Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Rolf Liebermann, Clifford Brown, Frank Naef, Christian Clausen, Christine Marchal-Ortiz, Svante Stockselius, Jon Ola Sand and .... ? After Rotterdam 2020 we will have a new Executive Supervisor, who to part of fandom is the evil and devil in person and to the rest of us the face of the voting and results. With the millenials and today's fandom Jon Ola and Svante have been blamed in person for most everything imaginable, but the truth is that Svante (2004-2010) and Jon Ola (2011-2020) have managed to give the contest a breath of life and made it more popular than ever. And today's fanboys have no idea who the ones before where, if not for the legendary "Mr Naef, Mr Naef..."  episode in Rome 1991. Svante introduced the semi-finals that saved us from the insane rules of staying home the year after if you did bad (perfect way of ruining anyone's interest at home if you had to sit away every other year, like Finland) or random semi regional pre-selections, and intro...

  Late Colin Vearncombe aka Black shot to the fame with wonderful Wonderful life in 1987 after its re-release. His career continued with ups and downs, and his apparent dislike of pop stardom became clear and he even started mocking his own hit song later in career. Music business puppet or not, those first two albums were great. His career never took to stardom again and he died in 2016 after a car accident....  Check out also:

Lauri Tähkä is no doubt one of the most popular male singers in the 2010's and he has a string of hits like no other, including Palavaa vettä that has become the song that has stayed the most week's at radio play #1 and strangely no one wanted to cover that.... Instead we had older and also less known songs and even one of his latest hits Mä en pelkää , totally reworked and almost unrecognisable by VilleGalle who barely missed out my top-4 that include two teary ballads, one clever remake by Vesala bringing his music back to the folk ethno roots and then Maija's version she totally made her own. Enjoy! Studio Lauri's original Studio Lauri's original Studio Lauri's original Studio Lauri's original

  Named after Bette Davis La Midler is a true artist: outstanding actress and comedian, awesome singer and showgirl. She can belt out funny tunes and emotional ballads with the same credibility. I fell in love with Art or bust show and never looked back. The Rose is one of my all time favorite songs and these days I follow her on Twitter for twitty and clever comments on everything, especially Donald Trump.  Check out also:

Oh, I loved Spagna. I loved her also in the 90's when she switched eurodisco in English to Italian Sanremo pop in Italian. These days she's balancing between the two and still around, maybe not quite finding the success she used to, but she's been around in a form or another ever since late 60's, including this pearl . Barbara York , Mirage , Carol Kane , Yvonne Kay , Kika Le Pen ... those are some of her names she has released music besides Spagna and Ivana Spagna. As late as 2012. Check out also:

Mahmood already co-wrote several songs on Marco Mengoni's #1 and double platinum selling Atlantico album, and there's more: Mengoni is releasing a double-CD packaging of the album that includes three new songs and live recording from his #AtlanticoLive2019 tour, and a new single Duemila volte , co-written again by Mahmood. The other new songs are Calci e pugni and Il destino davanti .  The live CD includes 19 songs, a mix of his biggest hits like Ti ho voluto bene veramente , Guerriero and Io ti aspetto , and the songs of Atlantico. Among the songs also obviously L'Essenziale .  The single Duemila volte will be released October 4:

  Late musician-actor Gérard Blanc scored a megahit Une autre histoire in 1987 after he went solo and I was hooked on his sound. A few hits followed and he continued his career until his sudden and early death in January 2009, just before he was to hit the road again on a tour.... He was also one of  the ones working on Princess Stéphanie's albums.

Sebastian Da Costa Spotify

  I remember being very angry when they won Eurovision and even if I have learned to get amused by Making your mind up by now, it's not exactly among my Eurovision winners favorites. But after that they started belting out hits and I liked them. A sort of poor man's ABBA like. All through 80's and even now, after their comeback in the late 2010's... When we were young is still something extraordinary! check out also:

Italy's close runs continue in the annual OGAE Second Chance contest where Il Volo's third placed Sanremo entru Musica che resta is beaten by only two points by France's Seemone, the runner up of Destination Eurovision with her Tous les deux . Sweden sent Anna Bergendahl, the only Swedish act not to reach the final so far, and only 10th in this year's Melodifestivalen. Her Ashes to ashes , one of the finest songs this year in the national final circuit gets a sweet revenge and places third. You can watch the show produced in Udine by the Italian OGAE Club, last year's winner with Annalisa's Il mondo prima di te HERE . 

  Gianna Nannini leaves me a bit puzzled. I totally loved her all through 80's and early 90's albums but then I have lost totally track and, I admit, interest in her new music even if she is still strong and one of Italian leading ladies at 65. Well, I will always have these songs that have ment a lot to me in the past, and still love them dearly and bring back so many memories. Gianna and me, 13 inter-rails around Italy and Europe. Ragazzo dell'Europa, enough said. Oh, and I may have ruined the 12" remix of Voglio fare l'amore by playing it too many times..... at full blast! Check out also:

  Belinda is still around but for me she's one of the most iconic 80's singers with hit after hit from her first solo albums, including Heaven is a place on heart . Isn't that one of the most iconic 80's hits? Maybe others think the same as she hasn't really bothered the charts since early 90's.... and her latest album is a collection of Sikh chants for yoga or something..... Oh dear. And the one before a collection of French chansons, including oddly Eurovision winner Merci, cherie ... Check out also:

From the series Where are they now? there are news about Waldo's People's Waldo aka Marko Reijonen (52). He says he's been suffering for a long time unexplainable tiredness, like living in a permanent jetlag state also thanks to his way of life as an artist. Now the reason is out: he has to undergo an operation for coronary artery disease. This comes as no surprise as his dad died of heart attack at the age of 52, and his granddad at the age of 44. He says some of his veins are blocked up to 70%! This blogger gives Waldo thumbs up and it'll surely all go well and he'll be like new afterwards! Waldo is not alone with his health problems, as Emma also announced she has to put her career on hold for a moment. .... Waldo's is still doing gigs actively, also thanks to the 90's revival shows and festivals. At the moment he's touring with Ysärin Kuninkaalliset (90's royalty) Tour with another 90's superfavorite Movetron . 

  Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, the collest princess ever! Surely she's got an colorful life from running away with a circyus, marrying her bodyguard, being a model and designer and on the other hand losing her mother in a car accident that some say she was driving.... All this put aside, she also was a singer for a period. Her debut Ouragan might have been a Jeanne Mas reject but it was a huge hit anyways. A few followed, both in French and in English. 

Or should it be JVG's day? Anyways. Once again they had lunch, dinner and other activities, a few tears were shed and this time Vesala and Maija Vilkkumaa scored in my book with their versions, along with Samu Haber and Lauri Tähkä, as usual. We so need Samu's solo album in Finnish! Enjoy! Studio Original by JVG Studio Original by JVG Studio Original by JVG Studio Original by JVG 

  Mecano must be on of my all time favorite band. I have all their albums, most of their singles in various languages; Spanish, Italian and French. The only ones missing are the rare English versions... They lasted together the 80's, with the last album coming out in 1991. The sound of a decade indeed that culminated with the megahit Hijo de la luna , a rumored Eurovision entry..... If only..... Check out also

  Italian music world and not only, is turning to support Emma (35) on social media after her unexpected announcement on her instagram earlier this week. "Things happen. This really isn't the best moment but then, never would have been the right moment for this. It's time to deal with it and take care of it for good. I'll be back stronger than ever" as she cancelled her participation in a concert in Malta and apologing her fans who had booked flights and accomodations on the island to come and support her, along with her other plans.  Most propably it's cancer, people are whispering. She was operated already 2009 for a tumor in uterus, and for the second time in 2014 and apparently it's back for the third time. Update 24.9.: According TG1 it should be neoplasm, and apparently benign and curable.  The moment is the most unfortunate as her latest single Io sono bella (I am beautiful) has been well received by the critics and becoming one of her bi...

  If 80's was all about Motown, the 80's were equally all about PWL. I was a big fan and pretty much liked and purchased all they released. Things you do when you're young....  Some artists you liked more, some less but Jason was definately one of my top favorites.... It was good all those 2-3 years it lasted....

  Janet's Control album gave a hint of things to come and Rhythm Nation 1814 was fabulous, even if for me the best one is janet. that followed. I have never been a Michael Jackson fan but Janet, I always had a soft spot for her.  Check out also:

  Oh I still remember well when I first saw Taylor Dayne's Tell it to my heart music. I was hypnotized. She came across like Nina Hagen's and Madonna's lovechild and I was in love. I followed her through the next releases but lost interest when her looks and songs became mainstream AOR stuff... Shame. That esaggerated mouth deserved an everending string of fierce hit songs.

Some details have been announced about the 70th festival della canzone italiana aka Sanremo 2020 ( more news here ). The  Big artists won't be announced during the Sanremo Giovani selection on December 17 but only on January 6, 2020. Amadeus has also stated he would like to have Monica Bellucci as his co-hostess, and dreams of bringing either Madonna or Lady Gaga to the festival as guest, but Tiziano Ferro is more likely..... Meanwhile the rumours of possible artists are already started, as while the Italian Eurovision fans are afraid Amadeus will bring the festival back in time with likes of Albano and other oldies after baglioni's surprising fresh approach here are some names rumored and/or  who I would like to see in the festival..... Click for their latest or best videos. Alexia Tommaso Paradiso Alberto Urso Dolcenera Malika Ayane Elodie Lorenzo Fragola The Kolors Pierdavide Carone Loredana Berté Modà Irama Lisa Federica Carta Mar...

  Like ABBA no one could have saved from hearing Roxette. Even if may have preferred the ballads like Crash boom bang I was onboard from the beginning. One of my most vivid and fond memories is a crispy sunny morning at Pier 17 in New York's Seaport, when the fog was fading away and It must have been love playing at the breakfast restaurant's loudspeakers outside....

  I was in the Jeanne Mas team for a long time but Mylene Farmer came like a storm and kept releasing fantastic songs and amazing epic short historic film videos with Laurent Boutonnat, the most expensive ever in French language beating likes of Michael Jackson in budget. I became a huge fan in the 80's and 90's but since then I have lost a bit touch, but not the French audience: 15 #1s and 45 top-10 hits and counting. And I still keep eye on her new releases hoping she will reconquer me again.  Check out also: