tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-152283422012-01-28T23:53:37.960+02:00Life after Helsinki 2007All about Eurovision song contest and Sanremo festival, il festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo.ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.comBlogger48831100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-60202318804364825072012-01-28T23:53:00.001+02:002012-01-28T23:53:37.968+02:00All is fine in Iceland: Magni Àsgeirsson in final!To end a very good evening for my guessing and wishing Iceland. I only got the other finalist right, never saw those girls coming I must admit and I find the song rather dull. But all that matters is Magni's fantastic Hugarrò made it.
Magni Ásgeirsson - Hugarró Greta Salóme, Heiða and Guðrún Árný - Aldrei sleppir mér ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-88654797604690370552012-01-28T23:39:00.000+02:002012-01-28T23:39:08.769+02:00All is fine in Norway: Malin, Plumbo and Tommy in finalI got it all right for Norway this time when Malin, Plumbo and Tommy Fredvang made it to the final from the second semifinal.
Plumbo - Ola Normann - 1st
Tommy Fredvang - Make It Better - 2nd
Malin Reitan - Crush - 3rd ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-84823873560387234912012-01-28T23:29:00.000+02:002012-01-28T23:29:24.361+02:00All is fine in Hungary: Compact Disco and Caramel in finalI opted for the Hungarian webcast tonight and I'm pretty pleased I did. Sadly András didn't make it to the final but my all other favourites did, namely Compact Disco, Caramel and Tóth Gabi. With addition of Heincz Gábor, that I didn't quite pay attention until tonight so it was between him and András for me then. And indeed so it was for the jury as well as Gabi came 4th with them and András 5thilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-45927062148175328042012-01-28T19:19:00.003+02:002012-01-28T19:21:28.027+02:00Norway: Second semifinal tonightBesides Iceland also Norway continues its national selection tonight, while Hungary starts tonight with first semifinal. I must say I haven't paid much attention to this Norwegian semifinal as the first quick learning sounded very weak. I might be wrong but Malin and Plumbo might qualify. Or Tommy. The rest I don't know.With one quick listening. Anyways tonight we have this start up:
Cocktail ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-36224537684601080012012-01-28T08:04:00.000+02:002012-01-28T08:04:55.839+02:00Iceland: Semifinal 3 of Söngvakeppni sjónvarpsins tonightThe third and last semifinal in iceland takes place tonight. Again two songs will advance to the final chosen by a jury/televote. Great tries a bis as she already is in the final in duet with Jónsi. Magni tries again to win the national final. Will he be 4th time lucky? My bet's on Magni and Svenni. Listen the songs here.
Greta Salóme, Heiða & Guðrún Árný – Aldrei sleppir mér
Herbert Guðmundssonilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-21560285421701726422012-01-27T22:10:00.001+02:002012-01-27T22:21:59.563+02:00UMK: What did we learn in the first programme?Not much really. The fans are rather outraged as even the most hardcore fans seem to be unsure how the selection continues. If I understood right next Friday six artists will perform and the jury will drop two. And the same the week after making it only eight remaining. However there is now a voting for the fan favourite (The Spyro, Martina, Jessica Wolff). What happens then is anyone's guess. ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-79782907875916387742012-01-27T20:29:00.002+02:002012-01-27T20:32:49.507+02:00UMK starts tonight. The leak via SwedenThe UMK aka Uuden musiikin kilpailu will start tonight, or rather move on to the next format: television. The leak is true but the show will go on as planned. The producer Antti Autio commented it's such a shame some online record store (Swedish cdon.com) published the CD with the list of the artists by accident, thus making tonight's suspence none. Vallu Vaipio, one of the judges, also said thatilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-90034876700115023082012-01-27T13:15:00.003+02:002012-01-27T20:11:07.820+02:00Estonia: Listen to all Eestilaul entriesYou can now listen to all the Estonian entries online here. There will be two semifinals in February followed by a final on March 3, 2012. Once again a very alternative stuff there. Interesting yes, but not exactly my cup of tea and I have no idea what the Estonians will prefer. I have two early favourites, though, both in the first semifinal: MIA and August Hunt with their rather hilarious videoilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-16061585399679102892012-01-26T22:57:00.002+02:002012-01-26T23:08:17.451+02:00UMK qualifiers leaked?First they were 540, then 40. And tomorrow YLE is to announce the 12 qualifiers for the next step in UMK aka Uuden musiikin kilpailu. But already now there is online a compilation CD with 12 songs that are supposed to be the 12 qualified entries. Here they are:Ville Eetvartti, Mica Ikonen, Pernilla Karlsson, Stig, Freeman ja Uusi Fantasia, Leola, Kaisa Vala, Iconcrash, Aura Pineda, Aili, ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-49160948531467881202012-01-26T22:09:00.000+02:002012-01-26T22:09:32.610+02:00Hungary: The first semifinal songs for SaturdayHungary came back to Eurovision last year when they chose internally Kati Wolf and made a stunning comeback. Maybe not on the scoreboard but in most every fans heart. This year they had an open call for songs and now we will have two semifinals and a grand final. Three finalists will be picked by a jury and a fourth one by televote in each of two semifinals, making it a 8 songs final. Here are ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-16581760731720579232012-01-26T18:16:00.000+02:002012-01-26T18:16:09.385+02:00Here is Anggun's EchoYou can hear a snippet of Anggun's Echo (You and I), the French entry in the Eurovision song contest in Baku 2012 here. I would lie if I said I'm thrilled.... Maybe 2,5 more minutes will make it better?ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-75894784862654487072012-01-25T22:55:00.001+02:002012-01-25T23:06:57.810+02:00La la love for CyprusNo surprise in Cyprus when La la love is picked for Baku 2012. Most fans seem to be over excited about the song. Am I the only one who finds it rather boring (nothing that a proper remix can't fix though). And I was rather suprised how bland a performer Ivi actually is, even in play-back. If I was a Cypriot I would be a bit worried. It all looked so fine on paper.... It got full marks both from ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-10276926415968868972012-01-25T19:14:00.012+02:002012-01-25T20:21:01.733+02:00Light your fire, Europe!The allocation draw has taken place in Buta Palace in Baku. And they are really dragging on "the show". And I sincerely hope these two aren't the hosts for the main events come May! And for sure we did hear Running scared a few times... on the other hand, who has heard it since last May? The Azeris seem to have also major problems with certain flags! Strangely Armenian one is ok though. :-)
But ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-331835203630940022012-01-25T17:22:00.000+02:002012-01-25T17:22:20.538+02:00Ann Christine Vs. Timo Pieni Huijaus - Playboy Vs PleiboiThe Finnish Eurovision entry Playboy from 1966 lives again. Timo Pieni Huijaushas sampled it to his new album's lead single. Here. No comment.ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-16438640196386097632012-01-25T16:15:00.001+02:002012-01-25T16:22:55.992+02:00ESC 2012: Baku Crystal Hall it is!EBU has accepted the Baku Crystal Hall as the venue for the coming Eurovision song contest 2012. The hall is still under contraction. The building started in August 2011 and it should be ready by the end of March 2012. The hall can host up to 23.000 spectators but for the Eurovision around 16.000 due to the big stage contraction and the rest.
ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-19095393698581128942012-01-25T13:08:00.000+02:002012-01-25T13:08:50.445+02:00ESC 2012: Here we go!Tonight, or this afternoon depending where you are, the Eurovision 2012 kicks off officially and all the doubts if it's going to be in Baku after all or not are swept away. The host city insegnia exchange will take place when the mayor of Düsseldorf hand over the Eurovison key to the mayor of Baku. And after that the semifinal allocation draw to determinate in which one the countries will performilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-48578376037150767302012-01-25T12:55:00.000+02:002012-01-25T12:55:01.944+02:00Cyprus: A song for Ivi tonightCyprus will pick the song for Baku 2012 tonight. Ivi Adamou was internally selected already ages ago and the tree songs have been online to listen also for weeks now. The big favourite is La la love but who knows? 50/50 televote and jury will choose the song. There's a webcast here from 20.00 CET.
1. Call the police2. La la love3. You don't belong hereilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-41315942463279445512012-01-22T22:06:00.003+02:002012-01-26T20:02:13.812+02:00ESC 2012 - The story so farSwitzerland - Sinplus - Unbreakable - live - videoAlbania - Rona Nishliu - Suus - liveDenmark - Soluna Samya - Should've known better - live videoCyprus - Ivi Adamou - La la love live
Montenegro - Rambo Amadeus - Euro neuroFYR Macedonia - Kaliopi - Crno i beloFrance - Anggun - Echo (You and I)Belgium - IrisSerbia - Zeljko JoksimovicBosnia & Herzegovina - Maya SarTurkey - Can BonomoCroatia - Nina ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-90336964512270913242012-01-22T16:59:00.000+02:002012-01-22T16:59:15.157+02:00Alexander Rybak's take on Eurovision classicsOne of the highlights of last night's Danish final was Alexander Rybak's violin medley of some Eurovision winning songs, from Fly on the wings of love to Hold me now to Hard rock hallelujah, from A-ba-ni-bi to Satellite, Fängad av en stormvind to his very own Fairytale. Great stuff! Watch it here. ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-82916000706146508762012-01-22T16:44:00.000+02:002012-01-22T16:44:07.982+02:00Magnus Uggla wants Carola: Jag vill ha dig babyThe Voice of Sverige judges Carola and Magnus Uggla have joined forces with producer Niklas Kings to turn Uggla's rather bland original into a very radio friendly dancepop, listen here. The original female voice Edith Backlund has to just stand aside and listen. Here. ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-11520392879177274812012-01-22T12:52:00.000+02:002012-01-22T12:52:16.874+02:00Emma awards: Silkkii is the song of the yearThe Emma awards were give out last Friday again and I wrote about them here . But let's now take a look at the category of The Song of the Year. I was surprised Chisu wasn't even nominated in this one, but then she has won it already twice. The award went to Jukka Poika's Silkkii, and I totally agree.In this category the awards have been given out since 1996 under this name, before it there was ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-49182884440133219672012-01-22T11:41:00.000+02:002012-01-22T11:41:04.228+02:00Mr Lordi: Eurovision ended with burn outMr Lordi recently listed his career top moments in Ilta-Sanomat so far and confessed the Eurovision circus caused him a severe burn out. "The first thing that comes to mind about the life after the win is being busy. I didn't have a whole day off for two years. By the end of 2007 I had burn out. First I lost the hearing from the left ear, then the sense of smell and then almost the ability to ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-46469026363960319452012-01-21T23:56:00.001+02:002012-01-22T00:52:49.771+02:00Regina and Simbi did it in IcelandJust like I predicted Regina Òsk and Simbi & co sailed to the Icelandic final in tonight's second semifinal. :-) ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-34220465201332175852012-01-21T23:48:00.000+02:002012-01-21T23:48:32.656+02:00First three finalists in Norway chosenNorway had its first semifinal and even if I had only an half eye on it while watching the Danish final I could pick up my favourites. Or the favourite. And it made the final, namely Reidun with High on love, a mix of Sarah Dawn Finer and Charlotte's Hero, and look who's behind it? Yes, G:son. I was also pretty certain The Carburators would make it and had my ear on Rudi Myntevik, Lisa Stokke or ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-47286595874257317802012-01-21T23:33:00.002+02:002012-01-22T00:46:34.187+02:00Soluna Samay for Denmark!Should've known better. I had this song as a reserve, a kinda liked it but still it wasn't amongst my favourites. Until I say it live. I ranked it as a finalist while watching and once it made the superfinal I was all for it. And the unthinkable happened: my favourite won in Denmark! I hope it's not a bad omen for them. But anyways. A great show. Fantastic stage. Alexander Rybak rocked with his ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-17186843548578706052012-01-21T17:59:00.000+02:002012-01-21T17:59:53.973+02:00Zeljko and Jovana married in MaldivesIt seems that the love story that was born on the stage of Belgrade 2008 Eurovision has had a happy end when it is reported that the hosts Zeljko Joksimovic and Jovana Jankovic have gotten married in Maldives in a civil ceremony. Apparently they found the witnesses on spot but so much preparation there has been that Jovana brought a wedding dress from Belgrade with her. They are to have a church ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-29480634129419003432012-01-21T10:49:00.001+02:002012-01-21T20:29:11.001+02:00Tonight: Final in DenmarkBesides the Icelandic and Norwegian semifinal tonight's the Danish final completing the Nordic Eurovision fever night. And Nordic the Danish final is, with Swedish Patrick isaksson and Finnish Emilia in the line up. You can read my review here, and watch the show live here from 20.00 CET.I'm pretty curious to see how it goes as I never get the Danish right, and the first polls give Jesper and ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-34807522440250737502012-01-21T10:42:00.000+02:002012-01-21T10:42:56.611+02:00Tonight: First semifinal in NorwayNorway's MGP starts tonight with the first semifinal. The past few years MGP has been better than Melodifestibalen if you ask me for staging and songs so this blogger's expectations are high. And indeed it's a very solid selection of songs. I don't hate any of them. My least favourites are maybe Nora and The Carburetors and I'm not sure about United and Irresistible but the rest is fine. The easyilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-88452180373697739532012-01-21T10:41:00.000+02:002012-01-21T10:41:44.210+02:00Tonight: Second semifinal in IcelandIceland search for their entry in tonight's second semifinal of Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2012. Again five songs trying to conquer the hearts of the icelandic and secure one of two places in the final. Amongst them Regina Òsk, a familiar name from the Icelandic national selections. This blogger's wild guess is she wil make it (even if her song sounds suspiciously familiar but can't quite put my ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-30094269856068123392012-01-20T22:12:00.000+02:002012-01-20T22:12:58.401+02:00Chisu wins five Emmas!The Emma awards aka the Finnish Grammy's were given out tonight in a live TV-show from Barona Arena in Espoo. The queen of the night was as expected Chisu. She won five awards to add to those four she has won in 2008 and 2009. She has now Emmas for the best song (twice), best album, producer (twice), video, female artist, pop album, a special one by critics and e-Emma. I don't know if anyone elseilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-37160983054150584492012-01-20T18:29:00.004+02:002012-01-20T18:44:36.428+02:00Germany continues with the searchThe second heat took place in Germany last night of Unser Star für Baku 2012. Again five names were in, five names were out. You can check their performances here, and the results are here:
13.3% (06) Rachel Scharnberg (22, Cologne) – My baby left me (Rox)
13.0% (09) Yana Gercke (19, Biedenkopf) – Price Tag (Jessie J)
12.7% (03) Sebastian Dey (32, Oberhausen) – This Love (Maroon 5)
12.5% (08) ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-35393232852318826702012-01-20T07:07:00.000+02:002012-01-20T07:07:26.097+02:00Blogilkar's Best in Finland 2011 - Top-5 - Lauri - HeavySurprised? This must be the song I have listened the most in 2011. Lauri Ylönen of The Rasmus fame did a solo album and the first single was Heavy, a very pop oriented song in very much the Pet Shop Boys style in all it's poppy melancholy. The PSB influence comes rather evident in the remix . Love it! It was first premiered live on TV in February and then charted for 12 weeks peaking at #2. The ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-66582073592462751002012-01-19T22:37:00.000+02:002012-01-19T22:37:18.810+02:00#1 in Finland this week: Adele - Rolling in the deepNow this must be a rather historic affair in the chart history: Adele keeps the top-2 but now Rolling in the deep moves to #1 - in its 41st week! - and Someone like you drops to #2. She's still #1 in the albums and Set fire to the rain is at #11. And right behind her Chisu in both singles and albums.ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-5224398631655178802012-01-19T18:41:00.001+02:002012-01-19T18:42:09.162+02:00Goodbye Giancarlo BigazziItalian composer, producer and musician Giancarlo Bigazzi passed away today. His is a household name in Italy and he has co-written with Umberto Tozzi most of his worldwide hits. He also wored a lot with Marco Masini and written songs to singers like Mia Martini, Gigliola Cinquetti, Marcella Bella, Gianni Bella and many others. He also wrote music to movies, amongst them Oscar winning ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-78255361963569068122012-01-19T06:37:00.000+02:002012-01-19T06:37:29.836+02:00Blogilkar's Best in Finland 2011 - Top-5 - Chisu - SabotageIt has been Chisu's year, just like 2010 was Jenni Vartiainen's. Her first single Sabotage (still #16 after 20 weeks) went to #1, so did the follow up Kohtalon oma (right now still #3 after 11 weeks). The album Kun valaistun went to #1 obviously and has sold multiplatinum already, and is still at #2 after 14 weeks (it has spent 11 of them in top-2). Her third single will be Tie.
I will feature inilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-12253374785110798262012-01-18T19:17:00.001+02:002012-01-18T21:00:13.193+02:00UMK: What the betting odds predict?In a bit over a week we will know who the 12 lucky qualifiers are in UMK aka Uuden musiikin kilpailu aka Euroviisut 2012. Those twelve will get the make over by a famous producer and the radio versions will be released, move on to the club gigs and eventually are cut to only six for the final in the end of February.So the qualifiers would by by betters and fans these. (The place in the fan poll ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-81496200499656723952012-01-18T06:30:00.000+02:002012-01-18T06:30:26.424+02:00Blogilkar's Best in Finland 2011 - Top-5 - Lauri Tähkä - Syyskuun kyyLauri Tähkä fired his band Elonkerjuu with an email and caused quite a stir, after all the combination had sold several platinum records and was the hottest band in country for several years. His first solo effort Syyskuun kyy (September viper) charted only 5 weeks peaking at #9 but the album went platinum in a day so maybe he's more of an album artist?
I will feature in this series the five ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-44539197037644811192012-01-17T20:01:00.000+02:002012-01-17T20:01:07.936+02:00Sanremo 2012: Marcella Bella with Monica Naranjo outMore problems for Gianni Morandi and RAI's staff. Living legend and Sicilian songbird Marcella Bella is next in line to throw dirt on Sanremo 2012. "I had my song ready, L'amore he ho dentro, and I had Monica Naranjo from Spain ready to duet with me on Thursday night. Then I see on TV that I am not included in the list! Couldn't Gianni give me at least a call beforehand?" She admits being a bit ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-40593380569638302442012-01-17T19:35:00.000+02:002012-01-17T19:35:59.827+02:00Sanremo, we have a problem. Or two. Actually three.Here we go. As soon as the song titles and artists were confirmed for Sanremo 2012 problems were here. The song by Chiara Civelli, Al posto del mondo, was already presented for the newcomers selection two years ago sung by Daniele Magro. His manager prompted to put the song online now so Chiara's song is no longer a new one. And risks disqualification. But more attention is paid to the one ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-61147644410040917922012-01-17T15:04:00.001+02:002012-01-17T15:05:41.644+02:00It's 43 for Baku 2012There will be 43 countries taking part in the Eurovision song contest 2012 in Baku. The same record number as in 2008 and 2011. It would have been a record if Poland didn't decide to drop out. On the other hand Montenegro is back and Armenia decided to take part after all. If we only had Andorra and Czech Republic.... There will be two semifinal on May 22 and 24, ten songs qualifying to the finalilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-8430456166898609222012-01-17T14:48:00.000+02:002012-01-17T14:48:32.789+02:00ESC 2012: Review of the Danish goodies.Everyone who reads this blog knows I haven't been the biggest of fan of the Danish recent entries that have done so well in the Eurovision final. :-) I wonder if this year will be an exception? Or rather will the Danish entry that I don't care much about do well again, or will I like it and it will do bad? Jesper kicks of the show with a song that isn't bad. It just doesn't go anywhere. A bit ofilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-948711833525798862012-01-17T11:40:00.001+02:002012-01-17T11:41:40.224+02:00Joe McElderry or McFly for the UK?Time to gossip a bit. There's a rumour BBC is aiming big this year and two Mcs are in the running; McFly and most of all Joe McElderry. This blogger is first to admit I am not familiar with either of them at all but apparently both are big.Joe McElderry is a gay singer-model who won the X Factor in 2009 and Popstar to Operastar in 2011. Doesn't that sound like a match made in heaven for ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-67075215210179087462012-01-17T10:35:00.000+02:002012-01-17T10:35:45.273+02:00Black and white echoes for France and MacedoniaThe titles for the French and Macedonian entries have been revealed today. Anggun will sing Echo (You and I). The song is written by William Rousseau and Jean-Pierre Pelot (and some sources claim Anggun wrote the lyrics herself). The song should be presented by the end of January. Echo is also the title of Anggun's latest album but this song's not from it.FYR Macedonia's song is called Cnro i ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-7174470725354065842012-01-17T08:39:00.000+02:002012-01-17T08:39:36.920+02:00Blogilkar's Best of Finland 2011 - Top-5 - Antti Tuisku - HyökyaaltoAntti Tuisku's Hyökyaalto (Tidal wave) was released in late 2010 and it charted for 7 weeks peaking at #13 but kept laying on radio all year and when the video was released it was a regular on music video channels. Very catchy and uplifting indeed.
I will feature in this series the five songs that have marked my year 2011, the ones that made me go ooh when they started playing on radio, the songsilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-20703437844848002642012-01-17T00:44:00.000+02:002012-01-17T00:44:24.446+02:00Another milestone - 750.000Here we are: 750.000 visitors. It came a bit faster than I had anticipated but it just makes me happier! That's just about like if all the inhabitants of Amsterdam dropped their bicycles and googled into Blogilkar's Life after Helsinki... Which reminds me I should visit Amsterdam soon again. And I promise to make a post like this next time only when I hit the one million mark. Thank you all!ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-41036533004854015892012-01-16T18:33:00.000+02:002012-01-16T18:33:37.913+02:00France with Mylène Farmer wins OGAE Video contest 2011Italy did once again well in a contest organized by Eurovision fans, this time the video contest. After the 2nd place in the real Eurovision song contest and third place in Second Chance here's another third place with fabulous Giorgia. And was there any doubt Mylène Farmer would win this for France?
1. France - Mylène Farmer - Lonely Lisa - 96 2. Andorra - Manel - Aniverari - 85 3. Italy - ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-10228639014119045182012-01-16T17:19:00.001+02:002012-01-16T17:21:38.747+02:00Iceland reveals the next five songsThe five songs for the second Icelandic semifinal next Saturday are now online here. Amongst them Regina Ósk. But I'm afraid there isn't much to comment on these five...Once again two will move on to the final where they will join these two:
Gréta Salóme and Jónsi – Mundu eftir mér
Blár opal – Stattu upp
ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-84177870253039975822012-01-16T17:03:00.000+02:002012-01-16T17:03:04.843+02:00The Rasmus comeback in UMK finalThe Rasmus will make a comeback in the final of UMK aka Uuden musiikin kilpailu aka ex-Euroviisut. They will perform as world premiere their new single I'm a mess off their new album. It will be their 8th studio album and first in 4 years (the solist Lauri did a solo album in between). The band broke it big in Finland in 2001 with F-f-f-falling and two years later all over the world with In the ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-68582512108118566432012-01-16T09:25:00.000+02:002012-01-16T09:25:31.980+02:00Blogilkar's Best of Finland 2011 - Top-5 - Anna Järvinen ft Olavi Uusivirta - Nuori ja kaunisAnna Järvinen, a Finn in Sweden recorded this single with Olavi Uusivirta for a movie soundtrack. The single stayed in Top-40 for 18 weeks peaking at #7. Nuori ja kaunis (Young and beautiful). Fantastic song, interesting lyrics sung by Anna's lovely accent.
I will feature in this series the five songs that have marked my year 2011, the ones that made me go ooh when they started playing on radio, ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-18184103810547649272012-01-15T16:28:00.009+02:002012-01-15T18:41:16.279+02:00Sanremo 2012: Here is the official listThe names and songs are being given out in the live TV show over this afternoon. Besides their Sanremo entry we get to know what they will sing on the special night celebrating Italian music in the world and most of all, with whom? And so far all ok with the list La Stampa leaked yesterday except Matia Bazar, who seem to have replaced Toto Cutugno. And Chiara Civello is alone and not in duet withilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-11028652917499857182012-01-15T16:04:00.000+02:002012-01-15T16:04:02.713+02:00Sanremo 2012: Critics fly over the newcomer selectionThis year RAI decided to use the Facebook for the newcomers selection. Hundreds of hopefuls sent in their videos and people voted and voted. Yesterday the six lucky ones were revealed, chosen by a jury dispite the "online voting" (actually the same is going on in Finland's UMK. Let's see how that goes...). There was fury and cries for scandal seconds after the announcement and now a famous ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-81529727372338118842012-01-15T15:44:00.000+02:002012-01-15T15:44:58.478+02:00Marion's roots are in Lithuania and PolandHave you seen those tv-programmes where famousor common people search for their roots? Well, Marion Rung was featured in one. She only knew about her parents and grandparents from her mother's side but with this programme Who are you? the research went back to early 1800's, to find her father's side of the family in a village called Wysokie in Poland, where a certain Sender Orzolek was born. He ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-36758308237093665512012-01-14T23:53:00.001+02:002012-01-14T23:57:08.542+02:00Iceland - Jònsi made itThe third country having its semifinal tonight was Iceland. Out of five songs two made it to the final. And no, I didn't have favourites as I haven't really listened the songs nor watched this on stream :-)
01. Íris Hólm – Leyndarmál
02. Fatherz’n’sonz – Rýtingur
03. Gréta Salóme and Jónsi – Mundu eftir mér
04. Blár opal – Stattu upp
05. Heiða Ólafsdóttir – Við hjartarót mínailkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-33096695307722373912012-01-14T23:38:00.000+02:002012-01-14T23:38:19.392+02:00Bulgaria - here are the finalistsI'm still stunned I got 5/5 out in Latvia but now I'm speechless as I guessed 11/12 in Bulgaria which I totally didn't expect. Good night for me it seems :-). Nothing much to tell home about though, rather static performances, I'm sure they will gear up for the final but Dess should have it easy in the final on January 28, 2012.
Tsvetelin Atanasov-Elvisa ft. DZ - Love goes around
New 5 - Changeilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-64825533977944126872012-01-14T23:24:00.000+02:002012-01-14T23:24:41.096+02:00Latvia completes the line up for the finalLatvia had its second (and better) semifinal tonight and happily I can announce all the songs I wanted and/or predicted for the final did it. A jackpot! Anyways, we also saw on stage something very weird when Mr Lordi emerged from Dima Bilan's piano during Mad Show Boys performance! And when you thought you had seen it all....
1. Miks Dukurs & NBC – Sweet For Me
2. Valters Gleške & Lība Ēce – ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-42741284473473948052012-01-14T18:29:00.001+02:002012-01-14T18:36:18.660+02:00Sanremo 2012: Here are the newcomer finalists!SanremoSocial has brought us the six finalists in Sanremo's newcomers selection, and one of these coulöd be the Italian artist for Eurovision 2012 in Baku as well. They will be officially presented on live TV tomorrow afternoon on Raiuno.
Giulia Anania (27) from Rome - La mail che non ti ho scrittoDana Angi (18) from Latina - Incognita poesiaAlessandro Casilla (15) from Milan - È veroCeleste Gaiailkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-53944654196579377852012-01-14T16:41:00.000+02:002012-01-14T16:41:54.194+02:00Moldovan entries onlineMoldovan TV has put online the first songs sent to the national selection. There are still a couple of days to the dealine of submitting a song and there are 23 songs when writing this. Funnily, the jury will select 20 for the national final plus online voters another 23 so the chances of qualifying are very good... :-) Amongst the home composed and played dance track demos and jazzy pop one can ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-45535704700562865002012-01-14T14:39:00.002+02:002012-01-14T14:45:26.422+02:00Sanremo 2012: La Stampa leaks the artists?Today's La Stampa newspaper seems to be certain about the artists in Sanremo 2012. No Marco Mengoni or Alice but there's a return of Toto Cutugno and surprise name Lucio Dalla. Raphael Gualazzi seems to be doing a duet with Chiara Civello. Loredana Bertè is also back, maybe in duet with Gigi D'Alessio. Tomorrow we know for sure but here they are:Franceso Renga, Pierdavide Carone, Lucio Dalla, ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-37061204757894386822012-01-14T12:15:00.000+02:002012-01-14T12:15:55.149+02:00Danes get serious with international judgesThe Danish are determined to do well and win Eurovision after a string of top placings. So there are changes in the selection procedure next Saturday January 21, 2012. A jury will be added and it will count 50% of the final result. And part of the jury is made of international Eurovision stars including the winners Ell/Nikki from Azerbaijan and Alexander Rybak from Norway. Azeri Aysel, German ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-82917820136529937712012-01-14T10:32:00.002+02:002012-01-14T12:32:02.286+02:00Sanremo 2012 - what's going on? Tomorrow the names!While the selection of the newcomers in going on in SanremoSocial and we have a shortlist of 60 names (with daily disqualifications) tomorrow we should know the list of the six newcomers that will be selected and the Big as well. And here it seems nothing in certain yet. The news from Italy tell that Marco Mengoni, one of the main favourites to go to Baku 2012 for Italy pulled out just 24 hours ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-14910595992564920282012-01-14T00:51:00.000+02:002012-01-14T00:51:36.805+02:00Tonight: Semifinal in Bulgaria -.Dess Vs. EverybodyBulgaria kicks of its selection tonight with the semifinal. Out of 22 songs only 12 will sail to the final. The big favourite is Desislava aka Dess. And listening the recap here she might just have it in pack. Sofi Marinova permetting.
New 5 – Chance for better lifeVyara Pantaleyeva – VyaraSonya Ivanova – Finalna lyubovMonika Kirovska – You are my angelMargarita Hranova – ProshkaSunnie – Shut ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-28458428243904389652012-01-13T22:09:00.001+02:002012-01-13T22:09:59.963+02:00Portugal has picked the singers. Rui returnsRTP has chosen the 12 finalist for the Festival da Canção 2012. The singers were chosen amongst the 400 hopefuls in castings held in Lisbon and in Porto. Amongst them also Rui Andrade who came 3rd last year with Em nome do amor. The Portuguese final will be held on March 10, 2012 and there will be 50-50 televote-jury. The songs and their authors will be published later.
Gerson Melo Santos
ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-45060725238812626002012-01-13T19:53:00.000+02:002012-01-13T19:53:03.218+02:00The search for Baku in Germany has startedGermany sticks to the system created by Stefan Raab again to find their entrant for the Eurovision 2012 with minor adjustments. Last night the first show started and five out of 10 artists were dropped while the others move on to the next step. You can watch the performances here (if you don't mind all the advertising before videos). A couple of years ago this brought us Lena with known results -ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-38903726796945946432012-01-13T19:30:00.001+02:002012-01-13T23:38:49.504+02:00Lena Philipsson's world is spinningIt is here! Lena Philipsson will finally release her new album Världen snurrar (World is spinning) on February 8, 2012. The album includes her two singles of 2010, Idiot and Nästa säsong as well as two songs from the TV reality Så mycket bättre, fabulous Live tomorrow and Botten is nådd. And six other new songs. Collaborators include Veronica Maggio, Markus Krunegård (who's cover Hela livet var ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-2800512098229713532012-01-13T19:03:00.000+02:002012-01-13T19:03:31.956+02:00#1 in Finland this week: Adele - Someone like youFinland has gone Adele crazy as Someone like you climbs to #1 again in its 14th week in top-40.And that's not all! Rolling in deep climbs to #2 in its 40th week! And even that's not enough: her album 21 stys at #1 in its 50th week. Chisu is runner up to her in both albums and singles. ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-20320331157296678362012-01-10T22:55:00.001+02:002012-01-10T22:58:54.981+02:00Here are the Hungarian semifinalistsAlso Hungarian MTV has been informative today. Over 200 songs were received and a jury chose the 20 semifinalists listed below. There will be two semifinals on January 28 and February 4. Out of ten songs in each three songs will qualify by jury vote and one more by televote making it a eight song final where the televoters have the say about the four superfinalists. The four then will be voted byilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-16531572135902718252012-01-10T21:08:00.000+02:002012-01-10T21:08:43.758+02:00ESC 2012: Listen to the Austrian finalistsAlso ÖRF has put the finalists on line. Well, eight out of them as two of them are still not finished and will be added a bit later. The Austrian final will take place next month, February 24, 2012. You can listen to the entries here. I guess it's between Conchita and Trackshittaz and Valerie is quite nice, too (and my vote goes to Conchita no doubt!)
01: !Deladap – Crazy Swing
02: Blockstars – (ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-16353260318550037122012-01-10T20:56:00.001+02:002012-01-10T20:56:54.183+02:00ESC 2012: Listen to the Icelandic entries - semifinal 1RÚV has put the audiofiles of the songs in the first semifinal online and you can listen to them here. Amongst the hopefuls is also Jónsi, who represanted the island already back in 2004 with Heaven. Iceland is a bit like Albania: the national final songs are in native language but the winner usually gets a new dress in English with new arrangements and all of sudden they have a success in their ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-67137967468342812352012-01-10T20:27:00.001+02:002012-01-10T20:30:51.955+02:00Nina Badrić for CroatiaCroatian TV went for internal selection in the end and chose Nina Badrić. She has been around for almost 20 years and has released ten albums between 1995 and 2011. She has also treid to get to Eurovision four times already without a win (1993, 1994, 1995 and 2003). She is popular also in the other ex-Yogoslavian countries so let those 12s run in.... Listen her here: Moje oci pune ljubavi, Dat ceilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-45621240692503714392012-01-09T20:42:00.001+02:002012-01-09T20:50:49.739+02:00Can Bonomo for TurkeyA surprise again from Turkey. Just like last year when names were flying around all of sudden Yüksek Sadakat was announced. And now we have Can Bonomo that I have also never ever heard. He is a jew and will turn 25 the night of the second semifinal in Baku. Quite an interesting choice for Turkey I must say. His songs include Meczup, Bana bir saz verin, Şaşkın and Süper. Fans seem to be rather ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-10200009926148533312012-01-09T18:32:00.000+02:002012-01-09T18:32:00.295+02:00Tarkan goes to moviesTarkan is providing the soundtrack to a new Turkish hit movie Entelköy Efeköy’e Karşı. It's a satiric film about citypeople moving back to countryside and what happens. A lot of humour at least. His song Benim Sadık Yarim Kara Topraktır has now also a rather simple yet stunning video.ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-71555306671755764752012-01-08T18:26:00.000+02:002012-01-08T18:26:21.937+02:00The Voice of Sweden with Carola and Ola SaloThe Voice started also in Sweden where it seems to be named The Voice Sverige. Amongst the coaches two Eurovision veterans, Carola and The Ark's Ola Salo along with Magnus Uggla and rapper Petter. For the occasion the four have created also a song, Genom eld (Through fire). Carola looks and sounds better than ever, doesn't she?ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-25350992710121126152012-01-08T16:05:00.000+02:002012-01-08T16:05:02.144+02:00Francesca wins X Factor Italia 5The 5th season of X Factor has finished and we have a winner, 16-year-old Francesca Michielin. The group Moderni came second and Antonella Lo Coco third. And it seems to be a succes as the Italian download chart is totally taken over by X Factor artists. Francesca is number one with Distratto, Non ci penso mai by Moderni is at #2, Cuore scoppiato by Antonella is third followed by Nicole Tuzii's ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-72165843473521659292012-01-08T14:26:00.000+02:002012-01-08T14:26:20.857+02:00Belarus: Is it Litesound's turn?Litesound may be the most international band in Belarus (as far as I know) and for a change they can even sing without sounding... err... Russian. 2011 marks their 5th attempt to win the Belarusian national final. In 2006 they tried with My faith (6th), 2007 with Summertrip (actually came 2nd in televoting but jury didn't include them in the superfinal), 2008 Do you believe (in top-4) and in 2009ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-59624294575396237492012-01-08T11:47:00.000+02:002012-01-08T11:47:05.065+02:00UMK: What's going on?In less than three weeks Uuden musiikin kilpailu aka UMK or the new Finnish national selection preplacing good old Euroviisut will start on TV. Today the songs start to play on radio and on Friday January 27 in the first TV-programme we will find out the 12 songs that have been selected for the next stage out of 40 that are online here. Those were selected from 540 songs sent in this year. There ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-19768184715856787362012-01-08T10:30:00.000+02:002012-01-08T10:30:19.252+02:00Azerbaijan: Elton and Adil qualify in Milli Seçim Turu 2012The host country's search for the singer for home stage continues and Milli Secim Turu 2012 has given us two new qualifiers the past two weeks. last week Elton Ibrahimov qualified and this week Adil Bakhishli. Elton did Shake it up, shekerim, Crazy little thing and Khaleena nshoofak. Adil did amongst others Lane moje, Judas and Sorry seems to be the hardest word.The selection is turning rather ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-20013614508087661982012-01-08T00:07:00.000+02:002012-01-08T00:07:13.956+02:00Andreas Carlsson writes for Lena PhilipssonAndreas Carlsson, who has co-written and produced hits like Born to make you happy, I want it that way, That's the way it is, Life goes on, Waking up in Vegas and The best thing about me is you, besides being a Swedish idol judge, was so impressed by Lena Philipsson's work in Så mycket bättre that he has written a song for her and more future collaboration is to expected. Will this further delay ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-2807076678420545982012-01-07T14:43:00.000+02:002012-01-07T14:43:01.905+02:00#1 in Finland this week: Lord Est - Vuosi vaihtuuVuosi vaihtuu (Year changes) hit the number one spot as expected and Lord Est gets another hit. Adele takes the lead in the album charts.... and has three singles in the top-20!ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-14821810251773459042012-01-07T12:08:00.001+02:002012-01-07T23:18:59.895+02:00Eirodziesma 2012: Latvia's semifinal 1 tonight.Tonight the first semifinal in Latvia will take place. Some familiar names are in the line up like Andris who was part of Bonaparti.lv and Ruta was last year on Eurovision stage as a backing singer. I would lie if I said my favourites are in this semi but this said the demos we hear on LTV's website may have been reproduced to something good. Or then not. Frankly, I wouldn't send any of these to ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-68822635089454946132012-01-06T22:50:00.000+02:002012-01-06T22:50:38.343+02:00From the heart of Edsilia RombleyOne of the finest existing voices around, Edsilia Rombley released her first album since her less fortunate Eurovision trip to Helsinki 2007 last year titled Uit mijn hart. The first single was Geef je over followed by Uit het oog niet uit mijn hart, a duet with another fine voiced Eurovision lady, Ruth Jacott. And now it's time for the third single Ik laat je niet alleen. Other songs from the ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-19655119299515078522012-01-06T20:04:00.001+02:002012-01-07T12:08:40.391+02:00Lithuania reveals the 47 - and yes, there's a Finn!Lithuanian TV has shortlisted the sent in songs and 47 remain in the race. Amongst them are several familiar names like Donny Montell but most of all Movetron from Finland. But as the rules in Lithuania require a local lead singer they found Vaida Narkeviciute who sounds pretty much like Päivi. Movetron will be the backing band for her and is investing their time and money for the project and ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-12486692366538406582012-01-06T19:27:00.001+02:002012-01-06T19:30:32.297+02:00Cyprus goes Finnish, too - Ivi's songs releasedIvi Adamou was internally selected to represant Cyprus in Baku 2012 already ages ago and today we got to hear the three songs she has. And adding to the little bit of Finnish in the Danish selection (and Lithuanian, too, but more about that later) we have a Finn amongst her songwriters, Mikko Tamminen for Call the police. He has already previously worked with Ivi. But it seems La la love is the ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-84704168919939132892012-01-05T20:44:00.000+02:002012-01-05T20:44:18.744+02:00Kdam cancelled, Israel goes internalIBA's plans for a national final with several singers each with two songs has been cancelled and there will be an internal selection instead. How about Idan Raichel who is currently working on his new album or Ivri Lider? Here are some goodies from Raichel: Mima'amakin, Rov ha'shaot, Hakol over and If you go. Ivri Lider covered Rita's fantastic Bo for the movie Yossi and Jagger (a great touching ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-63007574510240662592012-01-05T20:03:00.000+02:002012-01-05T20:03:50.090+02:00Emilia aka Jo Angel aka Jemmica LaamanenEmilia will be singing with Philip Halloun in the Danish Eurovision national final Baby love me but who is she? The quick research turned into many discoveries. First of all her real name is Jonnaemilia Kärkkäinen and in Finland she is known to play Jemmica Laamanen, a caracter in a popular cartoon satire of Finnish politics Pasila, check her "hit" here. Then she used to be the voice of Kaksio ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-59807281336217487262012-01-05T18:47:00.001+02:002012-01-10T21:11:24.448+02:00Danish go Finnish and Swedish when MGP finalists are revealedAlso DR announced its finalists in Melodi Grand Prix 2012 and in the line up we have two Nordic duets when Swedish Patrik Isaksson is there as well as Finnish Emilia. The audio files for the songs will be revealed on january 18 and then three days later the final will take place.
01. Jesper Nohrstedt – Take Our Hearts (Morten Hampenberg, Engelina & Mads B. B. Krog)02. Valentine – Nowhere (Søren ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-42830865745744983332012-01-05T18:31:00.003+02:002012-01-05T20:50:07.071+02:00Dutch finalists revealedTROS has announced the songs, singers and writer who made it through to the final six out of over 450 songs sent in. And how the final will work out: there will be duels and the remaining three will go to the superfinal. And guess what? There will also be an international jury made of two members of each and every participating country! In the studio! Like the good old days! Great!
1. Raffaela – ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-38395757801747577792012-01-05T12:40:00.000+02:002012-01-05T12:40:00.874+02:00The biggest Finnish hits of 2011The Ice Hockey World Champion songs dominated the charts in 2011 and they all made it to the list but so did Paradise Oskar's Eurovision song. Fun rappers Petri Nygård, Lord Est and Jare & VilleGalle made a mark as well as did Chisu, Erin and Arttu Wiskari and even Jenni Vartiainen, whose number one of 2010 made it still to #12 in 2011 (similar fate of being on top in two years might wait Chisu'silkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-50448337995965093802012-01-04T14:54:00.000+02:002012-01-04T14:54:59.364+02:00András Kállay-Saunders bids in HungarySinging model András Kállay-Saunders of Megasztár 5 fame has sent in a song I love you to the Hungarian national selection. Now we only have to wait and see if he will be included in the line up. You can follow uo his path in Megasztár here and here is Wicked game which he belts out quite nicely indeed. He has already released also single/video Csak veled which is in the Hungarian top-10 right ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-70576995695356091122012-01-04T11:01:00.000+02:002012-01-04T11:01:31.612+02:00Oh, Portugal! Get it right this time...It's the time of the year this blogger starts waiting and wishing for Portugal. Portugal has been participating since 1964 and still without a win, best placing being 6th and a couple of 7th places to ad. Sounds very much like Finland before Lordi came along, and like Finland in mid-80's also Portugal had a string of rather good placements in early 90's giving a hint that things might change but ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-79076176952881874912012-01-02T20:53:00.001+02:002012-01-03T07:27:33.497+02:00Galera! May it begin with me this time, my heart will go on.....Here are again some more or less new songs and videos from the Eurovision artists. First of two from France: Amaury Vassili has covered Celine Dion's worldhit My heart will go on while Jessy Matador samples Ler's all chant in Galera. Slovenian megababe Maja Keuc returns with Ta čas from her debut album Indigo. Last but not least Icelandic Paul Oskar does Unicef good with Megi það byrja með mér.
ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-28112569492368757862012-01-01T18:35:00.000+02:002012-01-01T18:35:04.483+02:00TRT reacts to Turkish rumours with namesAs usual the rumours in Turkey have been running wild for weeks or months already - except the annual Tarkan for Turkey! Where is it this year? - and while names have been announced and denied by artists or TRT or just proved false TRT has now revealed its top-5 names they would like to have representing the country in Baku 2012: Atiye Deniz, Hande Yaner, Sebnem Ferah, Murat Boz and Erhan ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-13522558644852618332012-01-01T00:03:00.000+02:002012-01-01T00:03:31.190+02:00HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!Good bye 2011, welcome 2012! Blogilkar's Life after Helsinki 2007 has now been running full time four years and once again a new record of visits has been recorded, over 240.000. Over 1.000 posts, nearly 2.300 Facebook friends. Visitors have come from 202 countries or territories listed in Flagcounter. Germany has taken the number one spot in number of visitors followed by Finland, United States,ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-71565743976923635862011-12-31T17:36:00.010+02:002012-01-01T00:46:57.237+02:00ESC top-250 2011Listen in escradio the countdown to the number one. The poll is voted in collaboration with 12.points.tv, BlogIlkar, escradio, Belgovision.com, OGAE.nl, Infe Network, Eurovisionfanclub.gr, and Songfestivalweblog. This post will be updated until the countdown is done and the new year has come! Congratulations Zeljko and good luck in Baku 2012!
1. Serbia & Montenegro 2004: Željko Joksimović & Ad ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-45432192900058358192011-12-31T13:29:00.000+02:002011-12-31T13:29:00.327+02:00Ask how many angels of luck have a choice every now and thenFour Turkish Eurovision stars in today's special videopost. Sertab Erener is back with new material and Bir Çaresi Bulunur Elbet is the lead single. Kenan Doğulu's summer hit was Şans Meleğim while Ajda Pekkan's another single of her latest success album is Arada Sırada and there are various remixes as well, like this. Hadise released Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer earlier this year. ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-76626845974058182822011-12-30T21:32:00.001+02:002011-12-30T21:54:27.278+02:00Voice of Finland started tonight - with a familiar voice!The voice of Finland started tonight and the four couches Lauri Tähkä, Paula Koivuniemi, Elastinen and Michael Monroe (of Hanoi Rocks fame) started picking up their artists. Tähkä and Elastinen got already two, Michael 3 and Paula still no one as the ones she wanted chose another coach instead. Some very good voices indeed and amongst them all of sudden Karoliina Kallio! Yes, the voice of Waldo'silkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-54532181911380856462011-12-30T19:45:00.000+02:002011-12-30T19:45:54.050+02:00Lena Philipsson lives tomorrowLena Philipsson has been one of the artists in this season's Så mycket bättre where artists cover each other's songs in a reality show. And Lena has delivered a real gem with Laleh's Live tomorrow. Other songs she did were Tomas Ledin's Sensuella Isabella and Eva Dahlgren's Jag klär mig naken, just to name a few. How about Lena's songs? Tomas Ledin did Dansa i neon, Laleh did På gatan där jag borilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-73962474251482359432011-12-30T18:42:00.000+02:002011-12-30T18:42:54.250+02:00Misija Evrovizija - the Slovenian missionThe lenghty Slovenian mission to find their entrant for Baku 2012 has come to a point that only 3 acts remain in the race. There will be one more elimination (January 8, 2012) before the two finalists will battle it out in February 12, 2012.It all started back in October 2, 2011 whith the first elimination round when Janja Kobale, Sylvo, Tamara Goricanec and Biba & Bibitas were out. A week laterilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-23454244488763394142011-12-30T14:37:00.000+02:002011-12-30T14:37:51.266+02:00First newcomers for Sanremo 2012 chosenTwo acts have made their way to the Sanremo 2012 newcomers selection already through AreaSanremo. This year it's two bands, Bidiel and Io ho sempre voglia. They will be joined by six other acts that will be selected thourgh Facebook's SanremoSocial page and auditions. You can listen the hopefuls here and the voting starts next weeks. The voting requires a registration and you can vote once a day ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-54531502411669719042011-12-30T14:20:00.001+02:002011-12-30T14:20:47.337+02:00Marco Mengoni back in Sanremo's list. And Eurovision?The guessing and wishing and rumours for Sanremo 2012 artists continues but we still have to wait some ten days to know for sure who's in, who's out. Eugenio Finardi has confirmed himself he's there and several others have publicly said they have sent in a song for the selection committee. One of them seems to be Paola & Chiara. But the big last minute news in Marco Mengoni is back in the list. ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228342.post-16881455166587760132011-12-30T08:07:00.000+02:002011-12-30T08:07:02.640+02:00New Year with Franco Battiato in RiminiIf you are in Rimini in Italy you are in for a real treat: Franco Battiato will give a free concert in Piazzale Fellini! He's been touring Italy this fall with his Patriots tour and the set is to include some real classics like Up patriots to arms, La cura, Centro di gravità permanente, L'era del cinghiale bianco, E ti vengo a cercare, La stagione dell'amore, Cuccurucuccu, No time no space, ilkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543491468173204676noreply@blogger.com0