Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

The Grand Old Lady (1979, 1993) is back with a new album "Elämän langat", her 28th original album. It's pure schlager spiced up with three covers that may sound weird but she makes them her own: Phil Collins's "Another day in paradise", Fleetwood Mac's "Little lies" and Wet Wet Wet's "Love is all around me". The first single and minor radio hit is "Onnenonkija". Katri Helena broke the one million albums sold in 1994.

Ilta-Sanomat tabloid is doing its research for "the perfect male" taking the best bits of various males and putting them together, and the readers have voted for the most beautiful eyes so far... Curiously the top-3 all are widely tipped as the male host of next year's Eurovision. MTV vj Axl Smith beats actor/singer Mikko Leppilampi and actor Peter Franzén. Let's see later on if they have more "perfect" body parts.... and if we will see those parts on Hartwall Areena stage in May! (from left: Peter, Mikko, Alex)

A special edition of "Arockalypse" CD will be released shortly including a bonus DVD and new version of their breakthrough hit "Would you love a monsterman?" that will also be their next single in Europe with a new Halloween themed video. Their current single, a re-recorded version of "Who's your daddy?" entered the charts not only in Finland, but also in Germany (no 33) and Austria (no 21). The bonus DVD will include, besides music videos, the Guinness Book of Records worthy welcoming concert in Helsinki Market Square in May as well as the daily updates from Athens shown on Finnish TV!

IRELAND: Dervish - ?? SWITZERLAND: DJ Bobo - ?? GEORGIA: Sopho Khalivashi - ?? NETHERLANDS: Edsilia Rombley - ?? MOLDOVA: Natalia Bardu: Fight TURKEY: Kenan Dogulu - ?? 21.12. Albania semifinal 1 22.12. Albania semifinal 2 23.12. ALBANIA FINAL Aida & Frederik Ndoci: Balada e gurit 13.01. start of Spanish shows 20.01. Norway semifinal 1 20.01. Finland semifinal 1 20.01. Iceland semifinal 1 27.01. Norway semifinal 2 27.01. Finland semifinal 2 27.01. Latvia semifinal 1 27.01. Iceland semifinal 2 27.01. Romania semifinal 1 01.02. Slovenia semifinal 1 02.02. Slovenia semifinal 2 03.02. Norway second chance 03.02. Finland semifinal 3 03.02. Sweden semifinal 1 03.02. Latvia semifinal 2 03.02. Iceland semifinal 3 03.02. Romania semifinal 2 03.02. SLOVENIA FINAL 03.02. POLAND FINAL 03.02. ESTONIA FINAL 03.02. MALTA FINAL 03.02. ICELAND FINAL 03.02. Bulgaria semifinaL 03.02. Belarus semifinal 10.02. Finland semifinal 4 10.02. Sweden semifinal 2 10.02. NORWAY FINAL 10.02. DENMARK FINAL 10....

Swedish Aftonbladet made a big thing of what we have known in Finland for a long time: Lordi are sexy. "We receive hundreds of letters and mails from people who want to have sex with us" says Kita. "Some of them are really dirty and horny!" The only girl in the band, Awa, gets fan mail from both girls and guys. "Some are really too much! I just throw them away!" she says. So who can find these monsters sexy in their smelly outfits? "It's not a question of them being sexy. It is like the fact that Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen is considered sexy. It's all about their position as celebrities and power" says sexolog Jukka Virtanen. Meanwhile the band members roll their eyes and laugh about it.

Following in Nightwish's footsteps now also Lordi can be printed on Sampo bank's credit cards. A must for every fan :-) Available for MasterCard, Visa and Visa Electron. Only 5 euros. www.sampo.fi/lordi

Well, the members of Lordi have been remembered by their home cities in various ways; Mr Lordi got a piece of land to build a house on, Kita got a stone erected for him and Ox got ...err... a telegram from the city of Espoo. Almost as genereous is Porvoo. Five hundred (500) euros was given to lovely Miss Awa for mentioning that Porvoo is a cultural town on every possible occasion and thanking everyone for her education at the Porvoo musical school. Oh, hey that's not all.... also a memorial plate will be put into the wall of this school!! I'm sure Awa will have a few facials with that 500 euros.... :-)

No end for Lordi business. The first monsterious restaurant "Lordi's Rocktaurant" will open by the end of November in Rovaniemi. If business is good a chain of restaurants will follow. Renovation of the local has already started. Guinness World Records has accepted Lordi's welcoming party in Helsinki market square in May 26th as the world's biggest karaoke. Over 80.000 people sung "Hard Rock Hallelujah" before Lordi's performance.

Nothing is stopping Lordi and it seems they will conquer not only Europe but the world as well. In 2007 they should tour both the USA and Asia. "Interest there is very high and the negotiations are going very well" says Mark Fry from Sony BMG. The band is also making a new version and video for European release of their biggest hit before "HRH", namely "Would you love a monsterman?" later this year.

Ox (or Samer el Nahhal from Espoo, born 11.7.1976) was the member of Lordi who's real identity was made public as last one. He joined the band only after the latest album was recorded and his first gig with the band was Euroviisut.... way to start a new career! Today Ox lives in Tapiola in Espoo, his hometown. Without his mask he is nothing like his caracter. All smiles drinking Lordi Cola this man is very talkative and friendly. "I never bothered to go on with my studies as I knew music would be my life" he says. "I have always played bass and when I was 13 I started studying it seriously. Later on I went to the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles for a year. I was in my ex-Band Spoon ( pictured ) when Kita asked me to join Lordi and the rest is history!". Lordi has a lot of little fans. "I think the smaller fans don't realize we are normal people under our maks. When I was 9 I thought Mötley Crew's guys really looked like that, ha ha!" "...

Lordi will do two more special gigs in Finland before kicking off on their first real European Tour: 1,5 months and 10 countries starting from Sweden (3 gigs) and ending in the UK (5). In between the monster show will shake the audiences in Norway (1), Denmark (1), Germany (8), Switzerland (1), Italy (1), Austria (2), Spain (4), France (1), Belgium (1) and Netherlands (1). From September 16 to October 31 - somewhere near you!