Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Soluna Samay is overcoming her misfortune in Balu 2012 with this Come again , that fits her like a glove. Great stuff! Here . Feels like summer.... :-)

It's not uncommon to have cover versions made of Eurovision winners but this year, maybe due to the song's style, there haven't been any until now (as far as I know). MIA, known also from Estonian national selections has covered Ephoria as Eufooria .... 

Polish Eurovision veteran Marcin Mrozinski is returning to pop music and his latest single is a very catchy pop song I s that real love by the same author as his Legenda . He's got the voice, the looks... is it time for a big international breakthrough?

The euphoric affair between Loreen and the Swedish people seem to have ended short. Her tour start got the people booing at her as she thought she was in Karlskrona while she was actually in Karlskoga when saluting the audience. Also her performance was described as weird mumbling on autotune and after 28 minutes she was gone.... while people were wondering should they applaud her back or was it over. It was over. 

A name to remember. You will surely hear from Ramzi again very soon. Here is his latest effort Smile featuring Gurinder Seagal, a mix of different styles but it all comes together very nicely and it's catchy as hell! 

Dead by April rocked the Melodifestivalen 2012 with Mystery (after their first presence in MF with Lena Philipsson in 2011 ) and now they have another great track out, Crossroads . Quite different in style and mood but it's very catchy. And the video is beautiful!

Tom Dice has scored several hits since his Eurovision success with Me and my guitar in 2009, including a duet with Elisa Tovati, Il nous fait . And this Utopia is the first release from his second album Heart for sale .

This duo is going to be big. Remember where you read it first :-) Eva is a Finn, Manu is Spanish-French and they have just signed to Warner. I heard them playing in Kiseleff talo in Helsinki on June 11... or rather I was walking on the street and heard them and just had to go in and have a look who they are and stayed clued to them the rest of the gig. Fantastic stuff. They have just released their first single Feet in the water and ... do I have to say? It's fantastic! More about them later.... Their FB is here and website here . Besides their great music they also have a great story!

If you thought Alexander Rybak is done you are so wrong! He's recycling his old songs in Russian now scoring hits in mama Russia and the other countries in region shooting Cubid's arrows to innocent victims, just check the video here . The original was OAH . And while we are at it, here's Europe's skies in Belarusian. 

We all know Alice has always made anti commercial choices in her career and has made her fans to wait for new releases for years - the new album has been postponed this time already three years but will finally be released this September , recently finally confirmed by herself. As we know there are songs written by Franco Battiato and Tiziano Ferro and songs written by herself, too. In a recent interview with Corriere della sera's Io Donna she tells several interesting points about her life: In 1982 Capital records in the USA offered her to promote Per Elisa worldwide after her success in Italy and Europe with Spanish and English versions, PR tour of three years. She asked herself if that's what she wanted, success, living in a suitcase, no private life? "I hardly managed the life I was leading already so I said no" she tells. "It's not like I want to flaunt it, this is the first time I talk about this. I didn't choose this work for ...

Blogilkar's partner radio EFR12 has a brand new look and website, have a look here . And this is how my blog is introduced to the French speaking audience :-)  EFR12 radio est le partenaire officiel de nombreux sites ou blogs. Vous pouvez retrouver en bas de cette page la liste et les liens de ceux qui accompagnent votre webradio. Rendez leur visite de notre part... : )   Parmi les fidèles de la première heure, ilkar.blogspot.fr  Le blog finlandais né après la victoire de Lordi en 2006 vous invite à découvrir l'actualité de l'Eurovision et de ces stars. Le site et riche en information et à la présentation soignée notamment dans le choix des photos.  Vous y trouverez en bonne place, le lecteur d'EFR12 radio pour parcourir les articles en musique.

Severina of Moja stikla fame in Eurovision 2006 is back this summer with an Italian production featuring FM, Italiana . You can really put your high heels to some motion with this catchy tune! Among the many remixes also this one . It may be +15 outside but it feels a bit more like summer now.....

Remember Serebro from Helsinki 2007 with Song #1 ? They have scored hits in Russia ever since regularly and are now making it also abroad, especially in Italy with their Mama Lover , an English version of their old hit Mama ljuba . They will be also headlining the opening party of Rome's Gay Village opening tonight. 

Another sad - or maybe not so much so - news from Sweden. Gothenburg is out of the run for the Eurovision 2013 leaving us Solna and Malmö. Skandinavium is booked for another events already and would be free for Eurovision too late, as well as city's hotel rooms. So, Friend's Arena in Solna it's going to be unless SVT will go with the crazy idea of giving Malmö the semifinals, but then there's no gain but pain only as no time is saved and only more expenses to everyone.... Solna it is. 

Lena Philipsson's marriage is over. Yesterday she announced she's divorcing her husband businessman Per Holknekt. They married in September 2010. At the same time she said her first ex-husband and father of her two children Måns Herngren has been a big support for her during these hard times.... Maybe he's giving her some Om igen ? 

EBU has counted and recounted the votes and can now reveal the separate scores by the juries and the televoters. If it was the juries only like the good old days Sweden would still have won followed by Serbia, Albania, Italy and Spain while the Russian grannies would have been only 11th! (Why am I not surprised?) The first semifinal was won by Albania followed by Moldova, Greece, Cyprus and Romania - only Albania did top-10 in the final.  In the second semifinal Sweden won followed by Serbia, Ukraine, Estonia and Malta - and three of them made the top-10.  The biggest differences between the jury vs televote we have with Turkey (22/4), Ireland (25/10), Italy (4/17), Spain (5/18), Romania (20/7), Ukraine (7/20), France (13/26), Russia (11/2), Greece (18/9), and Malta (16/25). So, in short the juries favored Italy, Spain, France and a bit strangely Ukraine and Malta that I didn't quite expect from them. The televoters went for Russia and Ireland fo...

It has been another success for the Eurovision song contest and EBU. The 2012 edition from Baku was watched by a total of 102,9 million viewers, or 64 million for the grand final and 19,4 and 19,6 million for the semifinals and 37% of share - a much higher for these public broadcasters than on a normal Saturday. In comparison the 2011 final was watched by 70 million, the 2010 by 69 million, the 2009 by 73 million and the 2008 by 64 million, the same as this year. Still long gone are the days when most countries had only 1-2 channels and Eurovision was watched by up to 300 million people..... :-) A bit like the charts with 7"s and iTunes... One just can't compare them!

Chisu was the final act on Helsinki Day's mega concert. She has just released a new deluxe version of her triple platinum selling Kun valaistun with three new tracks Kolmas pyörä , Frankenstein and Kun valaistun also heard in the concert along with her biggest hits like Sama nainen , Tie , Mun koti ei oo täällä , Sabotage , Kohtalon oma and Muut . During the sunny day turned into clouds and for a moment it looked like Chisu would do in kaisaniemi park what Diana Ross did in Central park but it didn't quite go that far.....

Helsinki celebrated it's 200th birthday as the capital city on June 12, 2012 and is also the World Design Capital 2012. The annual open air free concert was better than ever for the occasion and yours truly catched up the last three acts, Happoradio, The Rasmus and Chisu. The Rasmus have just released their 8th album simply titled The Rasmus after a break and Lauri's solo album. Straight from touring Germany the band gave a concert filled with their biggest hits like  In the shadows , F-f-f-falling , In my life and Living in a world without you along with their new material including the singles I'm a mess and Stranger . Great energy, great songs and if I wasn't a fan before now I sure am!  And here are the official videos of Stranger , I'm a mess , Living in a world without you and In the shadows . 

Blogilkar had the pleasure to interview the Italian Head of delegation Nicola Caligiore. How did he live those two last editions in Baku and Dusseldorf? Will Italy be back in 2013? Will there be an Eurovision night in Sanremo? What are his favorite Eurovision songs? What does he think of Italian fans behavior? Here is the interview in English version. The Italian original one is here . Last year, Italy was back with, let's say general euphoria and welcomed with open arms by all in Dusseldorf. How were you received this year? We were greeted very well, for me now all the event management and other heads of delegations are like one big family. Last year, Italy was not among the favorites and finished second. This year, the Zilli was among the main contenders for victory and finished ninth. Why? I can not tell exactly, it is a competition ... you can win, you can lose ... it's part of the game, moreover, to be ninth out of forty-two is not a bad result. Have ...

Blogilkar had the pleasure to interview the Italian Head of delegation Nicola Caligiore. How did he live those two last editions in Baku and Dusseldorf? Will Italy be back in 2013? Will there be an Eurovision night in Sanremo? What are his favorite Eurovision songs? What does he think of Italian fans behavior? Here is the interview in Italian, the English version will follow shortly. L'anno scorso l'Italia é tornata con diciamo euforia generale, accolta a braccia aperte da tutti a Dusseldorf. Come vi hanno accolto quest'anno? Siamo stati accolti benissimo, per me oramai tutto il management dell'evento e gli altri capi delegazione sono come una grande famiglia. Nel 2011 l'Italia non era tra i favoriti ed é finita seconda. Quest'anno invece la Zilli era tra i superfavoriti e finita nona. Come mai? Non so dirti con esattezza, è un concorso… si può vincere, si può perdere… fa parte delle regole del gioco, d’altronde arrivare noni su quaranta...

Another Blogilkar exclusive coming up soon: Italian HoD Nicola Caligiori speaks! What he thinks of 2011 and 2012 and will Italy be in again in 2013? Stay tuned!

Lena Philipsson's Du följer väl med?  or You come along? is the official Pride song for 2012. Lena returns to Pride after her 2008 performance. Soundfactory has remixed the song for the occasion. Here . 

Nina Zilli will fly to Krakow and perform exclusively for the Italian football team in Casa Azzurri during the European Championships this Friday, June 15, 2012. The concert will be aired the day after on Radio Italia at 9pm. After that la Zilli's next live concert will be in Slovenia on June 22. 

Helsinki celebrates it's 200th anniversary as the capital city and it's also the World Design Capital 2012 so the annual Helsinki Day tomorrow June 12 couldn't be but grand. And it is if you look at the artist list in the big open air concert to be held in Kaisaniemi park today from 3pm to 10pm: Chisu, The Rasmus, Erin, Poets of the fall, Happoradio, Herra Ylppö & Ihmiset, Lauri Tähkä and Reckless Love ! Sounds pretty fantastic, I kinda like them all!

The summer and heat is still staying away from Finland but the charts have been taken over by the summer hit already when JVG ft Raappana's Kran turismo climbs to #1 on its third week. Loreen's Euphoria drops to #2 on it's 13th week in top-7. JVG enters also the album charts at #1. The Eurovision 2012 compilation album made it to #10 last week but drops now to #16 on its 4th week. 

For this Sunday Blogilkar offers this absolutely fantastic cover of Nina Zilli's L'amore é femmina (Out of love) by David0 from Rome! Great stuff! And he has about a zillion other covers to pass your lazy Sunday with.... here . And you can like him here . 

Spanish Eurovision fan and photographer Alberto Ponferrada Rodriguez has made this wonderful clip of images  in Baku 2012. Beautiful images to remind us all how it was in Crystal Hall. Here . 

Jedward got some palm to their wounds when they were chosen as one of the 41 Olympic torch carriers in Dublin in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics later this summer. They may not have "lighten their fire" in Baku 2012 but with London 2012 it went better when thousands of people gathered in the streets to cheer them up! And of course they were very excited and it was all awesome! More here . 

If you thought Loreen is single you are wrong, if you believe various Finnish tabloids and Elastinen's friends. They met when Loreen visited The Voice of Finland where Elastinen was a judge. Later Elastinen was pictured on a holiday in Barcelona with a brunette that now is said to have been Loreen. The couple is dating since early May! So Loreen besides having a taste for Finnish clothing and choreography also has a Finnish boyfriend now!  Elastinen (or Kimmo Laiho in his ID) is a Finnish hip hop artist, producer and he's running also a successful independent Rähinä record label and is part of Finntelligens act. 

Emilia: i cantanti italiani si mobilitano per il sisma Bologna stadio dall'Ara 25 giugno Si chiama“Emilia: live” il mega concerto che si terrà il prossimo 25 giugno allo stadio dall'Ara di Bologna in favore dei terremotati dell’Emilia. Per l’iniziativa si sono mobilitati tantissimi artisti, soprattutto del posto, che ben volentieri hanno accettato di cantare per la loro terra senza alcun compenso. L’idea è nata dai Nomadi , in particolare dal leader Beppe Carletti che ha colto la palla al balzo dall’appello lanciato dal consigliere regionale Marco Barbieri, che ha postato su Facebook: “Sono molti gli artisti figli di questa terra o che devono qualcosa all'Emilia. Se li conosco, sono anche loro persone che sanno rimboccarsi le maniche”. Detto, fatto! Il concerto allo stadio dell’Ara ospiterà circa 40mila persone. Il costo del biglietto si aggira tra i 30 e i 35 euro e porterebbe ad una raccolta di quasi 800 mila euro che saranno destinati all’Emilia t...

SVT has a new idea: semifinals in Malmö and Göteborg, the final in Sweden so everybody is happy. As we know the Swedes are so politically correct they never wish to upset anyone. I could find several reasons why this isn't a good idea but thinking better I realize it's bad news only to fans who want to follow all the rehearsals and such...  Of course they should also have three crews, three stages, three pairs of hosts.... but maybe that in the big picture isn't the biggest expense? This way they could even have the semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday and the final on Saturday as usual and skip the first week of rehearsals altogether! It would be the Eurovision week again, like the good old days. All to gain for EBU, SVT and all the delegations who have expressed a will to stay in shorter time and would probably make up for the cost of three of everything method. The ones losing in this game are the fans and journalists who would have to choose between the semifinals ...

YLE has published today the rules for the Uuden Musiikin kilpaulu 2013 aka UMK 2013. Once again there will be 12 songs chosen by an YLE jury and the final will be held in February 2013.  Demos can be sent in between September 3 and 16, 2012 and apparently we will know the lucky ones on December 3, 2012.  One artist can be a soloist only in one song. He or she can be a part of a group in another song. By authors several songs are accepted. The artist on demo must be the final performers as well. One of the authors and the main soloist must be a Finn or permanently living in Finland during the process. Otherwise the usual Eurovision rules apply (max 3 minutes, 6 persons, free language etc) UMK 2012 wasn't a great success what comes to viewing figures and songs (zero hits) or bringing out new singers of success so the 2013 edition can only do better. YLE has already said the selection process will be clearer and people may have a chance to vote th...

Ville Eetvartti came second in UMK 2012 with Lasikaupunki and will also represent Finland in OGAE's Second Chance contest later this year. He's also the first (and maybe only?) artist from UMK that has managed to release an album afterwards.  With the first hearing his album Kirkasta didn't have a great impact but further listening gave a better idea. Ville has written or co-written all the songs and also co-arranged all of them except Lasikaupunki . And indeed it sticks out for the production. Maybe a bit more variety would have been nice but it's a solid album that could easily also be a band's album. I'm not so keen on his way of singing in Mierontie and Prinsessa but maybe some others may think it's the best. Paula Koivuniemi sung about Tom Jones but Ville sings about Johnny Cash and the song is among the best on the album. I also like Tie and Hyvästit . More songs like that and it would have been great! I think his voice suits best these slower...

And another country from Africa visits Blogilkar: Swaziland! Welcome! :-)

Nina Zilli takes on her very succesful L'amore è femmina tour part 2 tonight in Note d'Autore Jazz festival in Piossasco. The tour continues until September and further gigs may be added during this summer.  June 3 PIOSSASCO (TO)- NOTE D’AUTORE JAZZ FESTIVAL 9 LEVICO (TN) – PALALEVICO 22 NOVA GORICA (SLO) – CASINO’ LA PERLA 28 SENIGALLIA (AN)- CATER RADUNO 30 UDINE- UDIN&JAZZ July 7 RICCIONE -NOTTE ROSA 12 GENOVA- ARENA DEL MARE 13 AREZZO – AREZZO WAVE 16 ROMA- ROCK IN ROMA 28 UMBERTIDE (PG)- ROCKIN’ UMBRIA August 4 LOANO (SV) -GIARDINI DEL PRINCIPE 9 CASSINO (FR) – GLI ARCHI VILLAGE 11 LOCOROTONDO (BA)- LOCUS FESTIVAL 12 CANNOLE (LE) -FESTIVAL GUSTO DOPA AL SOLE 24 BARD (AO)- FORTE DI BARD Settember 1 MOLFETTA- ANFITEATRO DI PONENTE 7 VERONA -FESTIV’ AL FEMMINILE 15 MARINA DI VARAZZE (SV) – PORTO