Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

No surprise last night, pre-contest favorite Barbara Pravi convinced both televoters and the expert panel and took an easy win in the Eurovision France, c'est vous qui décidez!   After first round where televoters chose seven entries and the expert panel a wildcard the votes were zeroed and the share was 50-50. Just like I anticipated Juliette Moraine finished second and the fan favorites Andriamad and Philippine didn't even make the second round. Life in the bubble anyone? Casanova and Amui surprised in televoting, maybe thanks to Corsican and Tahitian diaspora? (Or maybe not) Barbara Pravi is no stranger to Eurovision. Apparently she was already asked last year internally but declined the offer as she didn't feel ready. In the Junior Eurovision she's been the co-authjor of the past two French entries Bim bam toi (5th) and J'imagine , that won the contest last year in Poland.  1. Barbara Pravi - Voilà (jury 100 + televote 100) 204 2. Juliette Moraine - Pourvu qu...

France television sacked Tom Leeb, their internally selected Eurovision 2020 artist in mutual agreement and goes for a national final tonight. Twelve songs first become eight, seven voted by the televoters and one extra wildcard by the panel (Eurovision winners Marie Myriam and Duncan Laurence, Eurovision veterans Amir, Natasha St-Pier, legendary Eurovision spokesperson Élodie Gossuin, fashion icon and Eurovision fan Jean-Paul Gaultier and singer Chimène Badi, comedian Michèle Bernier, singer-comedian Agustin Galiana and singer/talent judge André Manoukian). In the second round the eight will be judged by televoters and the panel again but this time 50-50%. The pre-contest favorite seems to be Barbara Pravi with her very French song, that could be Indila's .... Besides French the songs include some Tahitian (Maeva), Corsican (Casanova) and English (Andriamad, LMK and Poney X) 21 Juin Le Duo - Peux-tu me dire? *** Fun catchy feel good song but not memorable or special enough to stan...

While the fandom seemed to be all for Ue la la and La la love my favourite from the start was Set me free, and guess what? it won! Let the fandom melt down.... The downscaled selection show took place tonight without audience or live performances and people voting out the winner by an app.

You could be in the middle of a crowd and still feel incredibly alone. It’s one of the most difficult feelings any person can have, as we're meant to connect with others. I hope that my song can provide everyone with a bit of hope and comfort, no matter if they feel lonely or not. Even though it doesn’t include an explicit message of survival, I hope that it can make people feel that they aren’t alone in their feelings , Ilta concludes. Her touching ballad Kelle mä soitan (“Who Will I Call”) is a concrete depiction of what it is like to live with loneliness. Ilta's effort is beautiful as is her voice, the arrangement is nice but maybe just a little bit over produced lacking the simply clean sound of Behm and early Chisu. Another goodie that probably works best live 3/5... Ed. Let me correct myself after a couple repeated listenings: 4/5

We want to show everyone that even if your life isn’t ideal, it can still be fun. This song is dedicated to everyone who has ever felt excluded or unworthy, to those who just want to flip everyone off and scream bloody murder. We're here to say that we’re not alone in this world – and the Eurovision Song Contest is all about unity, no matter how you choose to express it! Dark Side is the soundtrack to an underground party and serves as the perfect distillation of our message.  It’s time for Finland and the world to see, hear and understand what Blind Channel is made of. Blind Channel calls its style ‘violent pop’. After honing their craft underground for three albums, the band believes that the time has come for them to bring their sound to the world. Blind Channel loves to put on a show, and the band’s members are no strangers to crazy antics and big gestures. Pretty much what I expected, but this no Viszlát nyár compared to energy and slap in the face. AWS was pure energy, these ...

Hurt is a powerful yet sensitive ballad about how looks can be deceiving. Someone may look like they’re ok on the outside, but they could still be in terrible pain on the inside. When you’re hurting, you also end up hurting the ones you love. I’ve lived that experience, so I’m truly able to identify with this message. My song is also a reminder that you don't need to be anyone but yourself , Aksel tells and believes that he is more prepared to focus on his performance this year, as he is now more familiar with the contest and its production process. As we all remember he won UMK2020 with Looking back , but never got to sing it on Eurovision stage. However, he still likes to approach things with his trademark mantra to life: “We’ll see how things will go” I didn't quite know what to expect after Looking back and his follow up in Finnish but this is good, soothing, touching.  I think I like this more than Looking back, that took me some time to appreciate. If he nails this live ...

Play is an irresistible combination of country and pop. Its lyrics focus on an on-and-off relationship where one person has become fed up with constantly forgiving the other. I want my audience to open their hearts and find the power and support they need to move on in their lives and relationships. I believe that my story will resonate with many listeners , Laura says. Ever since she was a little girl, Laura has spent a considerable amount of time in Finland. Today, she typically spends half of the year in Finland as part of her musical and professional career. Her tenth album, released in the winter of 2019, was produced in Finland, and she has also begun learning Finnish. Laura feels that participating in UMK will help further cement her position in her new home country. The final spark for performing in the contest was lit last spring when she participated in UMK’s international jury. Better on her own? We will see. She's been to Eurovision twice but never solo so far and I d...

Sinä päivänä kun kaikki rakastaa mua (“The Day When Everyone Loves Me”) is a unique and melancholic numbe r that, according to Danny (78), is no farewell song. ”It’s about how life is a gift, but how you can never be sure how long it will last – only that it will, eventually, come to an end. My song aims to be a humorous and truthful take on the subject. While its lyrics may not represent your typical Eurovision ditty, it’s an ambitious effort that represents a perspective that is rarely approached in pop music. ” Well, one can't but think of Pave Maijanen who passed away Saturday morning and the whole weekend in media and social medias has been indeed the day when everybody love him. Danny's song's lyrics are written about the funeral preparations  and things to do the day he is loved by everyone aka dead and ends up in the evening news one more time. Just like Pave did. The lyrics are little bit humorous but also serious at the same time but the song itself goes nowhere a...

  I Love You is not just an instantly catchy tune – its goal is to help people better express their emotions and become more open and courageous. Our mission is to bring people together in joy, celebration and love. We want to tell everyone that love does not care what language you speak or how you look. It’s all about the power of non-verbal cues or, as Pandora likes to call it, mental interaction , the Brothers tell.  The idea for I Love You and participating in the UMK have been long in the making. The seeds for the collaboration between the Teflon Brothers and Pandora were planted four years ago, in a chance backstage meeting. Pandora has also developed a soft spot for Finland during her long-lasting international career: her fiancé is Finnish, and she calls Finland home for half of the year. According to Pandora, her participation in the UMK is her way of thanking the Finnish public for their devotion and support while the Teflon Brothers say they represent the people of...

Sadly, most people don’t have the guts to say what they really feel, especially when the stakes are high. They usually end up saying what they think the other person wants to hear. This is something that is universal to all people and cultures, which makes the Eurovision Song Contest the perfect venue for my song and its message , Oskr tells about his song Lie . Well, what can I say about this? Nice voice, good lyrics and quite lovely arrangement that actually feels like some intimate acoustic arrangement of a pop tune, something you'd be delighted to hear after you have heard the original a zillion times, if you know what I mean. A weak 3 out of 5 at this point, and the first impression matters so might end up 2/5 later on me thinks.....

The artists may have leaked already last night, as usual, but today they were confirmed in a short presentation on Yle's social media channels and even live on TV1 at 1pm local time. The songs will be aired one per day starting from tomorrow. The final will take place on February 20 without live audience, and the winner will be determined by televoters (75%) and international jury (25%). The host os the show will be revealed only in February.  TEFLON BROTHERS X PANDORA - I LOVE YOU (Jaakko Salovaara-Axel Ehnström-Mikko Kuoppala-Heikki Kuula-Jani Tuohimaa-Anneli Magnusson) Teflon Brothers is a rap, pop, dance trio made of Pyhimys, Heikki Kuula and Voli. They started back in 2006. They have released six albums and 27 singles, often featuring guest vocalists and having humorous lyrics. Their biggest hits are Seksikkäin jäbä (#3), Maradona (Kesä '86) (#1), Pämppää (#1), Hubba bubba (#2), Aksel Kankaanranta got his breakhtrough being featured in Jättiläinen by Pyhimys who has...

Marco Mengoni unites forces with hit makers Takagi & Ketra and featuring rapper Frah Quintale for his latest release Venere e Marte aka Venus and Mars, his first release in over a year. 

If BEHM was the Queen in the official singles charts ( here ) she also dominated the radio charts with her two song with a total of 17 weeks at number one and a total of 97 weeks in Top-100 with her various songs. In radios the longest lasting number one was however Epäröimättä hetkeekään by Elastinen & Jenni Vartiainen with 20 weeks at number one. Then comes surprisingly Erin with Yhtenä sunnuntaina and its seven weeks. Another duet 2020 by Anna Puu and Olavi Uusivirta spent 4 weeks at number one while Stereo feat Samu Haber and Arttu Wiskari topped the charts only for a week, making it only seven radio number ones in 2020! All of them Finnish. BEHM - Hei rakas (Weeks 1, 3, 4-11) Stereo feat. Samu Haber - Sä saat mut palasiksi (Week 2) Elastinen & Jenni Vartiainen - Epäröimättä hetkeäkään (Weeks 12-29, 33-35) Anna Puu & Olavi Uusivirta - 2020 (Weeks 30-32, 40) Arttu Wiskari -Tässäkö tää oli? (Week 36) Erin - Yhtenä sunnuntaina (Weeks 37-39, 41-44) BEHM - Frida (45-...

A total of 14 songs topped the official Finnish singles chart in the 2020 for anything between one week to an incredible 20 weeks. Nine of them were Finnish and the foreign one with the most weeks has a video directed by a Finn, namely Blinding lights . The queen of 2020 is BEHM who's Hei rakas  continued being number one also in 2020 after six weeks in the end of 2019 (and 12 in total in top-20 in 2019 and where it still stays in  week 53/20!). Her Frida has spent in the charts already 25 weeks in top-7 and spent 3 separate weeks at #1 and 15 weeks at #2! Tivolit spent 22 weeks in the top-20, three of them at #2. Her other seven album songs made the charts for a total of 34 weeks thanks to streaming.  If BEHM was the Queen then William was the King with 20 weeks on top with Penelope . The Weeknd was the real foreign contender and by the end of the year Vain elämää reality provided two #1 hits this season: Stig covering Arja Koriseva 's cover of Annikki Tähti 's cover ...

Sure as a change of a month, and this time even a year, Senhit comes out with a new cover on her #freakytriptoRotterdam. This time she has covered ABBA's Waterloo , Eurovision 1974 winner and turned it into a disco banger.... and many other musical styles! Previous entries: Amar pelois dos Rise like a Phoenix Congratulations Ding a dong Everyway that I can Cheesecake