On Saturday the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2016 kicks off in Finland with the 1st Semi –final show. One of the most expected performances is by Saara Aalto with “No Fear”. Saara is back at the UMK after very successful 5 years, in 2011 she placed second with the ballad “Blessed With Love” and she is definitely ready to win this year.

We spoke with Saara about participating in The Voice of Finland, singing in Cheenese and of course about her entry song “No Fear”.

Hello Saara! Welcome back to the UMK! How did you decide to enter the contest this year?

Hello there! I’ve always dreamed about representing Finland at the ESC, so now that I thought I had a good song, I wanted to give it a try!

We remember your amazing performance 5 years ago at UMK 2011. What has changed in your life and your music since that time?

5 years ago I called my music Epic Love Pop and I still do. I’m still pretty much the same but now I got so much more experience and confident in me. I’ve had so many concerts all over the world, I’ve released 5 albums (even one in Chinese!), and of course grown so much as an artist. So many good and bad things have happened.. as everyone knows life is life, and during these 5 years I’ve gotten so much life experience which of course helps me to put more emotion to my singing.

More and more participants of The Voice shows in different countries have become the Eurovision entrants for the last few years. Do you feel that The Voice experience 4 years ago was crucial in your musical career and particularly in your participation in the UMK once again?

The Voice was very crucial in my career. I got so many new fans, more experience and found myself as an artist. After that I got so many opportunities to perform at big stages and do big shows and those of course gave me the experience I need at the UMK and Eurovision!

Most of us are afraid of people who are different than us… and some of us might even do bad things to others if they are afraid.

Can you please tell us about your entry song for the UMK 2016? What’s the main message of it?

Most of us are afraid of people who are different than us… and some of us might even do bad things to others if they are afraid. With this song I’m singing “No Fear” to all those people who have prejudices towards other people. Why can’t we all just forget our fears and live together on this beautiful Earth. I want this song to be the happy funeral of fear, where people are dancing together!

Can you tell us something more about the team behind this song?

The music and the lyrics are by me. Then I made ballad version of it with my producer Teemu. We liked it but it was too serious for this message. So I sent it to my other producer Riku, who added the Indian feeling to it and changed the tempo to a dancing tempo. I immediately loved it! Though I think No Fear is really beautiful as a ballad too!

Every artist has something special, people say “he/she has it”. How can you describe “it” about yourself?

I think my “it” is my devotion to my singing and performing. I work a lot and prepare myself very well for my performances so that on stage I can just shine and get the feeling of flow. And then people can really see how enthusiastic I am !

What is your inspiration for singing?

I feel like home when I’m singing. I feel like that’s when I can make people listen to what I want to say. I love singing but serving this planet and its people is the mission in my life. I hope to make people happy and make them believe in their dreams. It inspires me.

How would you describe your ideal song that you would like to perform?

A song with lots of emotion and feeling!! Where I can show my sensitive side but also my dramatic side! So a song with lots of dynamic and a huge scale of emotions!

Thank you Saara Aalto for your time and good luck on Saturday! Give a listen to Saara’s entry song “No Fear”. You can also use #NoFear2016 if you want to support this entry in social media.