Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  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...

The youngest ever Tango King in Finland, Amadeus (Lundberg) has gone a long way after his win back in 2009. The year after he got a free pass to Euroviisut, the Finnish national final for the Eurovision and he presenter Anastacia, that followed nicely his debut single Matador . He released his debut album and after his reign was over went on touring all over tango circuit. Two years ago he released with Riku Niemi Orchestra an album with covers of classics with new songs, and in 2015 another one. The succesful series is completed now with a third one, that is basicly only covers of Italian classics, including Volare and Si from Eurovision song contest plus songs like Il Mondo that has been recently covered also by Il Volo. Listen the album here .  Volare has been of course covered about a zillion times so that's no news and more like a yawn, but it's not everyday you get a new Si cover. His voice fits the song nicely and the arrangement is rather simple dance oriented (...

Namely the biggest entertaining holabaloo in Finland is over for another year. This week Seinäjoki has been filled with tango when the new hopefuls and old royals like Jari Sillanpää, Amadeus Lundberg and Arja Koriseva have been entertaining the tango people along with names like Katri Helena and Antti Tuisku. The new Tango Queen was crowned this Thursday and she is Heidi Pakarinen. Tonight the new king was chosen by the televote and the jury as well and he is Kyösti Mäkimattila, the 28th in the history. Watch the performances here . As there is now UMK, the tango royals don't have an access to Euroviisut final, like Marko Maunuksela and Amadeus Lundberg had. However Kyösti has a rather poppy sound and looks for it, so maybe he should think about it?

The annual Tangomarkkinat circus has reached its final stage last night and tomorrow night the six finalists will battle out the crown and we will see who will follow the footsteps of Marko Maunuksela, last year's Tango King. Unlike the past two years when the winners Amadeus and Maunuksela were also granted a spot in the Euroviisut semifinal line up the winner does not get that extra award. Nothing stops him/her or any other finalist to try to get into Euroviisut 2012 anyways as the competition is open to anyone. Many are saying we should have a female winner this time after two male winners but the biggest favourite is Heikki Koskelo . He already won Suomi Iskelmä SM 2010 contest and the polls indicate him as the clear favourite. The other male finalists Tino Ahlgren and Antti Ahopelto who has taken part in both kids and teenage competition before are also strong having reached the final already before. The female favourite in the first round was Maria Tyyster who was in th...

Marko Maunuksela (36) got the ticket to Euroviisut 2011 by winning the Tangomarkkinat 2010 last summer thus following Amadeus example who beat him to the crown in last edition despite Marko being the audience's favourite. He is no stranger to the stage though. He has a lot of experience as live singer, actor in musicals and opera. He is a nurse and has been working with autistic children before he won the title of Tango King. He released his first single Lintu ja pesäpuu in early 2010 following his independent releases of Olet mulle kaikki, Se sattuu   in 2009. Thanks to Tangomarrkinat he got a recording deal and the first single off his debut album Uuteen valoon (release November 10, 2010)  is Maailmanloppu . He has been featured also in various compilations Unfortunately the album does not include his great cover of Lauri Tähkä's Rakkaus ei oo pysyvää from Tangomarkkinat where he also performed Onnemme kyyneleet , Hulluna tangoon (Takes two 2 tango) and Öiset kitarat ....

Amadeus Lundberg, now ex-Tango King will take part in his aunt Anneli Sari's next tour and musical production Taivaan portit (Gates of heaven). The tour will start on October 21 in Varkaus and end on November 27 in Hämeenlinna and 31 shows has been set.  Maybe that collaboration will give a boost to his career that has gone from The Next Big Thing to almost forgotten within a year to the wider audience excluding the tango crowds. His album sold only 7.000 copies and can be found on sale boxes in record stores and supermarkets by now for a few euros, and his pre-announced victory in Euroviisut ended outside the super final. His private life has given more headlines than his career thriumps but hey, he's still only 21....

My favourite and semifinal's winner Marko Maunuksela held it til the end and took over the crown as the new Tango King from Amadeus tonight. Marko (36) managed to win over the voters this year and the past 24 hours has been a real emotional roller coaster for him as he lost his beloved grandmother last night. He was in top-4 already last year but was second to Amadeus Lundberg.

The biggest music festival in Finland with Euroviisut kicks off its final stage today. The various semifinal stages are over and the finalist will start their fight for the crown of Tango King or Tango Queen, still firmly in Amadeus's head until Saturday evening. Last year the winner got a free ticket to the Euroviisut final and even if Amadeus was a strong contender for the victory with Anastacia he failed to make the superfinal. In 2010 the finalist are: Maria Tyyster from Lappeenranta, Mia Leivo and Suvi Karjula from Tampere, Sanna Arell from Uusikaupunki, Sanna-Marika Jääskeläinen from Helsinki, Juha Hautaluoma and Tapani Kangas from Seinäjoki, Marko Maunuksela from Ilmajoki, Tino Ahlgren from Turku and Tuomas Kaikkonen from Oulu. The semifinal will take place July 8 and six artists will make the final on July 10.  I guess the winner has an option for Euroviisut 2011 again. YLE broadcasts both finals live on TV, radio and internet. My fafourite might be Marko Maunuksela w...

Amadeus, the reigning Tango King and favourite to win Euroviisut 2010 where he didn't reach the top-3 in the end has come out to media for his money problems. He is complaining about bad marketing as his debut album has sold only about 7.000 copies. It includes also his Euroviisut track Anastacia . He has no manager and now blames his record compay for leaving him alone. "I'm a young artist in the beginning of his career. I thought a Tango King would be taken better care of. My album haven't been marketed almost at all." . Then he admits he has been spending too much money and has already moved to suburb from his city center penthouse and stopped eating in restaurants where he spent about 3000 euros a month. No wonder he has no money!

Anna Eriksson's risky business of releasing an album in English seems to be paying off as she enters the Top-50 at number 3 with Garden of love . It's also a historic milestone as before her only Marion Rung of female artists has managed to get a top-10 album both in Finnish and English (Tarja Turunen's Christmas album was only partly Finnish). Also only two male artists have managed this: Riki Sorsa and Remu so Eurovision artists rule this record. Vuokko Hovatta's new album Liaani also enters the Top-10 at #10. Janne Raappana who tried to get to Euroviisut 2010 through the internet voting also enter the charts at #20 with Rakkaus on hulluus , and Amadeus 's debut album falls to #21 from last weeks #14. It debuted at #6 five weeks ago and has been dropping ever since. Meanwhile Vesa-Matti Loiri's Hyvää puuta climbs again to #27 and also Mikael Konttinen clibs to #34 with Ota kiinni . And Alexander Rybak drops to #44. In singles chart Jippu & Samuli Edelmann...

Amadeus has had to cancel his gigs today. Hopefully he gets better for his debut album launch party on Thursday in Apollo in Helsinki and then off to Tampere and Euroviisut 2010 final on Saturday.... He is along with Heli Kajo and Kuunkuiskaajat the only one who can beat Eläkeläiset....

Kuunkuiskaajat along with superfavourite Eläkeläiset and Linn with the votes from the Swedish speakers made it to the final from the third and last Euroviisut 2010 semifinal. YLE's secret jury also granted one wild card and that went to Maria Lund, also from this last semifinal. So the line up for the final next Saturday is ready: Amadeus - Anastacia Nina Lassander - Cider hill Pentti Hietanen - Il mondo é qui Antti Kleemola - Sun puolella Heli Kajo - Annankadun kulmassa Sister Twister - Love at the first sight Kuunkuiskaajat - Työlki ellää Eläkeläiset - Hulluna humpasta Linn - Fatal moment Maria Lund - Sydän ymmärtää So we have six songs in Finnish, 3 in English and one in Italian. Amadeus and Maria Lund most likely will sing in English if they win, and Antti Kleemola has a Spanish text ready for the song...

Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak met the possible Eurovision 2010 winner Amadeus during his recent trip to Finland. Helsingin Sanomat was present and interviewed both of them together. Here are some bits from it: Amadeus keeps talking. He is very excited to meet Alexander. "I've heard we look alike" he says, "but our noses are different, so are the eye brows. He has thicker ones and besides my nose is a hook while he has a straight one" . Record company has arranged this meeting before Alexander's performance in Helsinki but he is late. A little bit sick they say. When he finally arrives he looks tired and uninspired but then eyes Amadeus with surprise. "Oh my, we do look a bit alike! But you have so much more energy. You will see that more fame you gain and more autographs you sign more you have try to stay calm." Then Amadeus plays him his entry Anastacia. Alexander listens and slowly his feet start to hit the beat and a smile cross...

Well, Amadeus and Nina deserved a place in the final but Pentti absolutely not in my opinion.  So called granny mafia has striken again! Boys of the band and Bääbs need to wait for YLE's jury's decision later on. Bääbs commented right after: "We won ourselves and did our best even if we had some vocal problems. And Amadeus is fab!"

Jaana Pelkonen (ESC 2007 hostess) and Peltsi Peltola are hosting the show live from Tampere. It might be -22C outside but the fans are hot as usual inside the venue. Renewed show with  new tricks and looks is  in store for tonight. Televoting only will take three songs to the final on January 30. YLE jury will provide a wildcard to one of the drop outs of all three semifinals. The show has just started. Jaana and Peltsi conduct the show from greenroom and after a very quick introduction to the rules off we go: the postcards! Funny ones with the (childhood) photos of the artist. 1. Amadeus - Anastacia Amadeus  is the first one on the triangle stage with three dancers and his sister Miritsa playing violin, another sister Gilda joins in later as a dancer, too. Vocally good, simple performance . 2. Nina Lassander - Cider hill The cembalo introduction of the songs must have given the idea for this staging as it's very liaisons dangeroux... dresses, hairdos, coreograp...

Tonight at 8pm CET it finally starts, the Finnish Euroviisut selection. Unfortunately there won't be a webcast after all (YLE blames the Finnish copyright laws as usual) so you have even better reason to come back here and follow the live report! Will Bääbs outshine everyone in her mirror dress? What is the role of burlesque artists Mimi de Froufrou in the act? I think Amadeus, Bääbs and Nina Lassander will qualify but can the fans of Pentti Hietanen and BOB change that? PS. Don't forget the cool remix of You don't know tomorrow here !

One week to go before the first Finnish semifinal and it's time to have a look at the fan polls and betting. In the first semifinal both Viisukuppila.fi and Paf betting agree that Amadeus, Nina Lassander and Bääbs will qualify. In the second semifinal Heli Kajo is a sure thing but then things get more complicated. The fans vote Antti Kleemola easily to the final but the betters don't believe in him but put Monday, Sister Twister and Veeti ahead of him. In the third semifinal Eläkeläiset lead the whole betting poll while fans don't believe in them . Osmo Ikonen and Kuunkuiskaajat would qualify by both leaving Maria Lund at the border. So, judging both these polls BOB, Pentti Hietanen and Linn Nygård leave the contest in semifinals while Veeti Kallio, Antti Kleemola and Maria Lund are fighting for the joker place. Maria has been favoured by YLE in the radioplay for sure, Veeti has a lot of fans so it doesn't look good for Antti unless YLE lifts it up as it is by far on...

The first Finnish semifinal is only less than two weeks away and there have been already some releases, or singles or albums will be released shortly. Amadeus will release his debut album on January 27 (including Anastacia , Matador , Pyyhi tuuli kyyneleet and Onnemme kyyneleet amongst others) and Osmo Ikonen will release his second album including Heaven and hell in February. Eläkeläiset has already released a 2-cd with their "greatest hits" including their entry Hulluna humpasta . Antti Kleemola has already a radio hit with his Sun puolella and the single will be released shortly, as will Bääbs do with her You don't know tomorrow . Kuunkuiskaajat also released their debut album before Christmas and it includes two versions of their entry Työlki ellää . The album includes also Taivaallinen and Loputon tie . Promo singles for radio stations have been released several others, including Maria Lund who already made #4 in the radio playlists followed by Amadeus at #5, E...

Amadeus was supposed to release his debut album in early December but the release has been postboned to January 29, a day before Euroviisut 2010 final. The album is simply called Amadeus and will feature his first single Matador , his Tango King winning entry Onnemme kyyneleet and of course his Euroviisut entry Anastasia . Hopefully ti also includes this Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu cover, Rakkaus ei oo pysyvää .

So here we have them, the 15 songs that will fight over the right to fly the Finnish flag in Oslo 2010. The first hearing left me a bit disappointed as there is very little "Eurovision friendly" songs there. Half the songs are in Finnish and propably will stay so if they win with the exception of Amadeus and Maria Lund I suspect. Most of the songs also seem to have not been written Eurovision in mind but are just radio friendly future hits to their performers and that in the end is not a bad thing! Here are the songs from the first semifinal: AMADEUS - Anastacia I think we will hear the winner first. If Jari Sillanpää managed to win with similar but much more mediocre Takes two 2 tango Amadeus shouldn't worry. He is also more popular than Sillanpää was back then so the televotes will be flying. The song falls though to the usual Finnish use of rather bland arrangements. Someone remix the song, please and we have a killer! He will bring his sisters along, one as backin...