Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

With the fourth heat of Melodifestivalen webjoker candidates completed we now have the eight entries that will fight for the one slot in the MF semifinals line up. This webjoker final will be held on November 7, 2011. Here are the entries that you can listen here : 1. Maria BenHajji – I Mina Drömmar 2. David Nestander – Beautiful Love 3. Bowties – Need to Know 4. Caroline Coquard – Ingenting, Ingen 5. Trison – Forever By Your Side 6. Grand Slam – All Day All Night 7.  TBA – Heartbeat Away 8. Never Alone – Marilyn Monroe

When you listen to the 40 songs selected for the UMK that replaces Euroviisut as the Finnish national selection for Eurovision song contest you can only wonder one thing: where is heavy rock? Listening the judges all late summer this blogger was expecting a lot wider variety in musical styles. Or rather fearing too many rap, hip hop, heavy and rock songs to make it through but instead what do we get? Rather middle of the road pop rock songs, a lot of acoustic stuff and ballads. A couple of disco pop songs and at least one real schlager... And a lot of female voices. None of the songs struck as an Eurovision winner with the first hearing - or even an UMK winner but who knows how things turn out before February 2012. And we have to remember in most cases these are just rough demos that will be rearranged and recorded if they proceed further.Nice misture of songs in Finnish and English, nearly half and half with one song in Swedish throuwn in for a good measure. No other languages are hea...

The official presentation will take place today at 2PM but the entries are already online here . At first glance the artists are mainly totally new. Martina made it to top-40. Other familiar names are Freeman, Eveliina Määttä, Petra, Fatima Koroma... So, Korpiklaani didn't make it, nor Tauski and Teuvo Loman which might be a relief in the end. More information coming up.... 1Love - International love song Aili - Mun taivas Alchemy Road - Burning Anna Inginmaa  - Meikin alta Apila - Joenvarren tyttö ARTo - Roudassa Aura Pineda - Kunpa vois Boys Hate Silence - Miracle Captor - Hooked on Wii DCX - Erase you Eveliina Määttä - Perfect Fatima Koroma - Different coloured socks Freeman & Uusi Fantasia - Noitanainen Hans on the bass - Only 7 days Iconcrash - We are the nigh t Jari & Taika - Aamuyön salaisuus Jessica Wolff - Better Judy - Kisscollector Kaisa Vala - Habits of human beings KaksKaks & Alisa - Anna aikaa Kirahvi nimeltä Tuike - Sinisulkien viimeinen Lasmatic - Yks...

Austria will be in Baku 2012 as ORF is happy with their result in 2011 when they returned for the first time since 2007. The selection process will be more or less the same as in 2011 as well. There will be a pre-selection on Hitradio Ö3 and then televized live final in February. Besides the winner Nadine Beiler and her The secret is love we also had a goodie like Klimmstein's Paris Paris . Let's see what the Austrians offer us this time around!

Israel has revealed a bit how their entry for Baku 2012 will be chosen. Three semifinals and each singer with two songs. Then the most voted song by an artist will reach the final. Sounds very much like Finland in the 2000's that brought us for example Lordi and Hanna Pakarinen. And indeed it all looked good on paper. But even if the first year it kinda worked it was painly evident already the second year that the singers favoured one song and couldn't hide the sour face if the public voted "wrong". Some even purposedly performed badly the song they hoped wouldn't win.... So, good luck Israel! And Dana International should have done so much better! Ding dong, say no more!

... and so far we have four acts ready for the 2012 MGP. First a girlband Irresistible of X Factor fame. Then we have Malin . She already represanted Norway in Junior Eurovision 2005 (third) and released six albums and won a Norwegian grammy. Not bad for a 16-year-old?! Next we have Isabel Ødegård with a song written by Thom Hell, a popular Norwegian songwriter. The latest addition is Nora Foss Al-Jabri , 15, of Norway's Got Talent fame....

Yes, Finns still do love him. Or at least the televoting people who sit at home on Saturday night. En se olla saa is his winning song in Syksyn Sävel 2011. A perfect follow up to winners of 2000 and 2001. Nothing has changed in 10 years... In a post-victory interview he stated he didn't believe he would win but someone younger. His own favourites were Kaija Koo and Stina Girs. He was also supposed to host the show but he wanted to sing instead and here we are. During his winning performance he got tears in his eyes.... You can watch the show here .

The show has kicked off. Well, show? It's like in the good old days. Simply stage in Finlandia Hall and after a very short introduction we are off to Kaija Koo's videoclip where she tells about the song Kaunis , rietas, onnellinen and soon she's on stage giving an energetic performance. The song is already a big radiohit and her compilation double album is #3 in the charts this week. She has also a big fanbase so she is a sure contender for the victory. She is followed by another megastar, Juha Tapio . He released his new album recently and it went to #1 at release and is at #4 this week after selling already double platinum. His Sitkeä sydän is also a radio hit and he gives a very solid performance. A real contender. After him two previous Syksyn Sävel hitmakers Matti Esko and Kake Randelin are interviewed. They are answering the cals for donations. As we know every vote donates money for cancer research and cure. Next on stage is Kristiina Brask with her F32 . The ...

After ten years, The Other Finnish music competition makes a comeback. When Euroviisut was serious and Finns were trying to find a song to please the Europeans jurors - and failed badly most of the times - Syksyn Sävel aka Autumn Melody was shamelessly commercial. (And even created a sister competition Kevään Sävel aka Spring Melody in the early 1980's) Everyone wanted to take part. Big names participated to score a new hit and sell a lot of records. Most of the big singers careers started or got a new boost from the contest. A sort of thing that Melodifestivalen is in Sweden today in Finland of the late 1960's-early 1980's. When Metsämökin tonttu by Jussi Raittinen & The Boys won in 1974 the contest took a turn into humour music and many several followed when Mikko Alatalo and Erkki Liikanen took home the victories in 1975-76, 1978, 1980-81. But, many evergreens were born at the same time with "real" songs. Those songs may have reached the final, or simply w...

Rihanna's We found love climbs to #1 in Finland this week. In albums Chisu keeps her #1 spot for the third week and has sold double platinum. Kaija Koo drops to #3 from last weeks #2, Juha Tapio is at #4, Samuli Edelmann is at #9, Johanna Kurkela at #10, Jari Sillanpää stays at #13 while Laura Voutilainen enters at #20.

The Kuorosota season took off tonight in Helsinki's Peacock Theater and for this blogger it was the best start so far. Or if you have Mr Lordi, Hanna Pakarinen, Kaija Koo and Ressu Redford in same programme topped with Chisu presenting her new single Kohtalon oma , what else can you ask? The voting is on and Mr Lordi led Rovaniemi choir took the early lead while Jonsu's Espoo choir was at the last place and in danger to drop put next week. Check the videos and stuff here .

Man Meadow, the Swedish duo that has graced the Polish Eurovision stage twice, in 2008 with Viva la musica and the year after with Love is gonna get you has managed to record a cover of Diana Ross's 1985 album's title track Eaten alive written and produced by Michael Jackson. Jackson also sings Diana's backing vocals. But here's Man Meadow Eaten alive . Not bad even if totally missing the urgency of Diana's and Michael's vocals.

Another Russian star is looking beying the ex-Sovjet Union's borders in search for the new markets. Sergey Lazarev's production team is investing heavily in his international career and here comes rather fab video for Electric touch off his latest album. In the Lady Gaga league, I'd say. Will he be luckier than Dima Bilan? Will we see him Eurovision anytime soon?

Kayahan Acar's Gözlerininm hapsindeyim was the Turkish entry in Eurovision 1990. It reached 17th place being reasonably well for Turkey those days. Kayahan has ever since been a top selling artist in Turkey and that song happens to be one of my Turkish favourites. I heard it accidently a few days ago and since then it's been playing in my head. .. lai, la, la, la.. .. Anyways, as I said Kayahan is still going strong and his latest is 365 Gün Hayatımın Tamamısınthat translates to 365 days of my life. And I like that one, too!

But not as a singer. :-( She will be one of the hostesses that seem to be several this year. She should be the funny one if you believe the rumours in Swedish tabloids. I'm sure she will be fabulous but I'd also love to see her back as a singer and make better her score of 4th ( I remember love , 2007) and 6th ( Moving on , 2009).

Lena's success story continues as she is the European nominee for the MTV Europe's Wordwide act. The others besides Lena are Britney Spears (North America), BIGBANG (Asia Pacific), Abdelfattah Grini (Africa/India/Middle East) and Restart (Latin America). The Finnish act is Lauri this year. And like every year I can only wonder why they bother with these awards if some 90% of the acts are non-European? So, let's all unite and vote for Lena who is both European and Eurovision! Ok? Here . One click is enough. This year the awards are givenin Belfast on November 8, 2011 hosted by very European Selena Gomes. Not. Helsinki has applied for the 2012 edition btw.

Some news from Azerbaijan, the future host of Eurovision song contest 2012. First of all they have received 119 songs for their selection. Who will be the host nation's represant on the stage of Baku? We will know in due time. Wouldn't it be nice of they had a song written and produced by Azeris for a change? Talking about the stage. There are images floating around internet that might be the already famus Chrystal Hall that should host the event and also the first image how it would look like outside... Time will tell if any of those a for real? And last but not least we have an official partner, an Azeri brewery, Baltika-Baku.

The confusing selection procedure in Switzerland goes on. The two last qualifiers for the RSI final to be held on November 8, 2011 are Chiara Dubey with Anima nuova and Laetitia with The big picture .  Two songs from this sort of a semifinal will qualify in the end for the Swiss final. The others are Vittoria Hyde, Scilla, Gianluca Solci, Rossella and Sinplus . The French broadcaster RTS has also selected its finalists out of which three national finalists will be chosen with 50-50 online vote-jury vote. They are ADN 2.0, Katherine St-Laurent, Marie-Eleine and Etienne, Romanz, Sinplus (yes, here, too! ) , Sosofluo, The Kompozit, Valentine de Rham, Varloch'et les Alies and Ze Flying Zézettes Orchestra .  The German speaking radio station DRS 3 has already chosen its three entries for the national final. They are Guillermo Sorya, Patrci Scott ft Fabienne Louves and Atomic Angels . The German speaking SF is having its open internet selection going on with voting until Octo...

Another week has passed and two more songs qualified for the Melodifestivalen webjoker final. Ingenting, ingen by Caroline Coquart and Marilyn Monro e by Never Alone are the lucky ones. The last eight songs are here to listen and vote.

Several artists have publicly announced they have sent in a song to the UMK 2012. First of them was glamour celebrity showgirl Martina Aitolehti , followed by designer singerwannabe Teuvo Loman , popstar turned tabloid celebrity Tauski , 1980's teenage popstar Anja Niskanen , 1990's Eurodance act Movetron and heavyrockers Korpiklaani . I wouldn't be surprised if none of them made the cut. Most likely to do so is propably Korpiklaani while Martina might be included for the PR and visibility she would give the contest in media. The one I hope will make it is Anja Niskanen ... But then we haven't heard the songs and who knows what kind of surprises we have in store? Next Monday we will know!

YLE has revealed the venue for the ex-Euroviisut, now named Uuden musiikin kilpailu aka UMK. Helsinki's Ice Hall will do the honors and so YLE is keeping its promise as it is the biggest venue to host the national final since Turku's Typhoon in early 1990's with its 10.200 capacity. Next Monday the hosts for the show will be revealed and also the songs that made the first cut that should be 40-50. The songs can be heard on UMK's website as well as be played on YLE Radio Suomi on January Sundays. The jury will first select 12 of them and through various club gigs and things eventually only six of them will make it to the final on February 25, 2012. Janaury Friday's will feature shows with the selected songs and their preparations.

Greek Nikos Ganas (or Nicko) has been telling everyone and every possible situation he wants to go to Eurovision and one can only ask Why not? This blogger would be quite pleased most likely. He has just released a new single This love is killing me following Break me and Last summer . He easily dances and sings certains Sakises and Erics to oblivion....

Katri Helena will release her 32nd studio album next month titled Valon maa . It is her first for the new record company managed by her suspected toyboy. On a live TV-show she joked he will propose her to marry him if the album sells 100.000 copies...  The first single of the album is Raja . That would be her 14th gold album, 4th platinum and second multiplatinum album. Her most sold album to date is Anna mulle tähtitaivas from 1992 (over 100.000 copies sold). Another blond blue eyed Eurovision star Laura Voutilainen has released Ihmeitä , her 11th studioalbum. The album was recorded in Iceland and features winter inspired songs. The first single is Winter song/Rakkaudesta . Laura has sold six gold albums so far and two multiplatinums, namely her first two albums in 1994 and 1996.

Anne-Marie David has released a new version of her Eurovision winning classic Tu te reconnaitras in both French and German with some help of Mave O'Rick. You can listen their joint efforts here . This being one of my all time Eurovision favourites it's hard to ruin it completely but the remix isn't giving the song much of a refresh or particularly groundbreaking treatment. A standard remix that could have been anytime over the past 20 years. The origina l has pure magic....

Where did Alexey Vorobyov disappear after Eurovision where he finished 16th, Russia's worst since 1995 with RedOne penned Get you ? Los Angeles, that's where he went and into the studio with the same RedOne. He will start conquering America as Alex Sparrow in 2012 and here comes a little teaser, a cover of DJ Khaled ft Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne's  I'm on one . The vid's made for fun in one day by Alex himself using one camera only. Enjoy!

Lena Philipsson's new album that was ment to be released November 30, 2011 has been postponed to 2012 once again. She might be just too busy with her success show Min drömshow i Cirkus running night after night in Stockholm, or is she aiming for Melodifestivalen and Eurovision again? Now that is a good reason to delay the release until February 2012. Meanwhile her latest single Nästa säsong climbs to #6 in Topplistan.

One can only wonder if Greece and ERT can and will make it to Eurovision 2012. The economical crisis is already beyond control - and you can ask what we Finns think about the way they are dealing with it :-) - and today there's a rumour indeed ERT would skip it. On the other hand they can go internal and pick an artist and singer. Is it time for Kostas Martakis finally? But I believe and hope they will be there as after all Greece has provided some very memorable Eurovision moments and even some great musical moments. Here are some of them: 2010 , 2007 , 2001 , 1995 , 1993 , 1992 , 1981 , 1979 and 1977 .

Malta has revealed its Eurovision 2012 plans and interested had two days to send in their entries it seems. And as soon as that was over the names of interested artists started circulating, amongst them also the singing Faniellos, Fabrizio and Claudia. Claudia's international career may have not started the way she and her management wished for with the release of her first album but Fabrizio is doing fine. Last weekend he was in Latvia's Pop Idol and has also sung a theme song for the big German show celebrating 50 years pop, The sound of life is pop . And there's also a great remix of Know me better . Things are cooking well for him the time being so a trip to Baku would be the icing on the cake?

The 9th Junior Eurovision song contest will take place in Yerevan, Armenia on December 3, 2011. All the entries have now been selected and you can listen to them by clicking the song's title. Last year Armenia's Vladimir Arzumamyan won with Mama but it's a pure coincidence the contest is in Yerevan. The 2012 contest has already been given to the Netherlands to host. The Russian artist Katya Ryabova makes history by being the first Junior artist to make a comeback. She already came 2nd in 2009 with Malenkiy prints . 1. RUSSIA -: Katya Ryabova – Romeo And Juliet 2. LATVIA - Amanda Bashmakova - Menes suns 3. MOLDOVA -  Lerika – No, No 4. ARMENIA -:Dalita – Welcome To Armenia 5. BULGARIA - Ivan Ivanov – Superhero 6. LITHUANIA - Paulina Skrabytė – Debesys 7. UKRAINE - Kristall – Europe 8. MACEDONIA - Dorijan Dlaka – Zimi Ovoj Frak 9. THE NETHERLANDS - Rachel – Teenager 10. BELARUS - Lidiya Zablotskaya – Angely Dobra 11. SWEDEN - Erik Rapp – Faller 12. GEORGIA - Can...

With its 8th week in charts Chisu's Sabotage reclaims the top spot, most likely helped by the amazing video and the release of the album Kun valaistun that shot to #1 last week and stays there this week, too.

Rasmus Seebach, the very succesful son of Danish Eurovision star Tommy Seebach ( 1979 , 1981 , 1993 ) has recorded his dad's last Eurovision entry Under stjernerne på himlen . And quite frankly he does better than his late father who was very succesful the first two times but ended up a total flop the last time reflecting his own private life and career. But son Rasmus started his career back in 2009 with a #1 single Enge l and three more top-3 singles followed. His latest two efforts are Natteravn and another #1, I mine øjne . He is also ready to conquer the rest of Europe with English versions of his songs like Angel and Calling (nighthawk) . He's one to watch but unfortunately seems uninterested in Eurovision....

The special edition of Raphael Gualazzi's success album Reality and fantasy is now out (cd+dvd) and it contains a brand new remix of his Eurovision runner up, Madness of love. Remixed by Gilles Peterson and sung in English. And it's very fresh sounding indeed! Listen here .

Tired of the Swiss entries already? Nothing interesting in the Swedish Melodifestivalen webbjoker thing? Try Lativan entries here . You can vote till the end of month by clicking "balsot" and a validiation email will follow. One vote per pc is allowed. Latvia has had a mixed fortunes in Eurovision with early successes to non-qualification already three times in a row. This blogger still thinks Musiqq should have qualified though... And Aisha's remix is rather fab, too.

Lordi is the leader of Rovaniemi choir and has revealed his target for the money should he win it for his town: the elderly. He is worried about the old people living alone with no friends and relatives nearby. Especially in Lapland the distances can be very long and the nearest neighbour even 20 kms away, His money would go to so called Friend service where people go and visit elderly people living alone. And one thing is for sure: even the grannies love Mr Lordi. Judge yourself in this video (in Finnish). And yes, Mr Lordi finally speaks Finnish in public!

Now we can easily declare Star Academy Italy was the biggest flop of any reality or talent show in television history. Not only did the producers cut the series short and set the final already on 4th episode that was ment to go on air on Saturday October 22, 2011 - in the afternoon, mind you! But hey, there's some justice and courage left: the singers refused the fake final in common agreement and left the show so Star Academy is no longer. No final. No winner. Nothing. Way to go, all you singers! This blogger stands with you. Or you are treated like you should be and the show will go on, no matter what the viewing figures say. You can't just build up hopes and burn talents like that and treat them like trash. And think this was rumoured to be the Italian selection for Eurovision 2012....

Another name has emerged from the demos sent into Uuden musiikin kilpailu, or the ex-Euroviisut. That is Anja Niskanen who's making a comeback to the scene. She won Syksyn Sävel 1984 with Ollaan hiljaa vaan , a real classic. She released her debut album that sold gold but things turned sour after that and as she was tied to a contract with CBS until 1990's when she finally was able to record songs she wanted to. In 1991 she released her seocnd album Ikkuna and in 1994 followed a minor hit single Sydämeesi pesän rakennan . And now she's coming back with new material and doing gigs, too. And trying to get to Eurovision - I suspect she tried back in 1991 but YLE didn't ant her... Just about the time, too, as this blogger has always been a fan!

Second week of voting is over and two songs made it to the next step: A heartbeat away and Beautiful love . Eight more hopefuls are here to vote.  nd no, there's still nothing to write home about...

One could argue Ruslana hasn't changed a bit since 2004 when she Wild danced to Eurovision win in Istanbul, or what do you think about her latest efforts Wow! and Sha la la . Or is she just true to her style? Anyways, the dance crew is there and the choreography is still there... but Wild dance s is still above them in my books. (Or is it just golden memories as I was there to cheer her to victory jumping on my seat to the beat?)

The Eurovision 2012 season has started and in full swing. Some countries have already chosen their songs for national finals and selections, some are accepting songs still, some are just getting their act together but one thing seems sure: Eurovision is as popular as ever. The Nordic countries seem to be the Eurovision royalty what comes to the number of songs sent in. Sweden is in league of its own with 3.485 songs received this time but Norway (800), Denmark (678), Finland (540) and Iceland (150) also give the juries that pick up the songs some days of work. Also The Netherlands (over 450) is living an Eurovision renaissance while Switzerland (259) and Latvia (71) follow their average number of songs sent in.  That's already almost 6.500 songs from 8 countries only. How many songs we will have once all 40+ countries have selected their songs? And you can already vote songs online in Sweden and Switzerland, and Switzerland is also the first one to have its national final in early ...

The German speaking Switzerland has over 200 songs in the running for the six slots in the Swiss final in December. You can vote, too. First register here and and then go here and vote for Vittoria Hyde and Steve Leuenberger for example! :-) You can give 1-4 votes for each song.

Not all reality and talent shows gain audience and make stars. Star Academy in Italy promised a lot but will now fade away and close next week in a hurry. The third episode this week all of sudden turned into a semifinal and five singers were sent home. Next Thursday the final with ten singers and definitive closing of the show, also named as the saddest talent show in TV-history... Italian Eurovision fans are a bit worried this might put in danger the Italian Eurovision as well as its also on RaiDue channel and this flop might make the bosses think music contest just isn't the way to go after all....

Ex-Eurovision star Gianni Morandi will do a bis and host also Sanremo 2012 as he did with success in 2011. Not else is known about next year's edition so far as only recently RAI and the city of Sanremo managed to make a deal hosting the contest once again in the beforementioned city. An argument that seems to go on every year... Could you have Sanremo somewhere else but Sanremo really? Perche Sanremo è Sanremo! Sanremo 2011 was won by veteran Roberto Vecchioni followed by Modà with Emma and another veteran and Eurovision veteran as well, Albano .

Tiziano Ferro has released today his comeback single La differenza tra me e te , off his new album L'amore è una cosa semplice out next month. And it's great! After a couple of listenings....

DRS-3 channels has selected its three entries for the Swiss national final and this blogger is very happy! Two of them I have featured here as Swiss goodies and the third one would have been next in line if I would have continued with the series. So, Fabienne Louves & Patric Scott with Real love , Guillermo Sorya with Baby, baby, baby and Atomic Angels with Black symphony are already in the final line up on December 10, 2011. Sounds very promising!

As expected Chisu's new album Kun valaistun went straight to #1 while her single Sabotage climbs again to #2. And last night she was elected and awarded as the most stylish female in Elle Fashion awards. The male award went to another pop star, Antti Tuisku.

Vittoria Hyde, a self proclaimed European alien, who has already secured her place in the Swiss Italian semifinal next month with It's your love . She's also in the running in the German part. In this exclusive interview she tells us the story behind last year's Play the trumpet . Why she was eliminated from X Factor? And she talks about Matia Bazar and Celine Dion. And what would take her to the Sanremo festival? Bella, bionda, alta e magra – what else is Vittoria Hyde? An alien! Hahaha. A singer , a fashion blogger and shortly a Dj and VJ. I'm hungry and foolish. Last year your Play the trumpet was my favourite song of all national finals of the season. The all of sudden you were disqualified, what happened? Were you incazzata ? I was very very sad and incazzata of course. To present myself I have uploaded 30 seconds of the idea of the song, it was only lalala, to the Benetton website "It's my time". This short video was also on my Faceb...