Finland at Eurovision 2025: The country has decided to break tradition at the upcoming Eurovision in Basel, Switzerland. What is behind this surprising move – and which other country joined the trend?
A stir in Finland: the Finnish national broadcaster, Yle, announced that for Eurovision 2025, which will take place in Basel, Switzerland, it will not send local commentators to cover the live broadcast from the arena. The official announcement was delivered by Mikko Silvennoinen, the Finnish-language commentator for the local pre-selection “UMK” and Eurovision itself, who confirmed and revealed the news in a Finnish morning show interview.
During the interview, Mikko revealed that this time, he will be commentating on Eurovision from Yle Studios in Pasila, Helsinki, instead of from Basel as has been customary in the past. According to him, the decision was made due to high costs and budget cuts at the national broadcaster. However, he clarified that he will still travel to Basel to attend the opening ceremony, but will return to Helsinki immediately afterward to provide commentary for the contest itself.
The Financial Reasons: “You Can’t Afford Everything”
The Head of Delegation for Finland, Anssi Autio, elaborated on the reasons behind the dramatic decision: “You can’t afford everything. If prices rise and we don’t have enough money, the decision is quite simple. Everyone understands that commentary requires technical equipment and a commentary booth. It will be quite a large sum of money.”
Mikko Silvennoinen added in the interview that one of the challenges he foresees relates to how he will be able to gauge the audience’s reactions during the different performances. However, Anssi Autio was quick to reassure, emphasizing that there will be team members on-site in Basel who will report in real time to Helsinki:
“Reports have been done from Pasila before. We’ll see how this year goes. Of course, we believe that the reactions will be conveyed from there in other ways than just being there.”
Not Alone: Croatia Joins the Trend
During the interview, Anssi Autio also addressed what is happening in other countries. According to him, similar decisions are being considered elsewhere, with Croatia being a notable example: HRT, the Croatian national broadcaster, confirmed that Duško Ćurlić will commentate this year for Croatian viewers from Zagreb instead of from Basel.
Additionally, Anssi revealed that the European Broadcasting Union tried to offer alternative solutions to ease the financial burden and allow commentators to be present in Basel:
“New possibilities have been developed there, where the commentary booth would not be in the hall but somewhere else in the arena. But even that didn’t sound like a very good solution, let alone a much cheaper one.”
Is This a Permanent Change?
At the end of the interview, Anssi was asked whether this means that from now on all Finnish commentators will broadcast from Helsinki in the future. His response was clear:
“It depends on whether the European Broadcasting Union takes seriously these questions from us and other countries about how this cost can be so enormously high right now. However, we have to make do with our own budget for the moment.”
Painful Budget Cuts Beyond Eurovision
The financial decisions are not solely tied to Eurovision. The Finnish national broadcaster’s budget was cut by EUR 24 million following a decision by a Finnish parliamentary working group. As a result, the broadcaster was also forced to cancel the popular preview program “Viisukupla – Eurovisionsbubblan,” which had been airing since 2021 and featured reviews and preparations ahead of the contest.
Finland at Eurovision 2025
“Ich Komme” is the title of the song that will be performed by singer Erika Vikman, who will represent Finland in the second semi-final of Eurovision 2025, taking place on May 15th in Basel, Switzerland. The song was written by Christel Roosberg and Jori Roosberg. This is the first song by these writers to compete in Eurovision. The song is performed in Finnish, with the title in German.
Erika Vikman – Who Are You?
Erika Vikman, born on February 20, 1993, is a Finnish singer-songwriter. Erika is one of Finland’s biggest pop stars and is known to Eurovision fans for her participation in the 2020 national selection, where she finished second with the song “Cicciolina“, which became a sensation in Finland and subsequently led to her rise to fame and status. Erika is known for her provocative performances and catchy yet clever pop songs. She described her song “Ich Komme” as a “crazy” creation, an unusual pop song with a lot of thought behind it, which also achieved great success in Finland.Source: Iltalehti
Eurovision 2025: This will be Finland’s 58th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Finland joined the competition in 1961 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2006, winning the contest with Lordi and their song “Hard Rock Hallelujah”.
