Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

It was third time lucky for Aidan (aka Aidan Cassar, 26) winning the ticket to Eurovision after placing 4th in 2018 with Dai laga and second in 2022 with Ritmu .  In 2023 was set to participate with Regina but was disqualified. He won the jury vote by far and placed second in the public vote after Matt Blxck those two being runaway favorites by public. Seasoned performer he has taken part also in Junior Eurovision selection in 2015 , X Factor Malta, Muzika Muzika festival in 2021 . He has released one album so far, an EP and over 20 singles since 2015. He has 13 #1 singles in Malta.  The semi-final was hold on January 15 and the final on January 17, 2026. The jury had ten members: five from Malta and one from Cyprus, UK, Germany, Turkey and Greece.  Malta Eurovision song contest 2026 (jury + televote) 1. Aidan - Bella   113 + 170 = 283 2. Matt Blxck -  Ejja lejja ħdejja 'l hawn (The Flute)   68 + 200 = 268 3. Mychael Bartolo Chircop - My sweet ...

As Mahmood has been announced as one of the co-hosts for the Sanremo 2025 fourth night this is as good as any excuse to have a some Friday night nostalgia and a closer look to his Sanremo participation history that is quite remarkable indeed. 2016 Placed 4th in Newcomer's with Dimentica  (behind certain Francesco Gabbani and Ermal Meta) 2018 Winner of Sanremo Giovani with Gioventú bruciata (won Critic's award) 2019 Winner of Sanremo with Soldi  (won awards for best performance and was voted the best by other artists) 2020 Author for Elodie's Andromeda (7th) 2021 Guest appearance           Author for Francesca Michielin & Fedez's Chiamami per nome (2nd)          Author for Noemi's Glicine (14th) 2022 Winner of Sanremo with Brividi together with Blanco          Author for Noemi's Ti amo non lo so dire (15th) 2023 Guest appearance 2024 Placed 6th with Tuta gold but had the biggest hit of the fe...

The hugely successful and polar duo has left Sanremo after five years. Whoever follows them has to face a similar situation as UMK2024 artists had to do post-Käärijä. Nothing is good enough. Artic director and host Amadeus and co-host Fiorello, after celebrating Angelina Mango's victory on stage walked out of Teatro Ariston hand in hand, stepped into their Cinderella carriage with horses and drove to sunset, or as it was Sanremo final night to dawn. All that after scoring a record breaking 90,7% share in the viewing figures as nearly 9 million Italians were still clued to their tv-screens to see them off. Earlier in the evening they reached 18,259 million and 85% share at 01.56 when the Top-5 super finalists were announced. How can you beat that? And it's not only the viewing figures but his five years have also been hugely popular in charts as all those chart toppers, multi platinum selling singles prove. Mahmood winning in 2019 was a shock and a start of something new in the ...

Cyan Kicks is no stranger to UMK followers as this is their second participation, a rare event in recent UMK history where returnees are very rare. In 2022 they lost it to The Rasmus who went with Jezebel to Turin Eurovision and placed 7th in the semi-final and 21st in the grand final.   They beat however the biggest hit of the year, Ram pam pam by BESS. Their 2022 entry Hurricane spent 15 weeks in the singles chart peaking at n.o 24. Cyan Kicks was founded in 2016 and is considered an alternative rock band with a touch of pop and electric music. The band is fronted by lead singer Susanna Alexandra (Saarinen), guitarist Niila Perkkiö, bassist Leevi Erkkilä and drummer Pietari Reijonen. Susanna has a past in Idols 2008 and also performed in a duo. She and Niila met each other in 2011 and the year after already worked as a duo named Fusel.They still write most of Cyan Kicks songs together. The other two joined in 2016 and they released their first singles Feathers and Gasoli...

I can't quite believe yet that Saturday night two of my favorite singers are both on Liverpool Eurovision stage: Marco Mengoni in competition and Mahmood performing in the interval act Liverpool songbook with several other Eurovision stars. He has just announced also an European tour for 2024 and is writing songs for his new album and says this time he's taking his time until he's totally satisfied with them. For those who don't know he's also a succesful songwriter for other artists including Mengoni ( Hola ), Elodie, Michele Bravi & Gué Pequeno ( Nero Bali ), Francesca Michielin ( Cheyenne and Chiamami per nome ), Noemi ( Glicine ), Giorgia ( Normale ). Elodie ( Andromeda ) and many many more. And of course we remember him from two Sanremo wins and two Eurovisions:

Un briciolo di allegria, or A bit of joy, is Blanco's new release hoping to continue the success he had with his debut album, Sanremo and Eurovision song contest 2022 he did with Mahmood until things turned sour this year in Sanremo.  But let's go in order. In 2021 Blanco released his debut album Blue celeste at the age of 18. It sold six times platinum. The singles of it sold additional 24 platinum worth. On top of that he was featured or released additional songs that sold 23 platinum discs worth including four #1's and a total of 15 Top-10 hits.  This week he has released his new album Innamorato hoping to repeat the success. But, a big BUT, he kinda angered most of Italy when premiering his first single Isole delle rose off the new album. Due technical problems (his words) he kinda lost it (all planned according him)  on stage in Teatro Ariston and destroyed the whole flower ornament decoration while audience booed and whistled. All that became apocalyptic dimension...

The four night affair that was Festival i kenges 61 ended up with Elsa Lila's third victory with Evita, but the one going to Euroviison song contest 2023 in Liverpool will be second placed Albina Kelmendi with her family. Third placed was 2 Farm. The new rules were that the jury selected the top-3 as usual, but the Eurovision entrant was the televoting winner, or Albina.  Albina (24) is an Albania-Kosovan singer-song writer and The Voice of Albania runner up back in 2014. She has released over 20 singles since 2015 and her debut album earlier this year. On stage are five of her family members.  And here is Elsa Lila's winning entry:

The 20th Junior Eurovision song contest will take place tomorrow in Yerevan, Armenia. I am first to admit I have never been a fan of this contest nor a keen follower but listening through the songs and seeing the videos this year they didn't seem so awkward as in many previous years but rather enjoyable effort. Still, it's a bit weird with songs that are indeed childlike and then some entries that wouldn't be out of place in the real thing. As apparently they most try to be adult like I judge them as likes.  The contest has struggled through the years with ever changing line ups, withdrawals and returns and this year is no exception: the United Kingdom returns after 16 years while Bulgaria and Germany stay home from last year's participants, along with Russia and Azerbaijan for obvious reasons. We also miss Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Lithuania, Moldova, Israel, San Marino, Montenegro, Slovenia, Austr...

The second announced artist for Eurovision song contest 2023 in Liverpool was Andrew Lambrou for Cyprus. His participation was made public on October 17. His song will be released later. Andrew (24) is no stranger to Eurovision bubble as he was a finalist in the Australian national final in 2022. Having Greek-Cypriot roots the Cypriot television did the usual thing and hired him for the job. Andrew won his first school singing competition at the age of 5, and then as teenager gained attention with his social media videos. Next step was X Factor but he didn't make it to the live shows. Fast forward to this spring and Eurovision - Asutralia decides where he placed 7th with Electrify.  So far he has released four singles. 

The Sanremo 2023 has officially started with the list of those 43 names that has made the cut to be invited for live auditions out of 714 submissions. Only eight of these will make it to Casinò di Sanremo in December, joined by four other names through AreaSanremo selections, and out of these 12 three will join the Big names next February and who knows, one of them could win it all and end up in Liverpool! Just like last year each has two songs, the one here and one for Sanremo that the commission has of course heard already, or will hear soon enough. One can't not stress that song has also a lot of weight in choosing the eight. Among the names are some very familiar ones, like Alfa, fresh from dueting with Rosa Linn in Snap , gIANMARIA, Enula and many more from various talent and reality shows, or other contests. And many rappers. Update 5.11.22: The eight names are out marked with green . Apparently Alfa was ill and couldn't do the audition. Meanwhile folks of social media ...

Spain became the first country to reveal their names for Eurovision 2023. The semi-finalist of Benidorm Fest 2023 are 18 this year, up two from last year's very successful first edition. Two semi-finals will feature nine entries each, four of them going to the final. There is a mixed voting system for each three shows: 50% professional juries, 25% demoscopic panel and 23% televote. Mónica Naranjo will host again with Inés Hernand. The semi-finals will air on January 31 and February 2 and the grand final on Fenruary 4.  Last year Chanel won over Tanxugueiras (70,75% televote!) thanks to expert jury but they clearly saw its potential better as SloMo finished 3rd in Turin only 7 points short of 2nd place, while France's entry , the most similar to Tanxugueiras one finished 24th.  Among the artists is 2018 Eurovision entrant Alfred Garcia , Blanca Paloma from the 2022 edition,  Famous who won Operacion Triunfo 2018 and already tried to get the ticket to Eurovision 2019. Tw...

  I wrote about Syksyn sävel 2022 semi-finalist that didn't make the final yesterday (here) and tonight's the final, with the most mediocre non-hit making elderly dance hall audience oriented not-music-buying audience ever. For anyone who follows today's music it's just a huge joke to laugh at the music but then again, as written yesterday, maybe it fits with the tv-channel's almost non existing audience. I will sit down and giggle myself sick listening and watching "the show". Here are the finalists: I have a vague idea media is playing for Kurre's win but the gypsy vote (always strong in Syksyn sävel) will go to Leif and Amadeus but in my books clearly the best one out of these is Eija Kantola. By far. Well sung, a proper ageless melody that sounds already a classic. The arrangement is what it is but imagine this with proper strings and orchestra! Finlanders - Päätyyn asti Tero Vaara - Menköön kaikki J.Eskelinen - Elämää Reija Kortet - Vain me kaksi...

Syksyn sävel competition is here again. The one that was a real hit machine in the 1970's and 1980's where as the national Eurovision selection Euroviisut was a real let down with songs no one listened and with songs that weren't even recorded by the artists. With a few exceptions of course. Syksyn sävel was where known artists went with their hits aiming for commercial success, a sort of Melodifestivalen in fact. After a break Syksyn sävel has made a couple of comeback attempts but if last year offered a few goodies and was sort of promising effort this year's offering is something else. Several previous hit makers and winners whose career is pretty much gone and dead is trying again after decades but anything different or a bit modern was voted out by the public. A vanishing public I should add as the contest is broadcast on a random small channel aimed for old and religious folks and near bankruptcy apparently. Syksyn sävel may be dead but UMK has been delivering hug...

  Alice returns to recording business with a new tribute album to late Franco Battiato. Eri con me, It includes 16 Battiato songs recorded in studio with pianist Carlo Guaitoli and I Solisti Filarmonici Italiani, a continuation of her long and still on going concert tour celebrating the music of late Franco Battiato. The album will be released on November 25, 2022 as a CD and a double LP. Alice and Battiato had a 40 year old collaboration going on until his death in May 2021. Most Eurovision fans may only recall their Eurovision 1984 duet I treni di Tozeur (placed 5th) but there's so much more! Battiato co-write and arranged her albums Caponord (1980) and Alice (1981) and also her Sanremo 1981 winner Per Elisa . He wrote, arranged and /or produced songs also in Azimut (1982) and Alice's Gioielli rubati (1985) is a cover album of Battiato's songs. Her albums Elisir (1987), God is my Dj (1999), Personal Jukebox (2000) and Viaggio in Italia (2003) include versions of hi...

Eurovision a career killer? Think twice! Armenia's entry this year, Snap by Rosa Linn - this blogger's favorites already back then in May and the one that's placement I predicted with the worst margin as I thought it was a Top-5 material - has become already a global hit with the help of TikTok and now it has climbed also on top of the official Finnish radio play chart in just seven weeks. It kicked off from the #1 spot Olli Halonen's Suomen kesä. He's claim to fame until now has been being a member of Satin Circus, the Finnish Eurovision national selection runner up in 2015. Meanwhile in Italy Rosa Linn has released the bilingual version with Alfa, a collaboration that started way before the song went viral and global hit.