Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Planet Seed is Malta's alternative rock band fronted by Klinsmann Coleiro who has participated in the national Eurovision selection several times as well as the selections for Junior Eurovision, like the third placed She gives me wings . But that was nearly 10 years ago..... 

One team.Three artists. Unlimited possibilities. That's AYTO. And no.1 in the charts with this To the whistle. Perfect summer music!

Joe Roscoe is a twentysomething Maltese artist who has been releasing songs since 2013 when he was awarded as the best new act at Bay Music Awards and released his debut album last year.  He is currently living in Manchester. Maybe soon enough he will ready for The Big Move ? 

Rikki Lee is hot in the charts this summer with a Modern Talking cover Cheri cheri lady , but this Smile from two summers ago is full of sunshine - perfect for holidays!

  The Travellers is band from Malta with a great sound (check out also Semplicità  and Dak li int ) that would be like fresh air to Eurovision should they ever consider it (one can dream, no?). No better band name or music to kick of this Holiday in Malta series! And this is one of the most played songs on Maltese radios this summer, too :-) And I just may have more The Travellers news after I return..... Stay tuned! The Travellers, a young and energetic band, mostly known from their debut single ‘Sempliċità'  released their debut EP, including 5 original Maltese tracks, in April 2016. The band got together in 2013, with one aim in mind, that of trying to create something different in the already wide diversified local music scene.  Read more after the jump.....

Odessa beach Today the announcement of the host city got cancelled and postponed again. The fourth time I suppose, but who's counting? Anyways, until the fat lady aka EBU sings there's no official date or whatever but after today's failure to provide the news has angered the mayor of Dnipro first, and Kiev next. Odessa stays silent so far... Anyways, the time is running out. That has been said loud and clear by both mayors in the past 24 hours to prepare and make it work as they want it. Later today we also found out that Dnipro shouldn't worry about that as apparently they are out of the race that is now between Kiev and Odessa alone. NTU director Alasania has stated it takes another week to value the bids of Odessa and Kiev and then we will have the final decision.  This makes me think my initial idea from long ago that EBU wants it in Odessa, and now they are trying to make it work despite the missing roof and the tent city solution. Kiev came up with a bett...

The 59th Castrocaro festival for the new voices and talents will be aired on Raiuno this Friday and Saturday. Once again it's a mix of total newcomers and some more seasoned artists trying their big breakthrough. Below you can have a taste of their voices with official videos, live performances or whatever they have on offer in Youtube. Enjoy! Vittoria Tampucci (16) Anastasia Pacilio (17) Tomas Ray Tai (27) Ethan Lara (18) Christian Riccetti (16) Luce (Maria Luce Gamboni, 21) Anna Guerra (26) Francesca Notarfrancesco (16) Lucia Golemi (22) Andrea Tortolano (20) Nicole Stella (18) Rosa Chiodo (34) Do you recognize the stars at their first steps to stardom? Past winners include Gigliola Cinquetti (1963), Giusy Romeo aka Giuni Russo (1967), Carla Bissi aka Alice (1971), Michele Zarrillo (1979), Luca Barbarossa (1980), Zucchero Fornaciari (1981), Fiordaliso (1981), Donatella Milani (1982), Lena Biolcati (1984), Rosario Di Bella (198...

Jari Sillanpää, one of the most popular Finnish artists of all time, Tango King 1995 and Eurovision 2004 entrant has revealed literally it all in a new biography that hit the stores earlier this month. He describes in detail his first time with a man, his newfound love to dress up in drag as his alter ego Rosa and all sort of things from his father's violence to alcoholism. And if you are into such things, maybe you have seen him on some videochat as Rosa having fun with his boyfriend?! Not all fans have been pleased to know too intimate details about his past life but he wanted to bare it all. Read more after the jump. Jari, who celebrated his 50th birthday in small scale and intimate at the Helsinki Olympic stadium last summer with full house, will be on TV-screen this fall-winter season as one of the Talent judges.  Meanwhile his success has no end. His Sinä ansaitset kultaa has been in the Radioplay Top-100 already 93 consecutive weeks, at no.65 this week, after top...

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Culture in Ukraine, Yulia Datsenko, confirmed to Interfax-Ukraine that EBU has approved all the three bids in the running; Kiev, Dnipro and Odessa. She also noted the representatives of EBU were pleased with the high level of the organisations preparing for the contest in each city. So, now we just have to wait NTU's decision alone - due next Wednesday according plans -  as EBU is happy with any of them, as long as the contest does take place in Ukraine as planned. Read more about the Ukraine-Russia situation here . In an interview with Podrobnosti director general of NTU Zurab Alasania spoke about the 15 million fee that has been spoken about in the media and the budget. "The budget of the upcoming contest is not yet calculated. The figure of 15 million Euro did not come from the budget. This is the financial guarantee. The European Broadcasting Union admits that in our country can happen something (and we know this can happen), that m...

Maybe it's a miracle or a legenda, even a crisalide still in love with you but  oh oh, uh, oh oh don't play that song again! What's another year? Too long for the organizers of Eurostarz in Concert event in London's The Star of Kings, in King's Cross in London on August 25, 2016 as they are bringing some Eurovision stars together for some fun and entertaining evening. Nikki French will be hosting and performing with Valentina Monetta , Alex Larke of Electro Velvet, Karl William Lund and Martin Fitch aka Marcin Mrozinsky as guest star.  It's a bit of a London affair as both Valentina and Martin these days have made London their home. Various ticket sets are available with VIP package including meet and greet with the stars, photos taken and some CDs as a bonus. More information here . 

Softengine has released the first single off the forthcoming EP, Free rider . And once again it's a very catchy rock-pop affair, that would make an awesome dance mix, too (hint, hint!).  Topi Latukka tells there was a rather mystic coincidence with this song: the very day they finished the demo for this song Prince died. The song includes the line "party like it's 1999"....

Ukrainian troops are in high alert again following the events of the past few days when Russia accused Ukraine is carrying out armed incursions into Crimea, that was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. The spice up the soup is the 25th anniversary of Independence of Ukraine on August 24, and Russia's parliamentary elections on September 18.  Meanwhile Russia has announced they are moving new air defence missiles to Crimea, that are designed to hit airborne target at the range up to 400 kms, and ballistic missiles at the range of 60 kms. Ukraine also claims some 40.000 Russian troops are massed on the Crimea-Ukraine border.  On the other hand Russian UN representative Vitaly Churkin said “There is chaos in Kiev. They don’t know what to do with Donetsk. The Minsk agreements are quite clear, but they have no political will to implement them. Instead of doing this, Kiev “distracts attention to other things,” he added. "Events in Donbass in 2014-15 showed that t...

First it was late July, then August 1.... there were supposed to be two final cities to choose from but we still have three, each with their strong points and some weaknesses and none being the ideal host. NTU and the cities are working on to better their bids and the final decision will be made next week, and announced to the people of Ukraine (and the rest of us) on their Independence Day on August 24. Symbolism anyone?  It is also now known the Ukrainian government is ready with 15 million euro of financial guarantee demanded by EBU. EBU has learned their lesson from Kiev 2005 preparations and this sum will be returned to state treasury afterwards and not used for the preparations. Each bidding city has also guaranteed 5 million euros for the contest's budget in case they are chosen, the rest coming from sponsors, advertising and the participating countries. On top of that the government is to budget additional 5-10 million euros for the contest.  It will be interest...

Amir has released a follow up single On dirait to follow the huge success of his fortunate Eurovision entry J'ai cherché ...  On dirait qu'on à tous un ange On dirait, on dirait bien que c'est toi On dirait que dans ce monde étrange On dirait que t'as toujours été là

German car giant BMW will celebrate its 100th anniversary in the Olympic stadium in Munich next September 9-10. German Eurovision winner Lena will be performing along with Simply Red and the most loved Finns in Germany: Sunrise Avenue's frontman Samu Haber and new risig star Niila. They have recorded together the theme song for the BMW Centennial show, A hundreds years.