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Showing posts with the label #UMK16

FINLAND: BEST OF UMK - GUŠANI BROTHERS - POOM POOM

FINLAND: BEST OF UMK - YLONA: BLAZING FIRE

FINLAND: BEST OF UMK - EINI: DRAAMAA

FINLAND: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SANDHJA!

Sandhja turns 26 today and surely sings it away ! Congratulations! As life goes on she has released recently a new video from her forthcoming album:

FINLAND: SANDHJA GOES ON WITH GRACIAS AND EKOW

Sandhja has released the first single off her new album in the making. It features also Gracias and Ekow. She sings it away and goes on with We go on !

FINLAND: LAURA, MIKAEL SAARI AND JENNIE IN THE SAME MUSICAL: ÄIDINMAA

Now here's a lot of Eurovision and Uuden musiikin kilpailu's royalty in one musical happening in Espoo City theater. A story about Finnish women; mothers and daughters, love and difficult choices. Äidinmaa (Mother's land) musical story runs in two periods of time; during the summer preceding the Winter War (1939), a young Anni falls in love with a handsome stranger. The mother, grocer Vieno has her doubts and her own ways of coping with the world. In the eighties Anni looks back at her life next to her daughter's daughter, who carries the heritage and scars of the family's women. Jennie Von Storbacka (from Euroviisut 2005 , 2006 ) is the young Anni, Pirkko Mannola (Euroviisut 1962, 1964 ) is the old Anni. Laura Voutilainen (Eurovision 2002 ) is Vieno, Anni's mother and Mikael Saari (Umk 2013 , 2016 ) is Olavi, the handsome stranger. 

FINLAND: SING IT AWAY YLE RADIO SUOMI'S MOST PLAYED ONE IN 2016

Now this is surprising. One would think Sandhja's Sing it away was a kind of a flop, but here comes Radio Yle Suomi's most played songs chart of 2016 and guess what? It's number one! And even more so, Eini's entry Draamaa is n.o 3. Now that pretty much sets the tone this radio channel is; schlager and and pop schlager.  Further down the shart Kuunkuiskaajat's Unelmaa is n.o 24, Laura Voutilainen at n.o 35 with Miks ei and at n.o 49 with Olet mulle enemmän . This year's UMK entrant Zuhlke is n.o 54 with Huominen on meidän . Eurovision winner Celine Dion is there, too, N.o 68 with L'étoile . Previous Euroviisut entrant Mikael Konttinen n.o 82 with Ei koskaan and Hanna Pakarinen n.o 84 with Herrojen kanssa pellon laidassa , UMK entrants Hukka ja Mama n.o 91 Sun pitäis olla mun ... Check out the full listing here

FINLAND: THE SAARA AALTO STORY - THE ETERNAL RUNNER UP

A star is born. Steve Brookstein, Leon Jackson, Matt Cardle... and Matt. Or  is it better end up like Olly Murs, One Direction, Fleur East, Eoghan Quigg... Saara was born in May 1987 in north of Finland. (Photo from Aalto family album/Iltalehti) Coming from a musical and artistic family she wrote her first songs at the age of five, and at 11 she won her Kotkan Merilaulukilpailu (whatever that was) with self written song. She spent her teenage summers singing in weddings. 2004 she was backing Heidi Kyrö in the Finnish Eurovision selection 2004 she represanted Finland in Romania's Cerbul de Aur festival. No awards won. 2007 she finished second in Talent Finland. She didn't manage to get a record deal after that. 2008 she was backing Hanna Marsh in the Finnish Eurovision selection 2008-2009 she did High School Musicals 1 & 2 in Helsinki City Theater 2009 she was backing Riikka in the Finnish Eurovision selection 2010-2011 she did musical Wicked ...

FINLAND GOES CRAZY FOR SAARA AALTO'S X FACTOR UK HOMECOMING! VIDEOS & PHOTOS

Saara Aalto is breaking records in X Factor UK and in less than a week we know if she's an eternal runner up or will she take the trophy against all odds from Matt Terry and 5 after midnight and finally actually win something.  Today she was in Helsinki for her Homecoming shoot and it was something else; Finns don't get crazy often but when they do it's all out. The airport was packed and a certain hysteria was in the air. This evening she was at Helsinki's Senate's Square and thousends and thousends of people filled the whoLe square and chanted "Saara! Saara!" so that it was propbaly heard in the suburbs, too. DEspite the fact it was all delayed an hour, it was fReezingly cold and windy. But then she came and sung Let it go, Chandelier, No fear and Winner takes it all and talked. A lot. About believeing in your dreams no matter what. She was put down for 20 years but she never gave up on her dream and... look at her now!   The X Factor...

FINLAND: SANDHJA IS OVER EUROVISION

Sandhja told MTV3  at ELLE Style Awards that the Eurovision hangover is finally over and she feels sober again, full of energy, inspiration and new plans. Finnish media didn't exactly treat her nicely after the semifinal, and some ever before Stockholm to be honest. She deserved fair game and didn't get it. It has taken awhile, five months to be exact, but she thinks her trip to Stockholm was very useful and she learned a lot about music business for example, how everything works for real.  "Eurovision song contest it self is a huge machine. One always thinks the artist is the main thing but there are so many things behind it. I think the people who are involved in it all the time have a hard time.  Changing from a nobody to a worldstar in a moment and for a moment can be hard to anyone" "Krista has helped me a lot how to deal with it all. Especially what happens after Eurovision. She's been such a support. Our talks got really deep at times"....

FINLAND: CRISTAL SNOW RELEASES NEW VIDEOS AND SPEAKS OUT

Cristal Snow is releasing a new song and video every October week and plans to be just as gay as he wants to. The message is that everyone can be whatever they want to be, and it's also against the fact that in 2016 one's sexuality is still an issue.  "I'm gonna sing about love until I die, and the only kind of love I know is that for a man. I don't see any point of pretending in videos and have some hot chicks in them. I had a huge fight in family about homosexuality when Pekka Haavisto was running for president (He got to second round and came close second. Ed.note) . The issue being what a gay man can do and can't do, and can a gay man be president. That fight lasted for a couple of years. I also get feedback in social medias why I have to be so gay and I'm like fuck it! I'm as gay as I want to be! But no one has right to out other people, it must come from within." Cristal Snow competed in UMK2016 with Love is blind and in Euroviis...

SUMMER SONGS: GUŠANI BROTHERS - POOM POOM

They may have not set the scoreboard on fire in #UMK2016 in winter time but now it's summer and this song's natural habitat. I just want to poom poom all summer long, poom poom....

ESC 2016 FINLAND: YLE PRODUCER ANSWERS CRITIC

After the huge media and social media outcry YLE's UMK producer Anssi Autio has met the press. When Sandhja didn't qualify for the final last night in the first semifinal, it marks only Finland's second run of two years in a row since the semifinals started 11 years ago as we missed the 2004 and 2005 finals (only to come back in 2006 and win it!).  People have critizid everything from singing offtune, to her dress, styling and choreography and staging. And the way she was selected. Saara Aalto and her fans are all over the press again....  This year the UMK voting had 50-50 televote and the civil juries, while last year it was 90-10 and both acts failed to qualify. Last year PKN won the televote, too, while this year Saara Aalto won it but lost to Sandhja in combined result. In 2014 Softengine finished 11th in the Eurovision final having been selected by combined televote/jury vote.  "I wouldn't start blaming the UMK voting system, but maybe we have to che...

ESC 2016 FINLAND: WHAT DO SAARA AALTO AND MIKAEL SAARI THINK NOW?

YLE's morning television had the weird idea of asking the runner ups from UMK2016 to come and comment last night's semifinal the day after with Jorma Hietamäki, YLE's Radio Suomi's commentator last night.He thinks there were the obvious Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and then many that were there 50-50. he's surprised Estonia didn't make it but then again he says their Jury final didn't go that well and may have caused that. Maybe Finland suffering from the same as well. The positive surprise was Czech Republic who's Eurovision journey started from Helsinki 2007 and now finally qualified.  Saara says she was supporting Sandhja and feeling her but of course seeing the stage one starts to think what kind of show she would have made for that stage. It's just so tempting. Mikael says there's been already a few months in between and it's in the past and one needs the right orientation and preparation also mentally for it. But indeed, the th...

MIKAEL SAARI RELEASES THE GRAND LETDOWN

The fan favorite from #UMK2013 and #UMK2016 finally releases his debut album, The Grand Letdown. The album includes both his entries, On it goes and We should be through (new version). He has self written all the songs, except the Queen cover Save me and a duet with Stiina Koistinen.  01 Intro 00:17 02 You shall be my wife 03:52 03 C’est la vie 03:27 04 Storms 03:24  05 On it goes 03:08 06 Revontuli 04:03 07 Dialogue (feat. Stina Koistinen) 04.07 08 You should have seen us 03:22  09 Save me 03:47 10 We should be through 03:59  11 She’s gone 05:53  12 Pray for my soul 05:04  13 Outro (Kaipuuvalssi) 04:23 Order yours here

ESC 2016 FINLAND: SANDHJA RELEASES FREEDOM VENTURE

Sandhja releases her second album Freedom venture today. It follows the debut Gold that was released in May 2014. The new album has ten songs, including obviously her Eurovision entry Sing it away and the first single off the album, My bass , released earlier this year.  Tonight's the release party at DTM in Helsinki.  Get yours here or here Her new single is Love me high

ESC 2016 FINLAND: SANDHJA RELEASES LOVE ME HIGH

Sandhja will released her new and second album Freedom venture next week, and today the new single Love me high is already out.  Order your copy from here or here . 

ESC 2016: CZECH REPUBLIC, BELGIUM, BULGARIA AND FINLAND REVIEWS

Another four female voices in this review. CZECH REPUBLIC - GABRIELA GUNCIKOVA - I STAND (Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert, Aidan O'Connor) Gabriela Gunčíková has made her way through some talent shows and a lot of live experience to the Eurovision as internally selected artist and a song by an international team. Blogilkar: This leaves me confused. Can't remember a thing afterwards even if when I hear it it's ok. But then this is sounding very familiar and heard a zillion times before. She's good, better than the song that is unnoriginal. Manufactured. 6 Jack:  The Czech entry is one of my favourites. It's sublime and if the Czechs don't make the final, I wouldn't blame them withdrawing. Can't wait to see the live performance. It's their best ever effort. 9.5 Peter:  Dramatic entrance, and a decent build up, but leading to a disappointing climax. I don't expect it to get to the final, but you never know. 4  Robert: This song d...

#UMK2016 UNITED: GUSANI BROTHERS REMIX TUULI OKKONEN

Two of this years #UMK2016 participants have joined forces when Gušani Brothers have remixed Tuuli Okkonen's Don't wake me up. Poom poom , do you like it? Meanwhile the boys have also released a new song called Tell me your name

ESC 2016 FINLAND: SANDHJA SINGS IT AWAY LIVE & ACOUSTIC

Sandhja is not taking backing tapes to her gigs and when she performed at Stockmann's  Crazy Days she had only her guitarist and one backing lady with her and they rocked live and acoustic. (In Stockholm she will have five backing singers and it's going to be awesome, believe me.) And Sandhja herself is one force of nature: that woman oozes joy of live, good vibes and positive energy topped with excellent live vocals. Her 15 minute minigig included four songs, the final one being of course Sing it away , before she set free hundreds of balloons from the ceiling, some of them including prizes like a new Mercedes car, flight tickets and a lot of minor ones.... for the joy of the shoppers and her fans. See you in Stockholm!!!