Presenting the 2010 stars: Kuunkuiskaajat

Presenting the 2010 stars: Kuunkuiskaajat - Finland

Two singers from Finland’s most successful contemporary folk group Värttinä will represent the country at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo.

When Kuunkuiskaajat took most everyone by surprise (not me I can proudly say!) and won the Finnish final with 42% of votes for Työlki ellää it didn't take long before the critic started flying. The song has been accused of being "Russian" or "Gypsy" but those who say so should take a moment and study the Finnish music culture a bit more, especially the Carelian part of it, and while doing it read also a bit of Kalevala. In short it's based on a typical type of poetic song called rekilaulu where one sings the lead and the others repeat the same, often sung when riding the horse carriage to kill the time and entertain themselves. Simple as that. Perfectly Finnish, or rather Carelian, not Russian. Add a specialist in childbirth singing and a puppeteer and you have Moonwhisperers, or Kuunkuiskaajat who perform it.

But let's get back to the girls. Johanna Virtanen (33) started her musical studies at the Central Ostrobothnian Conservatory in Kokkola. She continued studying folk music and singing at the Sibelius Academy. She is a professional vocal teacher and is specialized in childbirth singing. In addition she plays harmonium, kantele and 2-row accordion. She joined Värttinä in 2001. Susan Aho (36) started playing accordion at the age of 13. She has a Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department. Susan already played accordion on Värttinä’s “Vihma” album (released in 1998) before moving to vocals. Susan is not only a professional musician, but also a puppeteer. Currently she works at the internationally renowned puppet theatre Sampo.

While singing in Värttinä the girls decided they also want to do something else together in the sparetime and Kuunkuiskaajat is the result of that. They describe their music as retro-etno-schlager which actually is a very good definition. For their Eurovision adventure they have made a very fitting video, as well as recently released dance mix for the joy of the fans. Their other songs include Taivaallinen, Maailman majoilla, Loputon tie, and you can follow their videoblog here on their way to Oslo 2010. Their debut album was released in late 2009 and Työlki ellää, that translates to You can live by working but business makes you rich, has topped the airplay charts on RadioSuomi for several weeks, but the physical single has not been released yet.

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