Ahead of their performance at Melfest WKND 2026, Kittens had the opportunity to speak with Piera Eira & CĂŻlja, who are the stars of SĂĄmi Grand Prix, with both acts having won the competition in 2024 and 2025.
Check out our interview with Piera Eira & CĂŻlja here!
In the interview, Piera Eira & CĂŻlja tell Kittens all about how winning SĂĄmi Grand Prix has impacted their lives as artists. They also give their first impressions on this year’s contestants, and admit they are thrilled with such a high level of quality in SĂĄmi music in general. They also touch on how important it is to have SĂĄmi music streamed right across the world thanks to their success in the show.
What is SĂĄmi Grand Prix?
Created in 1990 as part of the SĂĄmi Easter Festival, SĂĄmi Grand Prix is a music competition consisting of two parts, a modern song competition, comparable to Eurovision and its companion national selection shows, as well a joik competition, each with six competitors. That means weâll have two winners, a winning song and a winning joik.
Both sections are decided on by a mix of an expert jury and a televote in a 50/50 split. All of the songs must be performed at least partially in one of the SĂĄmi languages we went through earlier, and the usual rules you know and love of not releasing your song before the official release apply here too.
What do you think of our interview with the stars of SĂĄmi Grand Prix? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow âThat Eurovision Siteâ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about SĂĄmi Grand Prix 2026!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: That Eurovision Site
That Eurovision Site