EUROVISION 2024 - UMK FINLAND: MIKAEL GABRIEL, NUBLU - VOX POPULI
Finnish (pop) rapper Mikael Gabriel and Estonian nublu join forces for the third time for UMK 2024 and Eurovision with Vox populi. The previous efforts Universum and Vihje have been very different in style though, even between them. When the names were announced most thought this is the one to beat but then Sara Siipola kinda stole their thunder. We'll see how it goes next Saturday.
Mikael Kristian Gabriel Sohlman (34) has Estonian mother which gives a little connection to this Finnish-Estonian affair. He tried Idols 2007 as a singer but didn't pass so he decided to go rapping instead. That has now come to a full circle as his releases in the past few years have been pure pop. He released his debut album in 2009 and his 7th came out in 2022. He has 5 n.o 1's to his credit, and 23 Top-10 singles. 3 of the albums have sold gold and his singles have sold/streamed 29 gold/platinum/multiplatinum. He has starred also in two long films as an actor.
He comes from a broken home and was in a lot of trouble in his teenage years and was eventually taken into custody by authorities. Later he has said that saved his life. Later he expressed admiration towards Putin and even had a tattoo (now covered) of him in his leg. He was also arrested for possessing cannabis and marijuana in 2017, and again in 2020. He is also known to apparently support several conspiracy theories. This of course has nothing to do with his music and this entry, but it will explain why some people have such strong opinions about him, and are against sending this to Eurovision where all this will be dug out again in today's world of cancellation.
Markkus Pulk (27) or nublu was chosen The Artist of the Year in Estonia 2021. He has released one album that earned him several Estonian Music Awards: Album of the Year, Music video of the Year (Universum), Debut album of the Year, Male artist of the year, Hip hop/r'n'b artist of the Year. Before that in 2018 he was nominated in 3 categories, winning 2. In 2019 he won best male artist and best song categories.
Vox populi, kaikki mielipiteet on yhtä väärii
Vox populi, jos ootte leijonii, miks teiän lauma määkii?
Vox populi ja me ei tulla koskaan pitää päät kii
Vox populi, vox populi, me ollaan kansan ääni
Vox populi, vox populi, huudetaan maailman ääriin
Vox populi, all opinions are equally
wrong Vox populi, if you are lions, why does your pack roar? Vox
populi and we will never shut up Vox populi, vox populi, we are
the voice of the people Vox populi, vox populi, shout to the ends
of the earth
What do I think? I think I liked more both Universum and Vihje, but this isn't bad. The words aside (his conspiracy theories, note) and the a bit too clear reference to last year's Austria's entry in that choir bit I'd rather not see this win. And considering already the amount of people out there on social medias ready to cancel MG because that's what they do these days I don't think we deserve that shit storm after last year's success. Simple as that.
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!
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?
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..... )
Serbian Bojana Stamenov hasn't been having beauty sleeps while prepairing for Vienna. She has just released a new proper video replacing the previous fans featuring beauty video , right after she has given us Spanish ( El mundo bajo mis pies ) and French ( Le monde est à moi ) versions of the song! And an Autobahn remix that is kinda fabulous! Busy girl! PS. I still think the original Ceo svet je moj takes the prize! Oh WAIT! There's yet another version: Die ganze Welt is mein ! And that's something else ....
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...
The old rivals have put their bras (or the lack of them) in peace and entered the studios together to record Blondie's boombastic Call me . Life could be worse.....
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!
As I'm off to France for some well deserved holidays and will get back to this blog afterwards I will feature a song a day. From France as my travelling tradition goes. By my favorite French singers bien sur. Enjoy!
I wasn't planning on doing personal reviews this year either but here we go after all. Truth to be said I have listened the entries 0-2 times before sitting down now to comment them. Let's go! The usual Blogilkar's home jury will reunite later and the results revealed in due time. meanwhile, my thoughts and comments on the entries of Eurovision song contest series is right here. And I saved my beloved Italy and the my biggest surprise of the season to last. Enjoy! Italy - Sal Da Vinci - Per sempre si ***** Oh Sal. I'm so happy he's back on top, a Sanremo winner finally, having the success he merited already in the mid 1990's! Tjis song may be corny and old fashioned but there's the charm. This year especially with so many weird strange songs that aren't really songs in the true meaning of the word. This is. A proper melody, proper lyrics, performed with emotion and passion and flawless vocals. Could you ask for more? And yes, there is a remix coming ...
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