Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  Patrizia Bulgari reached the Newcomers final 1991 with Giselle and returned the year after with Amica di scuola placing 5th. Two fantastic original songs with great vocals. Yet she disappeared. But I haven't forgotten!

Loreen of Sweden is the 15th previous Eurovision song contest winner who has decided and/or managed give it another try. Only Ireland's Johnny Logan has managed to win twice, as we all know. One can't really do a ranking however as the contest had changed so much from the 1950's with maybe a dozen songs to the approx 40 we have these days. In coming days I will feature the winners who decided to come back  after  winning the contest as there also many winners who have won with their second or third try.   Rarely you see such "a star is born" moment and mass hysteria that followed like when only 16 year old Carola (56) won Melodifestivalen 1983 and went to Eurovision for the first time placing third. I was there, in Sweden that night at my aunt's and remember it well. I also went to see her on her summer tour in Sweden that year and it was something else.  But in a decade things went sour and she went from everyone's darling to a religious freak that needed...

Italy took its well deserved third victory - finally! - at the Eurovision song contest 2021. Over the years several other Italian entries would have been worthy winners. In this series I will go through all of them from the worst ranking to the winner s. Rome 1991! After Toto Cutugno's win in 1990 the 1991 edition is very much unforgettable, but for all the wrong reasons. Originally the contest was to take place in Sanremo but due to security reasons (officially) it was moved to Rome's Cinecittà's Studio 15 to cut the costs causing a huge delay and problems in everything including the rehearsals and even the live broadcast where eventual winner Carola didn't hear the orchestra on stage but kept going like a real pro. The presenters were chaotic and so was the voting and among all this we had a quiet little song in Napoletan sung by Peppino Di Capri representing Rai in aim not to win at any cost. Despite all that Comme è ddoce 'o mare placed 7th out of 22. Peppino D...

Hazell, from the UK Eurovision selection 1976 and 1984 to a leading and multiple award winning Hi-NRG live artist before providing hidden backing vocals to Samantha Janus in 1991 Eurovision and tuning into a cover artists and singing her old hits in the gay circuit. She's still around but like with so many I lost track of her when the decade came to an end.... Wonderful vocalist, maybe I should check out her again..... because she does things like this , this and this . 

Just 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti charmed first Italy by winning the talent contest Castrocaro 1963 and then Sanremo 1964 with her Non ho l'etá, and went on to charm the rest of Europe as well by winning the Eurovision song contest a few weeks later in Copenhagen.  She beat UK to second place by scoring 47 points vs. their 17, when over half the juries gave her full marks. The song sold over 4 million singles worldwide and launched her international career. She has had singles released in 120 countries! In Italy she enjoys fame and success participating in various festivals and Sanremo. She almost got back to the contest already in 1966 when she won Sanremo with Domenico Modugno and Dio come ti amo . Modugno decided to go himself back to the contest and came last....  (Such a shame as it is one of the best Italia entries ever, if you ask me! And Gigliola's version is much bettr anyways) In 1974 she was chosen to represent Italy again and the song is Si. Italy ...

Now what can I say? Carola is one of my favorite artists, an ultimate Eurovision Diva and we go back a long time. Flashback summer 1983: I was spending summer at my aunt's in Sweden. And Sweden was all about Carola after her Melodifestivalen win (full marks from each and every jury - for the first and last time ever) and 3rd place in Eurovision (6,1 million Swedes watched her there!!!) with Främling   (fate is I was also in Sweden when the Mello took place and saw it live on tv. However then I was all for runner up Kikki Danielsson's Varför är kärleken röd ...) Her album was the best selling album in Sweden ever (over 1.000.000 copies). She was everywhere, including a Folketspark near Fagersta where I saw her live.  The tour broke all previous records in 24 out of 25 parks. The year after I saw her live in Finland. And again in the years to come . But then Carola, a controversial figure retired after 3-4 years of success and even an album with the BeeGees in the USA to...

  Carola has released a video (her first since forever) to her latest single Til' the end (also her first for years),  the song she wrote together with her current boyfriend. In other news it is reported they have found their dream house and will be moving in soon. One wonders if this video is shot there..... Hopefully she will now walk straight to the stuio as well and record a new pop album asap. 

Carola has released a new song, Til' the end , her first new release since forever it seems. The Voice hasn't been very active in recording studio in the past 3-4 years so a new track is something to joy about. But Christer Björkman, who recently released his autobiography, propably isn't impressed as he says in it Carola's music is uninteresting and that's she's demanding, hard to work with and naive. Like the rest of us he agrees she's vocally like no one else, on league of her own. He describes her as a mix of super professional, always demanding, never boring and always full of surprises, and yet she's like a little 16-year-old girl still in her yellow suit hugging her bible, and mostly leaves Björkman emotionally totally untouched.  To be honest, I must partly agree with Björkman partly. Carola is amazing vocalist and I have been a fan since her breakhtrough in 1983, I have followed her career and bought the albums, saw her live a few times b...

Kaija Kärkinen is maybe having one crazy night  tonight as it's her 55th birthday! Congratulations! Kaija was a unknown acting student from Lapland when she entered Euroviisut 1991 and won ahead of several big and famous names. She travelled to Rome and later married the song's composer and they formed a succesful duo. After 11 albums, a couple of kids and several hits they are still together and active. Oh Roma amoR! She's also the chairman of the Finnish organisation of songwriters and composers.

No doubt Carola is one of the finest voices to belt out Christmas songs - and to prove it she has released a new Christmas album Drömmen om julen ( read more here ) but this Christmas she has more gifts to us: a cooking book! It comes with her thoughts about humanity and compassion. She wants to courage us to do good, not only at Christmas time but always and teaches us the art of finding harmony and peace in stressful times. She has created a book fo 60 recipes along with food expert Malin Landqvist. All of them are linked to her life from the recipes her mom used to cook around Christmas, the food she had in the northern mountains when spending Christmases there, the food of the refugees she took into her home and gave them shelter and also goodies from South Africa, the homeland of her adopted daughter Zoe.  Included are also suggestions for Christmas breakfast, New year eve's dinner and for all the advent Sundays. The result is comprehensive, unique and altogether a...

... but hold your horses, it's not a new pop album* but yet another Christmas album. But then again, no one belts out Christmas songs like she does! Drömmen on julen (Christmas dream). This one differs from her previous Christmas albums - especially Jul i Betlehem series that she recorded in Betlehem and had some interesting modern arrangements - being mostly piano and strings driven affair, with new unreleased songs mixed with some classics and even instrumentals. The album is a collaboration between Carola, producer Peter Nordahl (Agnetha Fältskog, Måns Zelmerlöw, Jill Johnson etc), and composer Ulla-Carin Nyqvist.  She will hit the road agai with Drömmen om julen tour, that starts from Stavanger (Norway) on November 16, and continues until December 18 with the final gig in Uppsala.  *Her latest pop album is Från nu till evighet (2006), while her latest album release is the tribute album Elvis, Barbra & jag (2011). In 2014 she recorded cover songs for the t...

The queen of fu**ing everything, Carola turns 50 today! How time flies. This blogger has been a fan since the day one, has all her discography, has seen her several times live in Finland and in Sweden and no matter what she will always be one of my favorite singers. She has provided so much soundtrack for my life, ever since Främling back in 1983, a vinyl LP that was played on repeat and and is all scratches these days (and yes, I do have the CD, and the remastered Främling30 CD as well) and I still know all the songs by heart. Many happy returns and hey, when a new pop album?!

We already know Carola has been several times in Greece, and in the island of Kos especially helping the incoming refugees. She has also helped those who have managed to make their way to Sweden by giving them shelter in her home. She had met those 10 Iraqi and Ugandan christian refugees in Kos and given them her address telling them to look her up if they get to Sweden. One day they were at her door and true to her word she welcomed them to her house.  Now she tells it hasn't all been so easy.  Once she got in trouble by trying to stop some people stealing the incoming boat's engine. Long story short she  managed to get it back from thieves and they got very angry at her. She jumped to her car and was driving away with eight refugees through the village seeking help from the local police. Instead she and those Pakistani refugees were all jailed! The thieves in question who hunted her all the way to the station blamed Carola for taking money from the refugees to he...

Carola kicks of the sumer leg of her Min bästa... tour following the hugely popular and sold out Christmas editions and the best of tour last year. This summer some of the concerts are a joint affair with another Eurovision song contest winner, Månss Zelmerlöw. Are you ready? July 1 - Västerås July 15 - Varberg - with Måns Zelmerlöw July 29 - Lysekil August 3 - Halmstad August 12 - Stenungsund - with Måns Zelmerlöw and Peg Parnevik August 13 - Helsinki (Finland) August 14 - Floda - with Måns Zelmerlöw and Peg Parnevik This blogger enjoyed her show in Kulttuuritalo last year, check out some videos after after the jump... Maybe the best concert ever I attended what comes to atmosphere. Loved it!

Carola's Det bästa av mig tour landed helsinki's Kulttuuritalo last night. The venue was sold out and when I looked aroud the crowd before the concert I thought this is going to be one dull evening - mostly middle aged couples. Mostly Finnish speaking. A very few Eurovision fans (those that you see everywhere) and even fewer young people. But how wrong I was! Carola entered the stage with the Orup version of Främling before moving on to Tell me this night is over and by third song, Gatorna tillhör oss she had the audience on their feet, eating from her hand and dancing around. I have never witnessed so many middle aged Finns letting their inner teenager out that way. When she continued with her hits from the early 1980's like Tommy tycker om mig and Mickey I noticed I wasn't the only one knowing stil all the lyrics by heart. Even she noticed that something special was going on and commented from stage "I see this is going to be a very interesting evening!...

Carola hits all the right spots in her new tour, it seems. Critics are predicting another megasuccess for her with it, and the first dates (and Helsinki for example) are already sold out. It's been 32 years since Främling but the song is still actual and it both opens and closes the show. The opening number is the ballad version presented by Orup in Så mycket bättre while the 2013 remix one gets to close the evening in general euphoria. The track list covers all her career from childish Mickey to her Eurovision entries, American adventure and gospel. She also dedicates a big part of it for her covers in Så mycket bättre and makes them all work on stage. And yes, she dives into the public and creates hysteria. Just like the good old days. Even the wildmachine is there, of course! Here is the song list: Främling (Orup version), Tell me the night is over , Gatorna tillhör oss , Tommy tycker om mig , Mickey , For the sun , Nyår , Bakom allt , När löven faller , Allt kommar b...

Carola is hitting the road after years under title Det bästä av mig or The Best of me. From the end of january all the way to the end of March she will be touring Sweden but also Norway and Finland. More dates are added for the summer. Major dates include Oslo Konserthus on February 8, Stockholm Circus on March 3 and 4, Malmö March 6, Gothenburg March 8, Helsinki Kulttuuritalo on March 12 and Mariehamn Alandica on March 13. She will perform her biggest hits from the past 32 years, including of course her Eurovision entries Främling , the winner Fångad av en stormvind  and Invincible as well as the latest hit Tell me this night is over , a The Ark cover from Så mycket bättre.... I think this blogger is getting a ticket.... Update Dec 16 : Only after two days since the ticket sales started Kulttuuritalo is nearly fully booked. Only some lonely seats here and there are left and one part of the worst seats in the corner. Hallelujah and praise the Lord, she's still got it, even ...

The 5th season of Så mycket bättre* started in Sweden last week. Among the artists this season we have finally Carola along with The Ark's Ola Salo, Orup, Amanda Jensen, Kajsa Grytt, Familjen and Love Antell. Blame it on Carola but the show broke its viewing record when 2.245.000 Swedes turned in to watch it. After all she's responsable for many Swedish records of that kind.... Update: the Carola episode was the most watched of them all. Of course. All good things come to an end and this was the last week, dedicated to Love Antell. If you missed the post about last week's Carola Day, it's here . Next week it's still time for one special edition, with duets. But back to Love Antell. Carola took on his Gatorna tillhör oss . She lets herself wild, brings in the trademark wind machine and jumps on the table and gets everybody up and dancing. And yes, makes the song a Carola anthem. Next single? Carola - Gatorna tillhör oss Vs. Love Antell - Gatorna tillhör ...

Arja Saijonmaa has released a new album in Sweden Dig har jag kär aka My Swedish songbook . It's her first studio album in Swedish since 1999. Her latest studio album is Rakkaus on rohkeutta from 2006 in Finnish. Altogether this is her 25th studio album. Enough of numbers. Arja is coming to Finland this November for a couple of concerts to celebrate her 70th birthday and career that has been going on for over 40 years in Finland, Sweden, Norway and elsewhere including touring the world with Mikis Theodorakis. She has sung everything from Finnish tangos to Swedish schlagerpop, etno music, French chansons and political songs. Besides a singer she is also an actress in theater, movies and television, she's well known human rights activist, she has even written a book about Finnish sauna. And an autobiography that has been published in Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian and Greek. And she's a real diva, too. What else can you ask? She's no stranger to Eurovision either. I...

Loreen will be in the Eurovision 2013 final after all. She will sing her new single We got the power off her worthcoming album. Besides that she will open tomorrow's First semifinal with children's choir and sign languaged version of Euphoria, her winning entry last year. So, Sweden pulls out two Eurovision winners for the final where Carola is featured in the interval act. At least.... The single is released on friday, but you can stream it on Spotify already Wednesday!