine finished 11th. In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision entry, “Aina mun pitää” performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät.
In 2018 Saara Aalto represented the country with her entry Monsters but she finished second last in the Grand final. In 2019 Darude & Sebastian Rejman represented the Scandinavic country in Tel Aviv with the song “Look Away”, but failed to reach the final as they finished 17th in the semi final.
Source: yle.fi
