Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), Finland’s national selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest, returned for its fifteenth edition in 2026, broadcast live from the Nokia Arena in Tampere by YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. With Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen ultimately claiming Finland’s Eurovision spot with their song Liekinheitin, the event demanded a visual production equal to its audience. At the centre of that were two INFiLED LED screen systems, together forming one of the most technically ambitious setups in the competition’s history.
Technical delivery was handled by Akun Tehdas Oy, a Finnish AV production company and one of the country’s most experienced providers of large-scale events and television productions. Selected through a competitive process, the company was responsible for the full video infrastructure of the broadcast. Pasi Ristolainen served as head of video on the project, overseeing a team of on-site technicians whose expertise was central to the success of the event.
The INFiLED installation consisted of two distinct systems. A 21 × 7 metre ARmk2 Series LED screen formed the main back wall of the stage, providing a high-resolution backdrop for all seven competing acts. Alongside it, an AMT Series transparent LED cube with a 12 × 6-metre front face and 9 × 6-metre side panels served as the show’s defining structural element. Together, the two LED displays created a flexible visual architecture capable of supporting the distinct look and feel each act required.
“Installing the back screens was pretty straightforward, but the cube was more complicated,” said Pasi Ristolainen, Head of Video at Akun Tehdas Oy. “Moving decorative elements and lights hung inside the cube made things a little trickier. Things were moving up and down during the show, and there were only a few centimetres of space between moving items. Everything had to be precise. There wasn’t any room for errors.”
The AMT Series’ 70% transparency was central to the production’s creative choices. During the show, the cube was lowered onto the stage surface while cameras shot from inside the structure outwards, turning the screen itself into a framing device for the performance. Visual content was created by Ari Levelä of MOBB Helsinki Oy.
“His team created a simple, yet stylish look,” said Ristolainen. “The INFiLED screens gave us great image quality and colour reproduction. The black panels made images really pop.”
“We had to get these screens up on a tight schedule,” added Ristolainen. “The cargo ship arrived in port 48 hours before the screens were due to be installed. But since the installation was so easy, we didn’t run into any issues. The magnets on the ARmk2 Series make installation a lot easier. And the AMT Series was new to us. We were amazed by the simplicity and ease of use of the locking mechanisms. It is so effortless and everything works so well.”
The production was well received across the board. For YLE, which marks its 100th anniversary in 2026, UMK’s record viewership represented a strong start to this special year, with Finland now heading to Eurovision 2026 in Vienna. For Akun Tehdas Oy, the project reinforced a growing working relationship with INFiLED that extends well beyond a single broadcast.
“I’m very happy about our relationship with INFiLED,” concluded Ristolainen. “All the interactions with them have brought a feeling that they care about the customer, even though we are certainly one of the smallest. It’s great to see how professional, yet human they are when they handle business. I look forward to visiting the factory someday to continue getting to know their people and processes.”
