FINLAND: ARTISTS WE SHOULD HAVE IN #UMK18 - IF ONLY... Vol.5: KAURIINMETSÄSTÄJÄT, JENNI VARTIAINEN, IDA PAUL, KALLE LINDROTH, JARI SILLANPÄÄ

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.5 (Check out Vol1, Vol2, Vol3 and Vol4)

Kauriinmetsästäjät are Heikki and Tuomas, and they have already enjoyed Spotify and radioplay success with their Sua sua, Intiaanikesä, Oisit vaan sanonu, Kun mä mietin sua niin uuh and Revi mua (below). Could this Pet Shp Boyish in style and look do the trick in Lisbon?

Jenni Vartiainen was part of the Popstars winning girlband Gimmel in 2002. In 2007 she came back after a break as a solo artist and three multiplatinum albums, several hits and nine Emma awards (aka Finnish Grammy) later she's ready to release her fourth album. Hits like Missä muruseni on, En haluu kuolla tänä yönä, Nettiin, Ihmisten edessä, Junat ja naiset and Turvasana (below) are all already classics. Along with Chisu she would be an ultimate Eurovision wet dream. Her Missä muruseni on holds the record of weeks as #1 in the Finnish charts: 15. 

Kalle Lindroth is a musician, ex-front man of SMAK, and tv-presenter. After the band period he's been singing with Ida Paul as a duo. Kalle's solo Annika has been followed by duet Hakuammuntaa (below), Kun tää loppuu, Kupla and Parvekkeella. Ida is half American, and has been writing song to some top artists, besides her solo songs like Laukauksia pimeään and Kunhan muut ei tiedä. Together or solo, they both could be worth a try.

Jari Sillanpää is the second most sold Finnish solo artist with the sales of 850.000. He's been there, done that and even tried to get there again and it's no secret he'd like to do it again. A true entertainer and showman with the right song he could be worth another shot. His Sinä ansaitset kultaa (below) has been in the RadioPlay top-100 already 122 weeks, this week at #66. His latest album took a clear change to poppier sound with songs like Malagaan,  Tanssii kuin John Travolta, Liekeissä and Bondesque Suurempaa is his latest. It would be interesting to see what he'd come up if chosen internally.....