Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Carola will bring her Christmas in Betlehem tour also in Finland (December 2 Mariehamn, December 4 Kristiina, December 5 Pietarsaari and December 6 Helsinki). After that she's off to Norway and then back to Sweden. Worth mentioning is Alexander Rybak is in Finland at the same time (December 5 Helsinki, December 6 Tampere) and will perform in Kulttuuritalo the night before Carola. Meanwhile her third  (the first has sold over 600.000 in Scandinavia, the second 200.000 so far and keep selling more every Christmas time) Christmas in Betlehem album will be released November 11. This time it's all in English featuring duets with Paul Potts, Hank von Helvete, Gladys Del Pilar and Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius amongst others) In the end of November she's off to Denmark to star along Malena Ernman, Michael Bolton, Jamie Cullum and Aqua in a Christmas TV-special.

Blogilkar had a little chat with Bääbs and Tommi Forsström recently and this is what they can reveal about their plans for Euroviisut 2010 and beyond. Enjoy! Tell us a little bit how the song was written and chosen for Euroviisut? B: The song was created only for this cause and with the idea of Eurovision in mind. I think it has all the requirements; drama, feeling, uplifting violins, hope and a wink in the eye. Tommi: Don’t forget the modulation! I guess you are going to remix it, will there be any major changes? B: I think we want to give it a little boost. It’s maybe a bit too static now, so we want give it a bit more variation, so it can build up towards the end. We are also gonna do the vocals again and have my lovely backup singers Juho and Heidi to participate in the recordings. Tommi: We will add some heart, some soul and a lot of cowbell. Bääbs has managed to get some wellknown people behind her for the wardrope and shoes. Tell us more about the coming presentat...

Iceland will have its final on February 6, 2010  - the same night as the Danish and the Norwegian final (and the first Melodifestivalen heat) so it's gonna be a busy night for fans. RUV received 150 songs to the open call and has selected 15 songs to the semifinals. They are composed by Albert Guðmann Jónsson, Birgir Jóhann Birgisson, Bryndís Sunna Valdimarsdóttir & Daði Georgsson, Grétar Sigurbergsson, Halldór Guðjónsson, Haraldur G. Ásmundsson, Haraldur V. Sveinbjörnsson, Hera Björk & Örlygur Smári, Jóhannes Kári Kristinsson, Matthías Stefánsson, Rögnvaldur Rögnvaldsson, Sigurjón Brink, Steinar Logi Nesheim ja Óskar Páll Sveinsson & Bubbi Morthens. As we can see writers of both Is it true? (Sveisson-Morthens) and This is my life (Smári) with Hera Björk ) are in with new songs, sounds good!

Marion Rung released her first album with new material in 9 years yesterday and it's a gold disc already! Elämänvoimaa is proving she is still full of life The record release party was last night  This is her 8th gold disc and first in 31 years as all her golds and one platinum are from the 1970's! Listen here . Congratulations Marion and welcome back!!!

The rumour of the day is that Slovenian Samuel Lucas will be the Bosnia-Herzegovina's choice for Oslo 2010. I wouldn't mind, he was my favourite in the Slovenian final last year with Vse bi zate dal .      UPDATE: BHRT was quick to deny this rumour.....

Now that also Iceland has announced its dates for the final and semifinal we discover that January will be a real Eurovision month in Nordic countries. Norway and Finland will start with their selections on January 8 and will go on all month. Iceland kicks its own the day after, January 9. Every weekend semifinals in all three countires until the Finnish final on January 30, followed by finals in Norway and Iceland on February 6 when also Denmark will have its one-off final. On top of that Sweden will start its selections the same day! The first Eurovision madness day of 2010 season is set!

After ABBA called it quits and Björn & Benny continued making music together obviously they wanted someone to sing the songs. Anders & Karin Glenmark who were main backing vocalists in original Chess and both had already worked with the guys sounded right and Gemini was born. The first self titled album Gemini was released in 1985 with its lead single Just like that , an old then unreleased ABBA track. Unfortunately it failed across Europe and the other songs didn't do any better, Slowly (previously released by Frida ), Slow emotion and very ABBA-like Another you, another me . However in 1987 second album was released titled Geminism with songs like TLC and Mio my mio , but they still didn't make it and concentrated on their solo projects. In 2005 they released a compilation album with unreleased tracks like When I close my eyes , Swedish version of Too much love is wasted , Den som sa det var det and Kall som is from Melodifestivalen 1984. In 2006 they released...

Bääbs and Tommi Forsström who wrote her entry You don't know tomorrow together with Riku Kärkkäinen had a little chat with Blogilkar and it will be published soon so stay tuned for some interesting revelations! How did they found out they were voted to the semifinals? What is she going to wear? When is the single and video released? What are their favourite Eurovision songs and what has Madonna and burlesque to do with it all?

Rosa Lopez is releasing already her 6th album Propiedad de nadie with the first single release De haber sabido . Who would have known she would be still around and so strongly after all this time, unlike most Idols like casting/talent reality stars? I must admit I was never a fan on Europe's living a celebration and my dislike to the song also made me dismiss unfairly Rosa herself. Anyways, over the years I have discovered Rosa as she is: a great singer with good albums and songs in various styles, all from Carola covers to Melodifestivalen covers to classics , and her own songs. And it all started from this .

A film crew has been following Alexander since his victory with Fairytale in Moscow and now this modern fairytale is released on DVD. A sort of Truth or dare aka In bed with Madonna Norwegian style it seems. A must for the fans and interesting for anyone interested in what goes on behind the scenes and in backstage. You can see a bit here and as reported before Alexander will be also starring in a family film Yohan barnevandreren that will premiere in Norway December 11, 2009.

Katri Helena releases her new album next week, dedicated to her late son who died earlier this year at the age of 33. Her year has also included besides sorrow also happiness: she became a granny! She says it's not a sad album but an album full of life, exotic rhythms and joy of life. It' s her 31st studio album and she has crossed the record of one million albums sold in Finland already back in 1994. She has recorded over 400 songs and gained 14 gold discs, 3 platinum discs and one double platinum so far....

Rammstein is flying high in charts here and there once again, causing controversy with their latest video Pussy . Not particularly fan of their music but somehow I secretly like them a little bit :-) One must give credit for their balls to do things no one else has dared to do; from being arrested in the USA for their stage act and the latest video just to name a few. In their long career (since 1994) the band has remained the same without changes in members or producer, sold 18 million albums (3 of them in the USA) and has been nominated twice for Grammys. In Finland the four latest albums have made it to #1. And I have always thought they would have been a good choice for Germany and Eurovision but maybe that time has already passed in this post-Lordi era? I kinda like Reise, reise , Seeman , Ohne dich , Rosenrot and especially Du hast and Amerika that is maybe their best track so far. But they have also recorded Nicole's Ein bisschen Frieden .... And if you are a fan you can...

Expressen writes Lena Philipsson , Sofia Jannok and two more female artists will be the jokers, as at the moment out of the 27 songs in Melodifestivalen 17 are sung by male vocalists and only 10 by female. On the other hand some singers on demos can be changed still. Style , a Melodifestivalen veteran band hoping for a comeback have instead decided to release their entry Långsamt within two weeks and therefor be out of the competition and possible joker place. And here's as bonus Sofia doing Waterloo in sami.

Fredi (67) has had to cancel half of his 50th anniversary tour Avaa sydämesi mulle due to poor ticket sales. Twelve cities have become only six when Fredi will be on the road next month. His manager blames the economical crisis: "The risks were too high so it's better to cancel after poor pre-sale of the tickets. " Fredi represanted Finland in Eurovision twice: in 1967 with Varjoon suojaan and in 1974 with legendary Pump Pump . He also wrote Katri Helena's Katson sineen taivaan and his daughter Hanna-Riikka Siitonen is a regular Eurovision back up singer and participant, also trying to get to Euroviisut 2010 with the group Aia. Fredi's latest release is Soittaja from 2007.

Laura Voutilainen got already a gold dic for her latest album Sydänjää in its official release party aboard Baltic Princess. At the same occasion she also got another gold disc, this for her previous album Palaa! Watch and listen more here .

Rammstein enters the Finnish album chart at #1 followed by another new entry, Irina . Samuli Edelmann 's Maa on niin kaunis -Virsiä 3 climbs to #4 and Vesa-Matti Loiri's Hyvää puuta to #7. Laura Voutilainen is on the way up six places to #13 while Jari Sillanpää drops one to #24. Pentti Hietanen also drops to #20 and Maria Lund stays at #38.

The first gay themed movie Veseltšaki (Jolly fellows) has opened in the Russian cinemas to pretty good success and critic. A sort of Russian adaption of Priscilla - queen of the desert tells a story of drag queens performing in a Moscow nightclub that are sent to tour the provinces - without a happy end. One of the main roles is played by Finnish Ville Haapasalo and Verka Serduchka has provided some music, including the main title Casta diva . The Russian homofobic society has taken well to the movie, it seems, and many VIPs were seen in its premiere, including Dima Bilan. Hopefully this is a start of something better in Russia.... Watch the trailer here .

One of the many Eurovision rumours on the internet the past few days has been that France would sent to Oslo 2010 someone who has already done the honors previously, an Eurovision comeback. The names of Sandrine Francois , Natasha St Pier and Patricia Kaas (which only cements this as a rumour IMO) have been mostly mentioned and Natasha would be quite logical and possible choise whereas Sandrine... what has she done since 2002? But how about Jonathan Cerrada ? Or even better: Patrick Fiori . My guess is he could give it another go! He has gone a long way since 1993 and would follow nicely La Kaas's megastar footsteps.

My favourite Eurovision flop, Domenico Modugno's Dio come ti amo , that scored a flat zero for Italy in 1966 gets its about 154.753rd cover version when Paola Turci does it in her new album Attraversami il cuore with Paolo Fresu, a regular collaborator in Alice's albums since Park Hotel in 1986. My favourite version though remains Gigliola Cinquetti's .

It was a success for Flashmob and Signmark. Over 250 people gathered in Narikkatori in Helsinki to do the chorus of Signmark's coming single Against the wall in sign language. Today also their latest single Smells like victory shot to #1 in the most wanted songs' play list on YLE. See & hear more here .

Alexander Rybak has been busy touring Europe but now he will go west and perform in Brooklyn, in New York Millenium Theatre. The event is presented amongst other by Russian-American Consulting Corporation and labeled as the "anti-crisis project of the year" - whatever that means! One night only, November 21, 2009. More here .

Janita has recently released a new album Haunted and will be performing live in New York October 27, 8pm in 184 Allen St. New York NY 10002. She will be also signing the CD so if in New York go and get one! Janita has participated in Euroviisut twice, in 1994 with Enkeli and in 2009 with Martian .

Signmark will be filming the new videoclip in Narinkkatori in Helsinki today and even BBC will be there so if in Helsinki be there, too! You should be there 13.50 today and you can be part of this video with hundreds of people doing the chorus in sign language. More information here .

Yet another country makes a visit in this blog and this time it's Cambodia! Welcome! And to celebrate this event here's Kim Wilde . (When is she going to do Eurovision?)

Has the megasuccess Jari Sillanpää has enjoyed so far come to an end? His latest album Kuin elokuvissa entered the charts only at #13, and dropped to #23 the second week and continues to drop this week selling only about 10.000 copies. This is hard to swallow to Jari who has invested over 100.000 euros of his own money for the project. Now he can only hope the sales will pick up when he starts his tour.... Here is what his albums have sold previously.

The latest internet rumour is Emre Aydin has been selected for Turkey 2010, as the neverending saga of possible Turkish participants. He is an award winning rock singer-songwriter and released six hit singles from his debut solo album 3 years ago. He also won the MTV Music Award ast year. After winning a talent show in 2002 he got a record deal for his band 6.Cadde that was formed already in 1999. They broke up and Emre released his first solo album in 2006, Afili Yalnizlik with hit singles like Afili yalnizlik , Kim dokunguysa sana ona git and Git that all made it to #1 in Turkey.

Another country drops out of Eurovision 2010 in Oslo claiming financial problems, Hungary. Such a shame. Hungary debuted with a bang in 1994 when Friderika Bayer scored an excellent 4th place. It's been a roller coaster ride since then: 1995 22nd and relegation, 12th in 1997 but then 23rd again in 1998 and Hungary dropped out until 2005 when Nox returned and despite being one of the favourites dropped 12th in the final. 2006 they were out again but Magdi Rúzsa returned for Helsinki 2007 scoring 9th and winning most critical awards alongside the contest. Then it's been two missed finals in 2008 and this year with Adók Zoli's Dance with me and now.... no more 2010. :-( So, Hungary and Czech Republic out and Georgia in we are at 41. Andorra, Estonia and Lithuania are in doubt, so... In worst case scenario we could be at 38, that means 16-17 countries for semifinal... I don't think this is what EBU wants.

The three qualifiers Bääbs, Linn Nygård and Sister Twister had their first official Euroviisut 2010 happening today when they were in YLE and were presented to the media. Linn and Sister Twister are already veterans in this as they have done MGP Nordic 2007 but Bääbs is a real newbie. But ever since they were through she has been working hard for the project and finding right people to work with for the staging and performance. She has no record label backing and all the efforts come from her and her team's own pockets. Stay tuned for Bääbs new here on my blog shortly! Bääbs will join BOB, Pentti Hietanen, Nina Lassander and Amadeus in semifinal 1. Sister Twister goes to second semifinal with Heli Kajo, Veeti Kallio, Antti Kleemola and Monday. Linn Nygård will complete the third semifinal with Eläkeläiset, Osmo Ikonen, Kuunkuiskaajat and Maria Lund.

Norwegian Eurovision legend Jahn Teigen turned 60 last month and Norske Posten celebrates the event with two stamps. But this is not the first time a Nordic Eurovision star gets a stamp: Lena Philipsson had one already in 1991! Teigen has participated in the Norwegian final 14 times between 1974 and 2005, winning 4 times but represanting Norway only 3 times, once scoring the flat zero.

Raffaele Riefoli aka Raf has gone a long way from writing Self control in 1984 that didn't go nowhere until Laura Branigan recorded it, and dueting with Umberto Tozzi in Eurovision 1987 with Gente di mare . Twelve albums later and countless hits like Il battiato animale (winner of Festivalbar 1993), Cosa resterá degli anni 80 (Sanremo 1989), Sei la piú bella del mondo , Ti pretendo (winner of Festivalbar 1989), Inevitabile follia (Sanremo 1988), Oggi un dio non ho (Sanremo 1991)(also Ofra Haza recorded it) and Siamo soli nell'immenso vuoto che c'é , In tutti i miei giorni , Dimentica and Ossigeno he releases his first live CD with a DVD from his latest Metamorfosi tour. He has also written songs to other singers, like the 1987 Sanremo winner Si puó dare di piú and Mi rubi l'anima . SoundView is out on October 30 including one new song, Per il tutto il tempo .

Pernilla Wahlgren is starring in The Producers musical as Ulla in Gothenburg until Christmas time. The show will go on next spring and a new leading lady is needed (Pernilla took the role from Christin Meltzer) and one of the names in the play is Lena Philipsson along with Isabella Scorupco and Anna Anka. So, is Pernilla going to Melodifestivalen and Lena toThe Producers?

Polish born Agnes, who broke through from Idols 2005 release a new albumm Redemption tomorrow (and if you are in Helsinki you can catch her live in On The Rocks). And while some others Finnish Idols find or try to find fame abroad like Anna Abreu in UK and Hanna Pakarinen in Sweden, Agnes is making it in Japan. Her debut album was already released over there and this new one will be released in November. Next spring she is also going there for some live gigs and PR. Well done Agnes! Her hits include I thought we were lovers , Changes and the latest single This moment . Mr Lordi wrote her Danger in love for her debut album.

The first cut has been done in the Melodifestivalen web joker voting. 181 songs became 60 and also the top-20 of those has been revelead in alphabetical order. As for my one listening only - except Stai stai that went straight to my play list - I shortlisted 60/181 out fo which 40 made the top-60 and 10 of the top-20. I guess it's pretty good percentage. Or is it? Listen the songs that made the cut here .

Here it is finally, Kate Ryan's biggest hits/covers in French all together on one CD. Ella elle l'a , Babacar and the new single Evidemment by France Gall, Désenchantée and Libertine by Mylene Farmer, Voyage voyage by Desireless, Toute premiere fois by Jeanne Mas, Les divas du dancing by Philippe Cataldo, Sage comme un image by Lio and her own hits Mon couer résiste encore and La promesse . Also included is Caminaré with Soraya. A couple of remixes wrap up the collection. But where is Je t'adore ? She did record it in French!

Marion, who will be 64 on December 7 has a long and succesful career behind her. Several international festivals, including 7th place in Eurovision 1962 with Tipi tii and 6th place in 1973 with Tom tom tom and two wins in the Intervision/Sopot festivals 1974 with Uskon lauluun and  1980 with Hyvästi yö . She also won Syksyn Sävel 1979 in Finland with Rakkaus on hellyyttä . She also had a taste of international career in mid-late 1970's with hits like Senorita por favor and El Bimbo . She also did an album in the UK called Love is... She has also recorded many Eurovision covers, including Ey-sham , Hallelujah, Disco tango, Pas pour moi and recently performed Se på mig . In the 2000's it's been quiet in the recording studio but in 2004 she recorded this great track Kuin tulisit kaukaa written by Kaija Kärkinen & Ile Kallio (ESC 1991). Here she is on stage with the other ladies with a medley of Juice Leskinen's songs. Viidestoista yö that starts at 2.45 is ma...

And while at it, here's also Eros Ramazzotti's latest hit, Controvento . He is starting his world tour these days and in a few weeks I will see him in Helsinki for the first time! :-) And if La Pausini was in New York for her video, Eros is in Paris.... Ma perche?

Here is the video, once again made in the USA, for Laura Pausini's latest hit, Con la musica alla radio She has made once again a very catchy radio friendly pop song!

It's really happening. Here's the Buzz Junkie's remix of Anna's single Vinegar , her first UK release. The video features also Ragnar (blond haired guy) from the on going edition of Big Brother. He was eliminated a couple fo weeks ago though... And yes, she repeated again in an interview she's not interested in Eurovision. Oh well... Vinegar was the first single off her second album and she's about to release her third one and the current single is Music everywhere . I prefer her when she sings in Portuguese or Spanish .

Krisse, the self proclaimed princess of the republic, and co-hostess of the Helsinki 2007 Eurovision will have her second baby next spring with her current hubby, a producer. She already has 4-year-old son with a magician. Congratulations and a lot of laughs, Krisse!

Well, maybe not but the CatCat girls Katja and Virpi dusted out their Eurovision outfits that no one can ever forget, got their act together and performed in DTM club in Helsinki in its 17th birthday, nicely themed to the 1990's. CatCat is pure 1990's at its best (and worst) and were huge for a few years after their trip to Ireland. That time Finns didn't put down the unfortunate artists but listened them all year and their album sold about a zillion copies while Finns kept mumbling something like "those Europeans don't know a thing...". It was the first time in 4 years the girls performed together. Time will tell if it was one off and Bye bye baby or will they get together again in studio?

Marion Rung releases a new album after nine long years titled Elämänvoimaa (Lifepower). Such a shame YLE didn't invite her to Euroviisut 2010! Apparently she would be willing to have a third go of it and knowing her she would just adapt to the bigger settings without difficulties - just like she did at 16 in 1962, and again 11 years later... Both times in Luxembourg, singing first. The album will be in the end of October and the record release party and gig in Freda 51 in Helsinki on October 29, 2009.

Miro will be singing for Bulgaria in 2010. I wrote about him last year like this . Here is his Lose control . Miroslav Kostadinov started in very popular Karizma duo that has taken part in the national finals previously.And so we have the very first confirmed artist for Oslo 2010! And I call this a very promising and good start for the Eurovision 2010 news. More of him here , here and here .And more here and here .

Have you ever done the roller coaster in the dark and in the rain when it's +2? Highly recommended once in a life time experience! Check out some pics from Linnanmäki amusement park's Light carnival here .

Bääbs is the third artist who qualified from the open web contest with You don't know tomorrow , a song written by the members of Viola band who claim they are big Eurovision fans but too shy to participate themselves. Bääbs or Päivi Kankero is the singer of TV-Resistori . Her only solo effort before this has been a Stig Dogg cover Kun nainen lyö on a compilation album.

Sister Twister is a girl rock band that won the Finnish MGP 2007 with Fröken Perfekt . They are Elin (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Simone (lead guitar, backing vocals), Sini (bass, backing vocals) and Jessica (drums, backing vocals). They have released one single/video so far, Roller coaster. They qualified from the open web contest with Love at first sight .

Linn Nygård (17) will take part in Euroviisut 2010 with Sebastian Holmgård with Fatal moment after qualifying from the open web selection. Linn came second in the Finnish MGP 2007 but eventually did better in the Nordic final with En liten önskan than the winners Sister Twister placing 4th. She's studying in the Pietarsaari music institute and also does theater and dance. She has released one single so far, Over you .

YLE has just announced the three qualifiers for the semifinals of Euroviisut 2010 and they are Bääbs, Linn Nygård and Sister Twister. The Swedish mafia has spoken. Well, I can't be but disappointed. I have nothing against Linn or Sister Twister (mind you, ST was my mega favourite in MGP) but I don't think they deserved to be in top-3 here. At least Bääbs made it, now I can stand by her! This time the various fan polls really had it wrong: Oikotimes Facebook voting had Geir Rönning, Villieläin and Netta going through, Escstats.com Saga Bloom, Aia and Roni Tran while Sister Twister was 5th, Bääbs 15th and Linn Nygård 21st. In my poll Bääbs was second before Saga Bloom while Camilla Petra won. Actually Linn was 6th on my poll so in the end surprise surprise I guess I got it closest! :-)

Tonight 5.45 CET we will know the three names that have been voted to go on to the semifinals in January 2010. Considering YLE has kept it very quiet and only in the internet (I have seen ONE spot in TV to go online and vote all these two weeks) with no news in the papers either after the day of publication one can predict those with a large fan base in Facebook and such will go on. I know one artist had a big birthday party last week where the artist kept playing the song and all the guests kept voting it. All night. A sure qualifier?

Here it is finally, Signmark's new video Smells like victory , the first release from the worthcoming album.