Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  This week's dose sees a return of Erin and Nelli Matula with some lesser known acts with hints of 80's Italodisco and a Sanremo pop ballad. All four would have been also a great addition to the UMK2022 Kuumaa - Oo vielä sekunnin mun Erin - Anna mun rakastaa Nelli Matula - Limbo Juhani Tikkanen - Kaatuen

BESS is a pop artist from Helsinki who mixes electronic sounds to house and pop but her musical journey has been trough classical music, Michael Jackson, jazz, reggae and heavy periods just to name a few. She's got a recognizable voice, a double platinum selling single ( Tempo ), over 20 million streams for her singles and debut album that sold gold before its release and yet she's pretty much unknown to a wider audience. Eurovision has been one of her "Well, then some day....." dreams but now the someday is here. And she's going to be a household name after it. Her first releases are dated 2017 and she usually works with Nopsajalka and as many other singers these days has done also several featurings ( Pimeyteen with Mikael Gabriel, 100% with Keko Salata and Seittemän with Raappana). For futher listening listen to Peace ,   Viisi kesää (feat. Nopsajalka) and   Melodia ,  She has written her entry Ram pam pam with Jonas Olsson and Tomi Saario.

Alternative rock band Cyan Kicks was founded in Helsinki 2016. They mix in their music hard rock with melodic pop and electronic sounds. The members are Susanna Alexandra (vocals), Niila Perkkiö (guitars), Leevi Erkkilä (bass) and Pietari Reijonen (drums). They have written their entry Hurricane with Swedish-Danish Eliza Ryd, singer in Amarathe and it's been produced and mixed with American Chris Walla and Zakk Cervini. Their debut single Feathers was released in 2017 but it was the second single Gasoline that brought them to radio waves and notoriety. Critics have labeled them as a very possible export product. Their debut album I don't love you (2019) was nominated for Emma award as the best rock album of the year. Last year they released their second album Not your kind and their latest (and 10th) single is Invincible . Late last year they also did a cover of Blind Channel's I died enough for you . Check out also The Flood , Tidal wave , Wish you well   and Beat of m

Here they are, and for once the names were not leaked ahead of time (let's see how it goes for the songs though....) and as the fandom had been speculating and investigating the clues the past week none of the names was a surprise, on the contrary. All were out and loud and some even a certain thing. But let's have a look in order of my excitement from most to none. I will do a better bio and review one by one as the songs are being released at midnight Finnish time.  Out of names that were also heavily circulating Tomi Saario is one of the writers for Bess, Haloo Helsinki for Tommi Läntinen. Ad Elize Ryd of Amarathe as a co-writer for Cyan Kicks, Desmond Child for The Rasmus, Vilma Alina for Younghearted so the name dropping wasn't in vain. The Rasmus - Jezebel I was a bit of a The Rasmus fan, and especially Lauri's solo fan and if this combo with Desmond Child took part in say 2010 I would have been pissing my pants in excitement. Now all I do is hope for a real har

  This week #Finpop goes kinda Latino! With a hint of Estonia. Sofia Zida - Te queiro a ti nublu / Mikael Gabriel - Vihje Playa / Jesper - Mitä vaan JVG - Vamos

Montenegro makes a very welcome back to Eurovision after sitting at home for two editions and has internally chosen Vladana among 30 submissions. Her song will be... You guessed it... revealed later. It's titled Breathe .  Will she become the first lady to take Montenegro in to the final after Sergej and Knez? Vladana Vučinić (35) is Macedonian born singer-songwriter/journalist. She started her musical career at 17 and studied music theory and opera singing but made her television debut in a karaoke show. After that she released several songs and made videos and participated in various festivals. including Montevizija, the national selection for Eurovision in 2005 and 2006, before Serbia & Montenegro went separated ways. Now, after years concentrating on her online fashion magazine she's ready to take on her music career again! While waiting for her Eurovision 2022 entry in Turin enjoy some of her biggest hits below:

This week's dose of more or less new #FinPop  Ollie - Vesper Pimu - Seremonia Olli Halonen - Pohjola Pins.ku - Planetaario

  A collections of national finals, internal selections, chosen artists and songs as they happen.  To be updated as things happen. Click titles for more info. Enjoy! MONTENEGRO ALBANIA CZECH REPUBLIC GREECE THE NETHERLANDS BULGARIA GEORGIA BELGIUM

 

It's been a sad year in the Eurovision family. We lost a great number of Eurovision artists from young Örs to eldest of them all Emil, and Finland particularly was hit hard with three artists and also a legendary songwriter. Another great loss was Franco Battiato, an Italian legend to whom Eurovision is just a minor chapter in his curriculum.  Carlos Do Carmo (21.12.1939-1.1.2021)  Portugal 1976 Uma flor de verde pinho Liam Reilly (29.1.1955-1.1.2021) Ireland 1990 Somewhere in Europe Ireland 1991 Could it be I'm in love (composer) Pave Maijanen (3.9.1050-16.1.2021) Finland 1992 Yamma yamma Örs Siklósi (1992-5.2.2021) Hungary 2018 with AWS - Viszlát nyár Sanja Ilic (27.3.1951-7.3.2021) Serbia 2018 with Balkanika - Nova deca Patrick Juvet (21.8.1950-1.4.2021) Switzerland 1973 Je vais me marier, Marie Shay Healy (29.4.1943-9.4.2021) Ireland 1980 What's another year (composer) Matti " Fredi " Siitonen (23.7.1942-23.4.2021) Finland 1967 Varjoon - suojaan Finland

Albania's Festivali i Këngës 60 came to an and last night and crowned Ronela Hajati as its winner with an ethnic banger, as fandom might call it. I call it blast from the past thinking these songs have had their Best before date already many years ago, but what do I know? Ronela and another pre-contest favorite Alban made the top-2 while newcomer Eldis shared the third place with Rezarta. Ronela will revamp, make it partly English and cut down the length and the number of dancers for Turin 2022. Maybe it makes it better as in my honest opinion at the moment it is a mess; bits and parts that occasionally sound kinda nice but in whole it's not going anywhere nor memorable. In short a song that you only hear in the Eurovision created for staging purposes. I would have preferred Eldis or Alban. Or even Gjergi. Ronela (32) is already a seasoned artist as singer and dancer with a lot of experience in various festivals and contests, a string of hit singles and collaborations. She will

Eurovision host Mikko Leppilampi and Eurovision veterans  Krista Siegfrids and Lasse Piirainen of Norma John fame  wish you merry and white Christmas! And so do I!

Czech Republic's selection has come to an end as well after a mix of Czech fans (25%), international fans (25%) and international jury (50%) We are Domi emerged as a clear winner with their Lights off. The trio is an international mix of Norwegian and Czech and brings their dancefloor experiences of Oslo, London and Prague now to Turin 2022  This said it's looking interesting for Norway as also the Greek entrant can be labeled as Norwegian - Norway will be the Albania of 2018 with multiple artists representing various countries!

Greese has internally chosen Amanda Tenfjord for Eurovision song contest 2022 in Turin. Her name was one of the five names in their shortlist made public earlier so she has beaten good job nicky, Joanna Drigo, Lou is and Eurovision veteran Ilias Kozas. Amanda Georgiadis (24) was born in Greece but moved to Norway, Tennfjord as a kid. She dropped her medical studies when her music career took off a couple of years ago, but she's been up and coming since 2014 with various experiences. Two EPs and 13 singles so far. Her Eurovision entry will be released later. Meanwhile enjoy her hit Then I fell in love below:

Sanremo 2022 kicks off tonight when finally the 12 become 2 and those two join the Sanremo 2022 Big cast. Meanwhile there was a rumor Amadeus might be adding another two Big names in the cast as well to make it 26 in total. Veteran names like Alice (!!!), Ron, Nada, Marcella Bella, Ricchi e Poveri, Riccardo Fogli, Luca Barbarossa and Anna Tatangelo, or newcomers like Ariete and Mara Sattei, or will he add the newcomers winners from past two years Leo Gassman and Gaudiano after all? Or more superpower to the already stellar cast with Francesco Gabbani, Elodie or Diodato? Or Giovanni Caccamo with a song written by late Franco Battiato? Matteo Andrea's son Bocelli? Simona Molinari? Renzo Rubino?  All that proved wrong (so far....) yesterday when he announced that not only Top-2 but Top-3 of the artists tonight will have a ticket to Ariston in February!  He also let us know that 320 submissions didn't make it, among them that of Jalisse who he said he's got nothing personal aga

Australia has announced now all the ten finalists of Australia decides Eurovision 2022 - with a twist. First of yes, there's a returning Eurovision veteran. Yes, here's a returning artist. And yes, there's rock. And yes, there's someone from talent shows. So they seem to check all the boxes that seem to be this year's trend in national finals. The Eurovision veteran is Isaiah Firebrace from 2017. Jaguar Jonze is the returnee from 2020. Voyager brings in the rock. And Sheldon Riley made himself known in America's Got Talent. Just to name some. The Australia decides final will be on February 26, 2022. Oh the twist? There's a competition on Tiktok to get a wildcard to the line up...... Here they are - click on their names for a previous track from their catalogue!: Andrew Lambrou Charley G-Nation Isaiah Firebrace feat. TBA Jaguar Jonze Jude York - I won't need to dream Paulini Seann Miley Moore - My body Sheldon Riley Voyager

Pabandom iš naujo! is back for 2022 and January sees the start of six shows where 36 become one and travels to Turin 2022 Eurovision. Among the hopefuls we have several familiar names, including four ladies who have already done the honors: Erika Jennings (with SKAMP 2001), Ieva Zasimauskaité (2018), Monika Linkyté (2015 with Vaidas Baumila) and Vilija Matačiūnaitė (2014). All of them have also participated several times in the national selection as well so they are true veterans. But that's not all. There are also other familiar names trying to win it for the first time like last year's runner up Gebrasy, Aldegunda, Cosmic Bride, Titas ir Benas, last year's third Voldemars Petersons and more. Who ever wins has big boots to fill after two years of The Roop and their successful 2020 winner On fire and they won again the national final in 2021 with Discotheque after having not been re-elected internally having huge support by the nation's televoters and fandom.Full l

After last year's cancellation and many countries just sending the previously chosen artist to Rotterdam 2021 the edition 2022 sees an increase of national selections which is very nice. It also seems already that many previous entrants are after another go, so far Estonia taking the prize with six previous winners trying again compared to one in Spain (Azúcar Moreno), three in Sweden (Anna Bergendahl, John Lundvik, Robin Bengtsson) and four in Lithuania (Erika Jennings, Ieva Zasimauskaité, Monika Linkyté, Vilija Mataciunauté). So far. They are Evelin Samuel (1999), Anna Sahlene (2002), Elina Nechayeva (2018), Lauri Pihlap (2001), Stig Rästa (2015) and Ott Lepland (2012). Estonia's Eesti laul 2022 is already in full swing and after the last quarter final all but Lauri Pihlap (Eurovision 2001 winner as a member of 2XL) made the cut for semi-finals coming up next in February. So many songs in Estonian in the mix! Jaagup Tuisk - Kui vaid Stig Rästa - Interstellar Maian - Meeletu B

  If Spain has been doing poorly for way too long, Sweden has been an Eurovision power house. Eight times in top-7 since their only non qualification back in 2010. But...  Melodifestivalen has been going down in my book for several years and has been very predictable and therefor rather boring, safe and manufactured for way too long. Somehow they have managed however to produce winners that have made well in the contest, usually helped heavily by the juries. This next edition on paper isn't anything different but same old, same old. In both artists and songwriters. Let's have a look. First of all there are three previous winners taking part: Anna Bergendahl (2010), Robin Bengtsson (2017) and John Lundvik (2019), each of them having other non winning participation in recent years. Then we have Alvaro Estrella, Klara Hammarström, LIAMOO, Lillasyster, Linda Bengtzing, Malou Prytz, Lisa Ajax, Omar Rydberg and Shirley Clamp. Among songwriters the Debs, G:son, Jansson, Boström, Aaga

Spain and Eurovision..... Oh, well. ... 24th. 22nd. 23rd. 26th. 22nd. 21st...... 10th! 25th. 10th! 24th..... It doesn't sound like a success story , does it? It may have taken years but finally RTVE has woken up and decided to do something about it for real and dust off good old Benidorm festival, once modeled after Italy's Sanremo festival - just like the Eurovision itself, as we know - and send its winner to Turin 2022 Eurovision. And it seems the artists have been waiting for this as submissions rolled in and the finalist list is packed with more or less famous and established artists, including Eurovision 1990 legends Azúcar Moreno. Time will tell if Spain will finally aim for the victory and good placements again. I certainly hope so! The songs will be published as an early Xmas gift on December 23.  Azúcar Moreno - Postureo Blanca Paloma - Secreto del agua Chanel - Slo mo Gonzalo Hermida - Quién lo diria Javiera Mena - Culpa Luna Ki - Quiero morir Marta Sango - Sigues en

The Netherlands became the fourth country to reveal their artist for the 2022 Eurovision song contest in Turin. Internally selected S10 will be singing in Dutch (Hurray!) but her song will be revealed later. S10 (pronounced "es tien") aka Stien van Hollander (21) got her first record deal at the age of 17, and since released two albums and several EPs. Millions of streams and an award winning album later the singer-rapper is  off to Turin for the Netherlands. Her lyrics often deal with mental issues and she spent six months in psychiatric clinic at the age of 14 and had suicidal thoughts. These days her mental health in uder control but she says she's still not quite there yet to call it a thing from the past. Listen her biggest hit so far, Adem je in below:

Due to more or less leaked and too heavy gossiping my media Amadeus decided to reveal the names tonight during evening news instead of next week's Sanremo Giovani final. A decision that is all wrong in every sense; firstly he just read the names in hurry from a paper and bye, and secondly the Giovani final will lose half of its viewers who would have watched it at least partially just to hear the Big names. Oh well....  What can I say? Great to see Elisa back, she could easily have been the ESC 2001 winner if only.... Mahmood is also a great surprise. A bit surprised for Zanicchi, Morandi and Ranieri, but then again Sanremo doesn't forhet its old glories. Ana Mena just made a fantastic cover of this year's Sanremo favorite and is enjoying a lot of success dueting with Italian stars so why not? Giovanni Truppi, Dargen D'Amico and Highsnub I have no idea who they are, Hu I remember from Sanremo Giovani and she was rather interesting. Anyways, here goes: Elisa (Sanremo 20