FINLAND: ARTISTS WE SHOULD HAVE IN #UMK18 IF ONLY.... Vol.8: BENJAMIN, DIANDRA, MIKAEL GABRIEL, CHISU

It's September and the Eurovision 2018 season is officially on. I will feature in coming days names that could be in UMK18, if only...... I say if only, as most likely we won't see any of them in there for UMK is profilied as a newcomers contest instead of being our own Sanremo or Melodifestivalen. In short: a major contest all the big names want to take part not only to win but to boost their record sales and score hits. But one can dream, right? I have thrown in some not so known names for variety. Let's go.... Vol.8 Check out the previous posts by scrolling down.

Benjamin didn't hit fame and fortune from Youtube or Spotify but from Instagram. Yup. He got a huge following before he even recorded one note or before anyone even thought he could be a singer. His debut Underdogs was a Top-10 hit in Finland and became a hit in Spain, of all places, where he apparently has a following. Unbreakable, Young and restless, Body and Man on the moon (below) continued his success. He also made it to television and took part in Tähdet tähdet reality musical variety show placing 4th. He also starred in 20 episode Naked Diary web series for YLE. Spanish teenage girls would certainly secure us a few points :-)

Diandra is Idols winner 2012 and considered one of the finest voices in Finland. She already won Staraoke 2004, a kids singing competition at the age of 8. She also plays violin. She has said Eurovision is her dream and she already tried in 2013 and was the pre-contest favorite but finished 3rd with Colliding into you. Her both albums have sold gold but she's struggled to find her audience switching from English to Finnish and lately featuring in various rappers hits and doing various television shows. Outta my head, Onni on (below), Prinsessalle, Paha poika, Päästä mut pois and Fiiliksissä are among her best known songs.

Mikael Gabriel's first appearance was in Idols ten years ago but he didn't make it to the show. He decided to become a rapper. Four albums and string of hits later as himself and as featured artist he's conquered the audiences as rapper, film actor and is becoming more of a singer than rapper. Vain elämää made him a household name. Riippumatto, Helium (below), Vastatuuleen, Viimeisen kerran, Älä herätä mua unesta, Kipua, Liikaa sussa kii... this is kind of pop rap this blogger approves.

Chisu was not ment to be a singer but songwriter and producer - which she still does writing songs to others. She was the first - and only - female ever to win Emma, the Finnish Grammy, as a producer. She has won six other Emmas for the Song of the year two years in a row (Mun koti ei oo täällä, Baden-Baden) and the best album three times and Female artist as well as the best video award. Four gold and platinum selling albums and a string of hits has made her one of the leading female artists of the 2000's: Sabotage (below), Ihana, Kohtalon oma, Tuu mua vastaan, Frankenstein, and this blogger's two favorites Yksinäisen keijun tarina and Sama nainen, among the best Finnish songs ever. Now she's one real Eurovision wet dream.....

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SONGS OF THE YEAR 2015: #5 KRISTA SIEGFRIDS - ON & OFF

Krista Siegfrids is delivering nice pop tunes one after another and this one is particularly catchy and soon you will be singing along..... Hopefully her Melodifestivalen entry will be equally good!

ESC 2016 WISH LIST: MARGARET FOR POLAND

Małgorzata Jamroży aka Margaret has also been tipped for Eurovision and apparently she did turn it down but she'd be perfect. She's got a look and persona you can't unnotice nor forget, she's got hit songs, she has been voted or nominated for everything from Trendy artist to the Hope of the Year, Fashion Icon and Glamour Woman of the year besides the usual best video, song, album, debut..... Oh she's also a fashion designer! She's very clever with social medias and would surely use it to her advantage if selected for Stockholm 2016. Her debut album is titled Add the blonde , do we need to say more? Except it includes mostly Swedish written pop tunes like Tell me how are ya , Wasted , Start a fire and Heartbeat . And of course her debut single and internationally noticed Thank you very much that you can enjoy below with all its anti-textil feel. I think she's Eurovision perfection, she's cheeky and fun, can we have her?

ESC 2016 BELARUS: NAKED WITH WOLVES?

Today's funniest Eurovision related story comes from Belarus. Some sources claim Ivan wants to perform on stage naked and with live wolf or wolves. It surely would be a first on Eurovision stage! We have seen some forgotten underwear over the years, and some cardbox animals though..... Is it time to take things a bit further? No, according the rules live animals are not allowed, and Eurovision being a family show nudity won't do either. (It seems to be ok to be half naked if you are a dancer though..... )

GREECE: HELENA PAPARIZOU HITS AGAIN WITH HAIDE

Eurovision song contest 2005 winner Helena Paparizou has been enjoying Top-5 hits every year since 2003 with the exception of 2010 and 2014, this latest one being already her 27th! And Haide is charting also in Bulgaria and Finland, of all places. The catchiness of her hits has changed less over the years than her face.... Here's the English version , below the Greek version.

CAROLA'S BOOBS STEAL THE SHOW, SVT APOLOGIES

Update! Another thing got Swedes talking last night: Carola's boobs when she was giving away an award. This is not the first time her boombs cause headlines; her misfortunate adventures in the 80's in Japan wer explained with her boobs being too big for Japanese market. Ok.... Or was it the song ? Anyways, Carola apologies and says she thinks the dress is stylish and elegant (even her friends said so) and she's a mature woman in her 40s, not a 16-year-old girl and looks like one. The Swedish Oscars, Guldbagge awards were given out last night. Carola was there as a guest star to sing Barbra Streisand's The way we were when honoring the movie stars who passed away during 2012. However, the cameras were too much on Carola, not on the stars showed in photos in the background and that upset many viewers as that part of the show was to celebrate them, not Carola. Oh well... The producer of the show tells in Aftonbladet the part of the show was made the sam...

TIM SCHOU AND HIS NAKED GRAVITY

Tim Schou has a pretty good solo career going since he left his friends in London. He's travelling the world and relesing songs and videos. The latest one is a great track and comes with a steamy video that kinda takes away from the song really. But who's complaining. If you got it, flaunt it. Enjoy the video below. This post coming after the other Dane, Rasmus Seebach as wishlist for Eurovision. To think about it, Tim would do nicely, too. Maybe he should give it another go?

ESC 2015 SERBIA: BOJANA GOES POLYGLOT AND RELEASES A NEW VIDEO AND REMIX

Serbian Bojana Stamenov hasn't been having beauty sleeps while prepairing for Vienna. She has just released a new proper video replacing the previous fans featuring beauty video , right after she has given us Spanish ( El mundo bajo mis pies ) and French ( Le monde est à moi ) versions of the song! And an Autobahn remix that is kinda fabulous! Busy girl! PS. I still think the original Ceo svet je moj takes the prize! Oh WAIT! There's yet another version: Die ganze Welt is mein ! And that's something else ....

EUROVISION 2025: THOSE WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO BASEL - MARCO RODRIGUES - A MINHA CASA

Marco Rodrigues offered one of those timeless beautiful songs that makes Festival da Canção very dear national selection for me. A minha casa was just one of those, masterfully sung by successful and multi awarded, Grammy nominated fado singer Marco and one of those that sneakily starts playing in your head after the more instant and upbeat songs fade away and you grow tired of.

EUROVISION 2025: FROM ICELAND TO CYPRUS, FROM AUSTRALIA TO FINLAND!

The running orders for the semi-final were revealed today and we see we will have the very first non-English opening number since the producers have decided on the running order when Iceland rows it away come Tuesday May 13. Cyprus will end the first semi-final. The second semi-final is opened somewhat surprisingly by Australia and ends with not at all surprisingly with Finland. And for the first time - FINALLY!!!! - the Big5 and host country will perform among the semi-finalists and even not in the end of the show separately but spread evenly here and there in the line up! This should have been the case ever since the Big5 or back then Big4 were introduced. Let's see if that stands also for the rehearsal schedules!

Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

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