FINLAND: ARTISTS WE SHOULD HAVE IN #UMK18 - IF ONLY.... Vol.2: PETE PARKKONEN, ANNA ABREU, ALMA, MIKKO HARJU

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.2 (Check out Vol.1 here)

Pete Parkkonen made himself known in Idols finishing 3rd. After two albums in English and one in Finnish - and not really going anywhere - he went on to do some television and won both Dancing with stars in 2014 and Tähdet, tähdet in 2016 and a new sex symbol was born. His latest releases have been in Finnish and Kohta sataa (below) video caused quite a stir. No doubt he's also a talented singer. Could this be a winning combination for Eurovision? Check out also Mitä mä teen, Mun, Etenee, Doupein, Mitä minä sanoin and Girl in uniform.

Anna Abreu could the right card to play in Lisbon, as she's half Portuguese and has sung in Portuguese, Spanish, English and Finnish. Over the past ten years she's the most succesful female singer from Idols in Finland and has a string of hits that goes on and on: Vinegar, Bandana, Stereo, Right in front of you, End of love, Hysteria, Contigo corazon, and below her debut album's Solta-se o beijo.

Alma aka Alma-Sofia Miettinen (21) from suburns of Helsinki is the latest Finnish pop sensation having more success abroad than in Finland it seems. Also she made herself first known in Idols even if she didn't get that far. A few years later she's back and beating up everyone else: Karma, Dye my hair, Bonfire, Don't you feel it, All stars and Chasing highs (below) are all enterring charts and radio play lists all over the globe. And she's got personality and looks to match. If she entered UMK18 it would be game over for everyone else though....

Mikko Harju (25) on the other hand is quite possibly a very possible UMK18 name. This electrician was found from Spotify where he released some of his songs and got major labels after him, eventually finishing in Warner. Mä olen tässä, Laulu raikaa and especially Sinä riität with its positive message have been (below) have been well accpeted and played in radios.

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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..... )

JEDWARD GETS NAKED FOR THE FANS

Well, almost. The boys celebrated their 650.000th follower on Twitter by being photographed fresh from shower as promised. It's not the first time they drop their clothes as you see here . Meanwhile their second album is nearly here and the title track Young love is hitting the charts....

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...

Rumors, rumors, rumors....

While the national selections for Junior Eurovision are going on around Europe and Ani Lorak's been confirmed as host all sort of rumors about the real thing are beginning to be the order of the day. Austria returns - or then not. Andorra stays home - or then not. San Marino returns - well, most likely but not surely. Luxembourg should make a come back - or then maybe not. Liechtenstein is still in the running - or has it ever been for real? Has the local TV ever confirmed anything? Is it just wishful thinking by the fans? Poland on the other hand has confirmed they will be in Oslo. And Italy will be still out. And apparently there will be no ban or such for Azerbaijan nor Spain for the irregularities in and after the 2009 edition. EBU had to change the text in the rules to make it sure nothing like that what happened in Azerbaijan could happen again. Or if it will they have means and rules to back up a ban or sanction.... Katerina Avgoustakis has been rumored to be in Oslo...

Russia recycles the video

Here is the video for Alexey's previous hit Бам Бам! and here is the video for his Eurovision 2011 entry Get you as Alex Sparrow as he likes to be called now abraod. Looks like he potreys the new rich Russia well.... The only problem is that he can't play the bad part convincingly not even a second. And did I say the song is crap? And of course as he is a Russian star he must have nude fotos of him flotaing around internet trying to be sexy and he fails there, too, big time. If you are not bad nor sexy you shouldn't push it. Maybe he should stick to singing jolly little numbers like the Kalinka rip off instead....

GOODBYE, FAREWELL...

The time has come. After all these years, 5,7 million visits, 12.000 articles I guess the time has come. As much as I love and care for Eurovision it just doesn't feel the same. The Corona years took their toll and the past two years and certain decisions have helped me to mature the idea that next year I will hear the songs for the first time in semi-final just like any so called local. The bubble has burst. Add the toxicity in social medias and fandom. The arrogant teenagers who saw their first contest somewhere 2017 or even 2021 who think they know it all and only their opinion matters. Did I mention the toxic atmosphere on social medias? I'm too old for that sh*t. It's been a long ride that took me to various Eurovision on spot as a fan and tourist, as a journalist, as a delegation member. I met some great people, made memories of lifetime. In stressful, sad periods of my life this blog has been my safe place, a place to escape and forget everything else for an hour o...

UK: Naked Blue

The boys of Blue have posed nude again. This time for the Attitude magazine's annual Naked issue and they are also in the cover. Watch the video of the shooting here . Band member Duncan, who is bi-sexual, recently told The Daily Star : “We are getting our kit off for Attitude magazine like the McFly boys did. I’m up for showing everything off. I’m happy enough about the size of my manhood. ” Extra media attention won't hurt their changes in Germany to win it for the UK for the first time since 1997... They will and they can!

Jedward Vs. Blue - the naked truth

Not so long ago Blue took it all off for a Attitude photoshoot that surely didn't hurt their chances. Now Jedward follows with GT photoshoot and behind the scenes video you can see here . The fight is on. The Lipstick guys have also taken every possibility to badmouth the British veterans. But I think Blue are with a chance to win it all and wouldn't be suprised if Jedward would do the Irish turkey trick - their live vocal capacities are pretty much the same! Lipstick vs. I can ? Grown up muscle guys with voices vs. skinny quite tunedeath teenage boys, who do you prefer?

Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

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