Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Belarusian finalist have been announced for the December 7, 2012 final. Last year's first winner Alena Lanskaya made the cut as well as other national final veterans Uzari and Nuteki Band. These are the singers and these are the songs. Who wins and who goes to Malmö 2013 and with which song, remains to be seen :-). Last year Alena was left home and Litesound, the runner ups were sent to Baku instead. Not that I minded, it was much better choice! Max Lawrence   - I love your charming eyes Alena Lanskaya – Rhythm in love Alexei Gross – One way love Daria – Catch me again Nuteki  Band – Save me Satsura – Get out of my way Uzari – Secret Яnkey – Letter to mother Vitaly Voronko – I wonder how you Beaver Band – Incredible girl

Remember Darin? He was to release his sixth album earlier this year but scrapped it and left for the US instead and is now working with several famous and successful producers and writers, among them Jim Beans (who co-write Dima Bilan's Believe ), Billy Mann, Sasha Skarbek, Busbee and RedOne. The new album is in the makes between New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles and should be released early next year. "I couldn't release something I wasn't 110% sure about. When it comes to music I'm perfectionist. This new album has a chance to break abroad, it's very important for me. At the moment I'm in studio with these guys and we write songs for me, and it's possible I write for other artists, too" he says. Darin has four #1 albums in Sweden (and a lot of fans in Finland, too) to his credit even if being only 25. He broke through from the Idol 2004 and also participated in Melodifestivalen 2010 with You're out of my life  finishing 4th. The ye...

Today's rumor is the Cypriot broadcaster RIK has asked Yiorgos Papadopoulos to represent Cyprus in Malmö 2013. Apparently he's seriously considering the offer and time will tell if he will accept.  His songs include  Esi Den Xerei s,  Gia tin agapi sou , Ohi and Thalasses . I must admit I never heard of him before this but quick listening to his songs proves he's not bad at all. Nice songs and excellent voice, and looks don't hurt either. Eurovision material indeed.... 

Hayk Kasparov, the Armenian star I'd so would like to see on Eurovision stage has released a new single and video  Ես կամ նա (Es kam na, translates to I or him) and it's once again a beautiful, atmospheric one. He makes Armenian sound very nice indeed. I have written about him and his Eurovision adventures so far here . 

Eric Saade is really pleasing his fans this fall. besides the two new singles recently released he will release on November the DVD Pop Explosion Live Concert that includes 19 songs live in concert, 9 music videos, and three more videos including an interview, Eric answering fan's questions and backstage. And that's not all, if you order it here you will also receive a signed postcard that includes information how to win an exclusive meeting with him.... Is it Christmas already? Meanwhile enjoy some Eric's videos here: Manboy , Masquerade , Popular , Break of dawn .  Hearts In The Air , Hotter Than Fire , Marching in the name of love ... but Imagine is not included as a video. 

The new Swedish mega arena in Solna, just outside Stockholm has been opened. The venue seats 65.000 (but only 45.000 were there for the opening) and will be hosting Melodifestivalen final next March. Also an option for Eurovision 2013 but now seeing the pics I'm really happy it isn't. Looks like the Olympics closing ceremony on a stadium. What do you actually see there in the spot but the screens? Surely works fine on TV-screen but in my books there's no reason to go see something only to watch it on TV or DVD later to see what really was happening.... And my guess the artists even feel a bit lonely among all those people as they can hardly see anyone of them.... Anyways Loreen was there.... ...So was Danny Saucedo with Tommy Körberg..... And of course crown princess Victoria! See more pics here  and here

OGAE Italy is having its annual meeting in Bologna this weekend and the program includes the usual dinners and karaokes with the guest of honor Fabrizio Faniello. Here's an interview (In Italian) with him by OGAE Italy president Cristina Giuntini. He's doing career in Indonesia these days but dreams of Sanremo.... and he has a song running for Eurovision 2013 as well... His latest single is a Tose Proeski cover The hardest thing .  Se vuoi sapere più che cos'è OGAE Italy, clicca  qui . 

Remember Koldun? He worked his magic in Helsinki 2007 and gained the best placing for Belarus to date. He has released his second album  Ночной пилот (Night pilot) earlier this year and has just released a fourth single off it,  Облака-бродяги that follows  Ничего ,  Корабли and title track  Ночной пилот . Nice pop music from this Lady Di lookalike. 

Last Saturday Lithuania started its selection for Eurodiena and also tonight you can watch the show live at 8pm CET here .  After this second presentation show we have seen and heard all the contestants and there will be then five preselection shows followed by two semifinals (December 8 and 15) and the final just before Christmas (most likely).  Tonight another 16 artists will show their skills singing covers:  Linas Adomaitis Saules Broliai Sepa Gerai Gerai it Miss Sheep D’oro Egle Jakstyte Freezing Kiss Bozole Giedre Smolskaite Donatas Šimkus – Dumas Alive Way Girmante Vaitkute Glaam Feliksas Merlin AndriusS Pojavis Timohi You can see some of last week's performances (*or other) here: 1. El Fuego - Miserere  * 2. Chill Out, Have No Doubt - I Like Ya' Dirty  * 3. Baiba - Euphoria 4. Berta Timinskaitė - Jurgos Arija 5. Al Bagdo - Očarovana, Okoldovana 6. Ieva Zasimauskaitė - Kai Gir...

Loreen was tonight live in Finnish TV in Mikko & Heikki Show (or Eurovision 2007 host Miko Leppilampi and  multi-Euroviisut host Heikki Paasonen) singing My heart is refusing me . Let's see how high she gets in the charts when the next official chart comes out....

What happens when you are the world's only deaf rapper? Signmark, runner up in Euroviisut 2009 with Speakerbox is denied by Gramex the royalties as an artist "because he doesn't produce sound". Makes sense but is it fair? "The past six years I have tried to make them understand I write the lyrics and arrange the music to fit the sign language. I even suggested they could fit me in the conductor category but that wasn't ok either. maybe in the next album I has to clap my hands or something to produce a sound?" Gramex has paid him royalties when he has been the producer, but he would like to be recognized as an artist, too. "It's not about the money, it's the principle" he concludes. Signmark has been busy ever since his breakthrough and even if he has had a few gigs in Finland over the year, too, he has been busy abroad. "The United States, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina, France.... Ethiopia was amazing, there...

Carola is known for driving too fast and or just having accidents  that's a well known fact in Sweden. She experienced something new while in Redondo Village, Los Angeles. "I was window shopping and sitting very low to see well outside and someone reported there's a car without a driver! " she tells Aftonbladet. "Police came and stopped me and when I asked if I was driving too slow they simply said "Yes!" Instead giving her a ticket the officer gave her a lecture that usually people driving too slow are either lost or drunk. Luckily she wasn't either of those two. Maybe she was window shopping for a Melodifestivalen 2013 outfit? She's a top priority in Christer Björkman's list for the 2013 artists, besides celebrating her 30th anniversary in the business. 

Franco Battiato wrote Eri con me for Alice when she asked him to write him something in the lines of Battiato 's  L'Oceano di silenzio . You can here Alice's Eri con me in her new album Samsara and indeed it's arrangement and style is very similar to that one. Franco himself liked the song so much the decided to record it for his freshly released album Apriti sesamo as well, but in a true Battiato style arrangement, here . Which one do you like more? Comment in the box! And while we at it, here are some Alice & Battiato duets for you to enjoy: Chanson egocentrique , Come un sigillo , I treni di Tozeur . 

Some time ago I wrote Nina Zilli finished her summer tour and will have a little break. The break was really little as now she's ready to hit the Italian theaters with another tour. Below you can find the dates and venues.  The tickets for the closing concert in Blue Note can be bought only together with the one of the opening concert, also in Milan. It will be a very intimate affair with only 250 tickets on sale to celebrate the end of a very successful and eventful year for Nina. It all started with Sanremo, release of her second album L'amore è femmina , then prime time TV-series with Giorgio Panariello, followed by Eurovision, all summer and autumn in tour followed by this short mini tour in theaters. A year to remember! 5.11  – Teatro degli Arcimboldi – MILANO 8.11 – Auditorium S.Chiara – TRENTO 15.11 – Teatro Comunale – CHIASSO 16.11 – Teatro Colosseo – TORINO 19.11 – Arena del Sole – BOLOGNA 24.11 – Auditorium Parco della Musi...

Forget un banc, un arbre and une rue, it's all about a tree, a balloon and Slovenian Maja Keuc now. Namely she has released a very beautiful and hypnotic You're a tree and I'm a balloon video. Apparently she's living in the Netherlands now hoping to break into the European music scene. Well, she's got the voice and the looks and now it seems she's got also her own thing going on.... Really refreshing listening! And no need for those boots!

Kati Wolf has released a new video and single   Az, aki voltam (Who I were) There is also the English version The last time . She keeps delivering good songs, well done Kati! Her latest single is Lángolj , but there's no video for it as yet. 

No surprise here. As expected and speculated Gina Dirawi returns after the success of 2012 edition. But unlike last year when no one knew her now everybody knows her. She will be packed by Danny Saucedo who this way has no fear he's become second in the competition again. Well, maybe to Gina, but that's another story... :-) Gina & Danny will be doing all the six shows.... The circus starts from Karlskrona on February 2, 2013 and moves on to Gothenburg, then Skellefteå and Malmö on February 23, 2013. Karlstad hosts the Andra chancen round and the grand final will be in Stockholm on March 9, 2013 in the brand new and huge Friends Arena. 

Alexander Rybak is back with new material and the first single off the next album is Leave me alone , a song inspired by a real stalker story he has been living with. Maybe she will now leave him alone, as the song.... well, how to put it nicely? ... isn't exactly one of his bests, is it? 

Lithuania may have started their selection last Saturday but no results or eliminations were given, it's Switzerland who really kicks of the season tonight. Namely the Swiss Italian RSI. Tonight at 9pm the selection will take place in Living Room in Lugano and seven songs will be performed. One song will be selected by a jury, the other by public vote to the Swiss national final in December in Kreuzingen. You can listen the show here . And pre-listen the songs here . Guest stars will be Sinplus! Update: People's choice was Chiara Dubey and the jury picked Ally (maybe she was second behind Chiara also in their list, so it sounded....) 2L  –  Smoke out Vanda Palma  –  La farfalla va Theo  –  My wonderful life Sohaila  –  But who Marilise  –  Nobody Chiara Dubey  –  Bella sera Ally  –  Catch me

This is the news of the day. Apparently RAI has applied to participate in Eurovision 2013 in Malmö. Maybe we won't find out for sure until EBU gives out the full official list by the end of the year or early January, but so it seems. And I must say that after two excellent participation I had no doubt about it. Obviously there is no news how the artists and the song will be selected but it's not going to be via The Voice as many fans have speculated. Most likely Sanremo will be once again the venue and involved somehow...  In that case it will be very interesting to see who will follow Raphael Gualazzi and Nina Zilli, now that different people are in charge in Sanremo...I read the news first here . Update: It's official now. RAI announced it in it's Eurovision Facebook page! 

Franco Battiato releases today his latest album, titled Apriti sesamo! ( Open sesame! ). It's a mosaic of quotations and electro pop. There's his opinions as well as his long time partner Manlio Sgalambro, lyrics in both Italian and English, citations of Santa Teresa D'Avila, Dante, Arabian-Sicilian poet Ibn Hamdis among others, while the music mixes pop to motives by Gluck's Orfeo ed Euclide , Rimsky-Korsakov's Sherazade and Passacaglia di Stefano Landi, a composer from the 16th centery. Passacaglia is also the first single off the album. Listen snippets here .  In a recent interview he declared he feels no more anger for people, only compassion. And that he's sorry for those who are slaves of their egos and cannot imagine new lives. Wise words indeed. He sings: "I'd like to go back to see the past again to understand better what we have lost.  We live in a horrible world...."  

Set designer Gaetano Castelli has taken care of the stage and look of Sanremo festival since 2002 (with the exception of 2006 when it was done by Dante Ferretti) and also from 1992-1996 is not going to be in charge for the 2013 edition. For the first time ever it's a woman, Francesca Montinaro, known to have renewed the Italian TV's set image and bringing it to the new era with her innovations. She has already worked with presenter Fabio Fazio in his show Che tempo che fa . We can expect a modern look and different use of lights and projected images. Or then something completely different. I have loved Castelli's sets, especially in the 1990's but in the recent years they have been rather similar and dark. A change is very welcome in my books! Can't wait to see the Montinaro set! Here's Tiziano Ferro in her set of Che tempo che fa . 

Belarusian Ruslan Alekhno did Eurovision 2008 with Hasta la vista but not much has been heard of him since, at least this part of the world where I live and even in Eurovision circuits. He released this summer this  Не забыть ( Do not forget ) which is very nice indeed. Apparently it's his first single since 2009... Correct me if I'm wrong. I wouldn't mind hearing more of this fine voiced man!

While we are at these Swedish rumors, it is given rather secure that Danny Saucedo will be back after his two years in a row as the runner up (and now also runner up in the OGAE Second chance contest ;-) ). But hold your horses, he's going to be one of the presenters! As they say, when a door closes a window opens! Apparently he was going to be present as a songwriter for someone else this time but as a presenter can't also have a song in the running he has withdrawn all his collaborations. Or so they say.  Let's wait and see. The names of the 2-3 presenters should be revealed by the end of October, says Christer Björkman. Another name circulating as sure is Gina Dirawi, but he says she could be also considered for Eurovision 2013 instead.... 

Christer Björkman is after Carola. He's ready to roll out the red carpet and get her into Melodifestivalen 2013. He says in Aftonbladet that as soon as he's got the 32 songs ready he will contact her and do his best.  Meanwhile Carola, who is celebrating her 30th anniversary since Främling in 2013 is planning her big schlager come back and new pop album. Despite being a bit skeptical about Melodifestivalen again she admits she has cleared May in her agenda....  And that she's been offered some really strong songs over the past months..... And now, wouldn't that be the best way to celebrate? After all her story started in Malmö, February 26, 1983. Hmmm, I was there, in Sweden I mean watching it live on telly and angry as Kikki didn't win with Varför är kärleken röd , lol. But by summer I was a fan and saw her live in Fagersta Folkets Park... :-)

A new number one after four weeks of Korean domination here. Flo Rida climbs to number one with I cry . 

Endless are the ways to select the Eurovision entry. November 2, 2012 a special advisory board will meet with the TRT committee to discuss the next Turkish entry. All this after TRT's general director İbrahim Şahin earlier this year said Turkey is done with Eurovision and will be in Baku 2012 only because it's Baku. He also criticized the televoting system maybe forgetting Turkey is one country that has benefited from it the most perhaps! All this is now past them and Turkey will indeed be in Malmö 2013.  The advisory board includes several previous Turkish represents along with other musicians, TV and radio personalities. I wonder what the outcome will be? I hope Turkey would bring back the real flavor of their music and hopefully also the language! Will they all agree it's time for Tarkan finally? :-) Can Bonomo (2012), Ferhan Akgül (maNga 2010), Harun Tekin (Mor Ve Ötesi 2008), Sertab Erener (2003), Kayahan Acar and Demet Sağır...

Pastora Soler beated eternal runner up Danny Saucedo with one point only to the second place and wins OGAE Second chance contest for Spain. And this blogger is just very happy! Sweden has won this contest already 13 times out of 26 so the fan adoration for the Melodifestivalen entries is getting beyond ridiculous. This is also Sweden's 7th second place. 20/26... C'mon! They are not that good, are they?  Anyways, Spain took its 3rd win with Tu vida es tu vida . Norway came third.  Here are the full results. 

More news from Switzerland. The Italian language broadcaster RSI has announced its seven songs for the October 23, 2012 semifinal. These were chosen among more than 30 applicants. Two acts will qualify for the national final on December 15, 2012. Now we have to wait for the French part's news. The seven are: Theo – My wonderful life N2L – Smoke out Marilise – Nobody Ally – Catch me Chiara Dubey – Bella sera (she's also in SF's selection) Vanda Palma – La farfalla va Sohaila – But who Listen to all songs here .

Shiri Maimon, Israel's finest has released this summer a fantastic little ballad called  שלג בשרב (Snow in heat). Sometimes less is more and Shiri sings like an angel. Really nice. She's one artist that could give Eurovision another shot and better her already good 4th place in 2005 with  השקט שנשאר  As a proud owner of her first two albums I definitely want this third one as well released in 2012. 

I'm known to take side every now and then and now's the time to do it again. In the Swiss German selection one of the candidates is Melissa with The point of no return . You can give her up to 4 votes but I'm sure she will be happy for each and every vote she will get from you! The voting lasts til October 29, 2012. Hijack all your family computers and friends, too, and let those four votes fly in! :-)  Here is how to register and vote. 

Eric Saade is making a comeback next week by performing in the Swedish X Factor and releasing two new singles (what's this deal with Swedes and two singles?)  He says he's been quiet for awhile but it's time to talk again. And talk he does: "I have done already everything in Sweden, it is time for a new sound. And it's no thank you for Melodifestivalen and Eurovision. I'm no longer doing schlager, and they know it. Been there, done that. I'm not even interested to host it, not my cup of tea. I leave that to Måns (Zelmerlöw)!"  And the new musical style? Urban hip hop..... (Oh dear God.... Ed.note ) Are we ready for another dose of Mr Saade?

Dima Bilan continues to release new songs and videos and the latest one is   Лови мои цветные сны (translates to Catchy my colorful dreams ) features a very beautifully shot black and white beach video by Sergey Banderas. Maybe his dreams aren't so colorful after all? Perhaps not one of his strongest songs but a nice relaxed song anyways. And nice to look at, at least!

Belarus will be most likely the first country to have their entry out, as their national final will take place on December 7, 2012 already. There will be semifinals during the month of November. Lithuania is going for the long road. Their selection process starts already this Saturday. Qualifiers will head to the semifinals later on and eventually to the final. The first shows are sort of casting shows where the artists sing non-original songs of their choice. The first one presents 17 artists..... These shows seem to be five all through November, followed by two semifinals in December leading to the final early next year. In Switzerland the German online selection is going on with several familiar names, from Lys Assia to Melissa and everything in between. The Italian part has also announced their finalists but we haven't heard the songs yet. The French part will choose internally for the mid-December Swiss national final. Israel is apparently going for a big se...

I wrote earlier today about Katri Helena cancelling her Christmas tour. Now from neighboring Sweden comes news that Måns Zelmerlöw does the same. All of  his Christmas with friends tour or 27 concerts have been cancelled. Reason? Weak ticket sales. How come? Isn't he the Swedish public's sweetheart anymore?  On the wild speculative side one could think he has cancelled the tour so he has time to prepare for another big one-man-show coming up next spring? We'll see....

Or rather, she's been fired from Värttinä after 12 years. The band is right now in WOMEX or World Music Expo in Thessaloniki, Greece and that gig will be her last with Värttinä. The band will be awarded in the expo for the success of their latest album. Johanna is the other half of Kuunkuiskaajat and Susan Aho, the other half stays in Wärttinä. She tells is a recent women's weekly magazine about her burn out and trouble with her voice because of that, and how the other band members voted about her and majority wanted to get rid of her this summer.  Tsemppiä Johanna, as we say here in Finland!

Jedward has released a new single and video, Luminous . It's the third single off their second album Young love . And quite different from their previous offerings....  And the guys just turned 21. Congrats!

Eurovision veteran (and most likely Melodifestivalen 2013 entrant) Tommy Körberg has joined Melodifestivalen two time runner up Danny Saucedo in a song I can see myself in you penned by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus. The song will be performed live on October 27, 2012 at the Friends Arenas opening concert.  Let's see if this one will bring Danny boy some success after the singles Shake that ass and All in my head that both can be considered flops.....

Namely cancels her tour that was due to start next month. She hasn't cancelled any concerts for 20 years now. The reason is she the whooping cough she had this summer and still hasn't quite recovered and after doctor's advice she had to take this decision. Next year she will be celebrating her 50th anniversary in the music business and on top of it. With two Eurovisions to her credit and over one million albums sold already back in 1994 she is the most successful Finnish female artist by far. At the moment she's actual on TV as one of the singers in Vain elämää (originally De beste zangers van Nederland, also Så mycker bättre in Sweden) along with Jari Sillanpää, Neumann of Dingo, Cheek, Erin (ex-Nylon Beat), Kaija Koo and Jonne Aaron of Negative. In last week's episode they sung Erin's songs and Katri Helena did Vanha nainen hunningolla . Translates freely to "Old woman gone bad". Excellent job! In the first episode she sung Valkeaa unelmaa by ...

One of the biggest Italian artists internationally, if not the biggest, Eros Ramazzotti returns with a new album Noi (We) ,  his 12th studio album since his debut in 1985 with Cuori agitati . Ten of his albums have made it to #1 in Italy (including compilations) and additional three have reached #2. His albums have sold over 40 million so far so this is no minor event in this falls's music business. Further this is his first release for Universal.  Judging the first single Un angelo disteso al sole  (or the Spanish version Un àngel como el sol tù eres ) one can expect a solid Ramazzotti style songs on this one, too. The album includes 14 new songs and several interesting duets. Pyssycat Dolls' Nicole Sherzinger duets in Fino all'estati , actor Giancarlo Giannini visits Io sono te , rappers Club Dogo are featured in Testa o cuore , Il Volo duets in Cosi and finally Hooverphonics are featured in the closing track Solamente uno .  Eros has dueted many times...

A very happy and pleased looking Anouk has announced herself this morning that she will represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision 2013 in Malmö in her Facebook page . So it's a happy ending for the long Dutch soap opera so far. Let's see how Malmö treats her....  But hey, we have our very first entrant for 2013! Yuhuu! Also confirmed now by eurovision.tv. The song and video will be presented in February.

We already know the venue of Eurovision 2013 will be the smallest for many years, but now we learn SVT is looking for a one presenter only solution as well. And to get rid of the huge LED walls on stage, something that Oslo 2010 did as well. The one presenter, last used back in 1995, will give more space for the presenter who would be more involved in the show, a bit like the Oscars. This blogger thinks that sounds good, the recent years the presenters have become more and more invisible and one can hardly remember who they were.... No decision has been made on who will present the show but if it has to be now someone who can carry the show, maybe sing and act a bit and have the necessary stage and screen presence..... one funny lady comes to mind. And one cute guy.... Let's see... With dropping the LED screens and one host only SVT aims for a more intimate show, where people indeed come together.  Overall Malmö 2013 is about embracing the unique diversity of people, cul...

Camilla Henemark, ex- Army of Lovers , these days better known better as ex-Lover of the King (poor Silvia!) when the biography of the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf came out last year and created a huge scandal . Camilla became the queen of scandals but now she strikes back. Together with Dominika Peczynski and Miss Inga (Martin Johansson) she forms the band Happy Hoes and has sent in a song and now are waiting for the news from Christer Björkman. Previously they have released Don't try to steal my limelight and   We rule the world . The band would surely bring Melodifestivalen some needed media fuss and speculation. We'll see..... (PS. Expressen claims she's got OK from SVT....)

Alice's new and second single of Samsara album is self penned Orientamento following Tiziano Ferro penned Nata ieri . Orientamento is a fan favourite from the beginning. Meanwhile her tour is haping up and new dates have been added to the Italian leg of the tour and the international dates next spring will be added soon. The first concert on November 30, 2012 is will be a charity one. All profits will be donated to IOR and AISLA, two associations of cancer and sclerosis.  The tour dates so far are:  29.11.2012 Correggio (RE) 30.11.2012 Forli  8.12.2012 Rimini  9.12.2012 Rovereto (TN) 10.12.2012 Verona 11.12.2012 Milano 13.12.2012 Firenze 14.12.2012 Como 11.1.2013 Sant'Agata Bolognese 12.1.2013 Padova 24.1.2013 Roma 26.1.2013 Pescara 1.2.2013 Torino 2.2.2013 Bologna 9.2.2013 Asti 10.2.2013 Livorno

Readers of this blog might have noticed I have fallen for the charms of Kaliopi big time this spring for her Crno i belo , espcially for her scream and the interview with her made me totally adore her (Kaliopi, if reading this: Love you!!!!). Now she's released a new single  Vučica , a song full of Balcan melancholy and the video full of the beauty of Kaliopi.....