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UMK contestant Sinikka Monte is a 23-year-old artist whose roots span three countries and cultures. She was born in Scotland, grew up in Austria, and is half Finnish and half South African.

Monte says she makes music “for people who are sad and need a hug.”

Her UMK entry Ready To Leave is a dark, cinematic ballad capturing a painful moment: a relationship that has gone on too long, leaving only bitterness and the need to let go.

There were no musicians in Sinikka’s family, but performing fascinated her from an early age. She danced ballet from the age of five until her teenage years, and the stage quickly felt like the right place for her.

After ballet, her focus shifted to singing. Her debut single It Ain’t You was released in 2019, followed by Play Pretend and a long-term collaboration with trusted producer Florian “Flo” Spies.

Sinikka describes herself as an emotional artist for whom music functions as therapy. Most of her songs begin as something written for herself before she later considers the listener.

The hardest moments of her career have involved insecurity and comparison, which at times drained her joy of writing. Still, she knows exactly who she wants to make music for.

Monte describes her style as a “crying in the club” feeling: sad songs you should still be able to dance to, with a tear in the corner of your eye.

The Grand Final will take place on 28 February 2026, when all seven competitors take the stage at Nokia Arena in Tampere. The two-hour live final is expected to draw around two million TV viewers, with about 20,000 fans attending in person, as Finland chooses its Eurovision representative for 2026.

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