Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  New music from Finland twice a week in this new series from the charts, radio play or just new names trying to make it. Enjoy! Antti Tuisku - Kipee Mira Luoti - Hopeinen tussi Ollie - Hei Rose ANI, MELO, william - Mul on kaikki

  From Lithuania to Malta, and from San Marino to Denmark.  Let the fandom have a meltdown over analyzing the reasons why a certain country is where but it's good to remember it's not only having a variety of genres and genders in the mix but also props and stagings have a significant weight in the decision. And of course they want to clue the audience to the screen from the very first moment and Lithuania and San Marino will certainly do that. I also suspect San Marino may have some heavy props to move around - fast to remove but takes time to set up.  Time will tell.

New music from Finland twice a week in this new series from the charts, radio play or just new names trying to make it. Enjoy! ABREU - 20 Ave Mariaa Eini - Vihdoin valmis Terri - Liekki Aksel Kankaanranta - Muista kuka oot

The ridiculous Belarusian affair came to a closure today when EBU announced they failed to produce a new entry that wasn't just another propaganda nonsense. Always sad to see a country go, but this time all I can say is....da pabačennia!

New music from Finland twice a week in this new series from the charts, radio play or just new names trying to make it. Enjoy! Lauri Tähkä - Aavikko Ellinoora - Dinosauruksii Cledos x BEHM - Life (Sun luo) Teemu Roivainen - Uusi alku

The Italian legend and Eurovision veteran Franco Battiato turns 76 today, but the main reason this year is to celebrate his La voce del padrone album that turns 40. The album was the very first album in Italy to sell over one million copies and changed the Italian music scene forever and influenced other artists and does so even today. In most every voting by critics ever since it is considered as one of the most important Italian albums ever. And no wonder considering the songs on it, that are all classics these days. The album and its songs were hits also in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany among others. Remaining in Eurovision theme his Eurovision veteran partner Alice covered several of them in her stolen jewels album Gioilli rubati in 1985.  Now for the 40th anniversary the album is re-released in various limited edition formats and remasterings, including the one being most alike to the original (after remastering in 2008) with minor changes Battiato now considers...

Destiny , no doubt a great vocalist, Junior Eurovision winner but still very much lost with her style and musical direction. Je me casse mixes pop and electro swing, a winning combination at Eurovision as we know..... not.

Georgia's Tornike Kipiani underlines the fact that even if your song isn't the best written or produced with borderline silly poor English lyrics it feels more real and authentic that all those well studied polished and over produced ones. I want to like this. And that's a lot to achieve. 

Last year she was all about Cleopatra, this time another female legend Mata Hari. This entry is the most shameless watered down rewriting of last year's popular entry having the same sounds and effects, and it even mentions Cleopatra and that's just about all I can remember. Add the mummy murmur that is done by herself this time and awful lot of awkward posing that comes across very unnatural to her. 

Tusse took a clear victory in Melodifestivalen 2021 final winning both jury and televotes against all wishes by the usual fandom that wanted Eric Saade or most of all Dotter simple because who they are, no matter what they sing. Readers of this blog know I'm not so fond of Mello finding it very overrated and in my opinion the best song won this time. It had some realness in it, a catchy melody and hook and Tusse sung better than most. And yes, Dotter was beaten by The Mamas again by one point! Why do I find that rather amusing? Full results: 1. Tusse - Voices (jury 79 + televote 96) 175 2. Eric Saade - Every minute (69 + 49) 118 3. The Mamas - In the middle (50 + 56) 106 4. Dotter - Little Tot (57 + 48) 105 5. Clara Klingenström - Behöver inte dig idag (39 + 52) 91 6. Klara hammarström - Beat of broken hearts (43 + 36) 79 7. Danny Saucedo - Dandi dansa (39 + 35) 74 8. Charlotte Perrelli - Still young (32 + 28) 60 9. Arvingarna - Tänker inte alls gå hem (22 + 22) 44 10. Alvaro Estr...

Daði og Gagnamagnið won the Icelandic national final last year earning the ticket to Rotterdam 2020 with Think about things that went viral on internet and became quite a phenomenon. Despite that Icelandic television took their time to confirm them also for 2021 instead of staging the national final again. If Daði sung about his newborn daughter last year with his wife and friends, this year he sings about the wife and their 10 years relationship. 

The Mamas could become the 27th artist from 2020 season to have it another go this year, if they win tonight Melodifestivalen 2021. Besides them Eurovision 1999 winner Charlotte Perrelli (1999, 2008) and veterans Eric Saade (2011) and Arvingarna (1993) are in, with previous fan favorites and runner ups Dotter (2020) and Danny Saucedo (runner up for both Eric Saade 2011 and Loreen 2012). Another favorite is Idols 2019 winner Tusse and a total outsider against all odds Clara Klingeström. The songs are the usual Mello mix, polished but rather uninteresting and soulless perfection with thought after stagings but at least this year it's quite open and interesting to see who eventually wins.  Danny Saucedo - Dandi dansa *** Klara Hammarström - Beat of broken hearts ** Anton Ewald - New religion ** The Mamas - In the middle ** Paul Rey - The missing piece * Charlotte Perrelli - Still young ** Tusse - Voices **** Alvaro Estrella - Baila baila *** Clara Klingenström - Behöver inte dig idag ...

Samanta Tina won the Latvian national final last year after about a zillion attempts and was internally re-selected for this year's Eurovision represent. Tonight she revealed her entry The moon is rising . Not my cup of tea. 

Poland is one of those few countries that didn't give a chance to their last year's winner and participant (Alicja Szemplińska) but instead hand over the ticket to  RAFAŁ , last year's Junior Eurovision song contest host Rafał Brzozowski instead with internally chosen The Ride .  

Today's second release comes from North Macedonia and Vasil . Like most everyone also he was confirmed for 2021 after having been internally selected for 2020. Like James Newman for UK also he brings a different side of himself to the contest this year, a boombastic ballad Here I stand .

BBC took their time but confirmed James Newman , their internal choice for Eurovision 2020, also for 2021 and today he has released his new entry, Embers . Nicely different from last year's entry, but.... well....

Bulgaria is today's 4th country to reveal their entry, and internally selected Victoria for 2020 was the one for also 2021. For the final decision and release they had a bit more adventurous idea than staging an usual multi song national final: earlier this year she released an EP A little dramatic with five new songs and the decision was between those and one earlier released song after they asked and received feedback from fans and professionals alike. Tonight she performed all of them with the rest of her entire discography in a concert on a roof top in Sofia city center. In the end it was between Growing up is getting old and Imaginary friend , she told and the first one was then the chosen one. 

Third song release today comes from Greece, and yes, it's Stefania who was internally selected last year at it again this year. And it's with delight I see the lovely revisited 80s sound so much present in most national finals makes its way to Eurovision 2021 as well. This one, too, could be straight from Flashdance soundtrack. In my book it's a good thing.

Switzerland is one of those many countries sticking to its internal choice of 2020 aka Gjon's Tears and today he has presented his internally chosen entry for Eurovision 2021: Tout l'universe . Again in French - hooray for that! and at least with the first hearing the one with the most similar song to last year's, even if a lot more uptempo and rhythmic. But it has all his trademark sounds that made him one of the favorites to win it all last year. 

Today's first release comes from Austria. Vincent Bueno was internally chosen last year and also for this 2021 edition of Eurovision song contest. This year he brings something quite different from last year's entry Alive . Amen continues this year's minor semi  gospel/religious theme.....

Russian Channel 1 kept quiet about their Eurovision plans for 2021 and the theory is they planned/wanted to go with Little Big again but when they presented Sex Machine as their entry panicked and pulled together a last minute mini national final for the first time 2012 when the grannies won. The compensate the lack of entries they filled the studio with likes of Philipp Kirkorov, Dima Bilan, Polina Gagarina who also performed, Dima Koldun, Julia Saicheva, Diana Garipova and even Moldova's Natalia Gordienko, and many more. Therr Maitz (Anton Belyaev) - Future is bright 24,6% #2Mashi - Bitter words 35,7% Manizha - Russkaya Zhenschina (Русская Женщина) 39,7%

Oh my, after exhausting last night with the Danish, Estonian, Portuguese and Sanremo finals until dawn with added Swedish Andra chansen in between this morning San Marino makes it again. First the rumour spred it's Adrenalina for Senhit, then than it features rapper Flo Rida and now it all seems becoming real... Flo or no Flo, this season's first winning vibes. But then again, this is kind of music I like even outside Eurovision so no wonder, but somehow this feels more real and less calculated than many others, and easy to like for what it is. Well done San Marino again, always something in your sleeve, my adopted second home country away from home!

Måneskin won the 71st Sanremo last night becoming the first or only rock band to do so ever. The closest is Enrico Ruggeri's Mistero back in 1993 but compared to this its pop.  They confirmed with a lot of enthusiasm in the press conference this morning that they will do Eurovision! Måneskin was founded 2015 in Rome and consist of Damiano David (22), Victoria de Angelis (20),Thomas Raggi (20) and Ethan Torchio (20). In 2017 they were the runner ups in X Factor Italia. They have released one album (a new one is coming soon) and one EP plus a string of hits, incl #1 Torno a casa and six other Top-20 hits.  Final results: 1. Måneskin - Zitti e buoni   40,7% (televote 53,5%) 2. Francesca Michielin & Fedez - Chiamami per nome   30,5% (televote 28,3%) 3. Ermal Meta - Un milione di cose da dirti   28,8% (televote 18,2%9

Tonight's the night. I will sit back and enjoy the show hoping to be able stay awake til the dawn when the results will be out. I will add here the running order and all the awards and final results when available. Tonight's voting in the first round is televote only. It will be added to the results of the previous nights to find out the final ranking. The Top-3 will be re-voted with zeroed votes in the usual threesome: Demoscopic jury (33%), Press/media (33%) and televote (34%). Tonight's running order: Ghemon - Momento perfetto Gaia - Cuore amaro Irama - La genesi del tuo colore (rehearsal video) Gio Evan - Arnica Ermal Meta - Un milione di cose da dirti Fulminacci - Santa Marinella Francesco Renga - Quando trovo te Extraliscio feat. Davide Toffolo - Bianca luce nera Colapesce e Dimartino - Musica leggerissima Malika Ayanae - Ti piaci cosi Francesca Michielin e Fedez - Chiamami per nome Ornella Vanoni & Francesco Gabbani Willie Peyote - Mai dire mai (La locura) Orie...

It was a tie in Portugal but The Black Mamba got more televotes and won. The televote winner was left third. FULL RESULTS: 1.The Black Mamba (jyry 10 + televote 10) 20 2. Carolina Deslandes (12 + 8) 20 3. NEEV (5 + 12) 17 4. Sara Afonso (8 + 5) 13 5. Valeria (3 + 7) 10 6. Karetus & Romeu Baires (4 + 6) 10 7. Joana Alegre (6 + 3) 9 8. EU.CLIDES (7 + 2) 9 9. Pedro Golcalves (1 + 4) 5 10. Fabia Maia (2 + 1) 3

The Danish national final Dansk Melodi Grand prix 2021 has had its minor scandal when they didn't invite last year's winners back. Who in turn made it very clear they didn't want to take part in a national final again but be selected internally. Then the new finalists were announced. And they came public with a song they had submitted. And not being accepted. Oh the drama in fandom! But truth to be said, it wasn't that good. But tonight there were eight songs, three made it to the superfinal and in the end pre-contest favorites Fyr Og Flamme won with  Øve os på hinanden . Chief 1 & Thomas Buttenschøn - Højt over skyerne came 3rd and Jean Michel - Beautiful was 2nd.  FINAL RESULTS: 1. Fyr & Flamme   37% 2. Chief 1 &  Thomas Buttenschøn   29% 3. Jean Michel    34%

Uku Suviste was indeed The Lucky One and secured a win in Eesti laul 2021, where he got a wild card to the semi-finals, qualuified and took home the victory becoming 26th artist from 2020 to be present also in 2021. Sissi came second and Juri Pootsmann third.  Full results: 1. Uku Suviste (televote 12 + jury 3) 15 2. Juri Pootsmann (8 + 7) 15 3. Sissi (3 + 12) 15 4. Koit Toome (10 + 4) 14 5. Andrej Zevakin & Pluuto (4 + 10) 14 6. Katri Voorand (5 + 5) 10 7. Suured tudrukud (6 + 2) 8 8. Karl Killing (0 + 8) 8 9. redel (7 + 0) 7 10. Hans Nayna (0 + 6) 6 11. Ivo Linna & co. (2 + 0) 2 12. Egert Milder (0 + 1) 1 Super final: 1. Uku Suviste   46,1% 2. Sissi   29,4% 3. Juri Pootsmann   24,5%

It's been long four nights so far and the longest one is yet to come tonight. I must admit I haven't been able to stay up every night but that's not because of the length but because it's been a bit.... well, boring. Only the second night or Wednesday was very entertaining with a string of interesting guests and fantastic go-hostess Elodie . Also this year I don't have very clear favorites - at the moment it's Colapesce Dimartino only - and in terms of Eurovision it looks all very uncertain. If the guests performances ( Elodie and Mahmood ) are the best thing we have a problem. In short I guess I need more Fiorello in my nights because everytime he enters the stage it's fun (who would have thought!) and otherwise not so much..... The viewing figures have been highest on the first night (almost 11,2 million) and in media around 7-8  million or 42-46% share), lowest for years.  This said Gaudiano , my favorite by far, won the Newcomers last night and just wh...

Portugal sticks to its national final Festival da Canção also in 2021 and there was no invitation for last year's winner Elisa in any form it seems. Otherwise it was business as usual, RTP invited 20 composers who had free hands to choose the artists etc. Ten of them made the final through two semi-finals. A lot of good old saudade in sight tonight. And two songs in English. NEEV is quite wonderful, and The Black Mamba have their thing, too, but I wouldn't want to see Portugal sending a non-Portuguese song. I'd prefer Pedro simply for the use of word madrugada and the 80s vibe. But my favorite is Eu.clides.  Karetus & Romeu Baires - Saudade *** Joana Alegre - Joana do mar ** Fábia Maia - Dia lindo * Valéria - Na mais profunda saudade **** Carolina Deslandes - Por um tris *** NEEV - Dancing in the stars Pedro Gonçalves - Não vou ficar **** Sara Afonso - Contramão ** Eu.clides - Volta-face **** The Black Mamba - Love is on my side ***

Estonia is one of those few countries having a national final as usual for the Eurovision song contest 2021. If The Roop got a wildcard directly to the final in Lithuania here last year's winner Uku Suviste got one for the semi-finals and qualified, where as in Finland and Sweden last year's winner made it to semis or final (apparently) through open call. But Uku is not alone, the final line up has three more previous winners: Ivo Linna (1996), Koit Toome (1998, 2017) and  Jüri Pootsmann (2016). Add Eurovision winner 2001 Dave Benton's daughter Sissi and you have a good dose of Eurovision royalty in da house.  Sadly, there isn't any stand out entries this year so my votes go to Uku and Koit, and most of all Hans, even if I think he may have no chance whatsover... Egert Milder - Free again ** Rather anonymous, forgettable and uninspiring. Can't remember a thing. Was it country music or something? Suured tüdrukud - Heaven's not that far tonight **** Housewifes let...