Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Last but not least Pave Maijanen got his day. His career covers five decades so there was where to choose but all went for his golden era the 1980's with the exception of Vicky Rosti. No one covered his Eurovision song contest 1992 entry Yamma yamma , but it was remembered in a short clip. As we remember he came last and the tabloid were screaming the day after "Worst in Europe!" and Pave told his gigs vanished for three years when no one wanted him anymore. He was also worried for his kids that they would be bullied at school.... rough times. Once again mostly very enjoyable versions and the first ever Vain elämää duet (other than the day's artist's final one) Maija Vilkkumaa Vs. Pave Maijanen - Jano One of Pave's biggest and well known hits. Quite similar arrangement to the original but Maija's vocoder, simplified approach and touch of orient sounds made it very good and fresh. Vicky Rosti Vs. Royals - I'm gonna roll Vicky confessed ha...

Sanni is the youngest and with the shortest career in this season. Yet she has won Emma, the Finnish Grammy as the best female artist, and her 2080-luvulla has been voted the best song of 2015 already. She writes her own songs and plays violin and guitar. But surprisingly the oldest artists really convinced with her songs making them their own and showcasing their quality. Sanni's electronic sound and style was turned into something else with excellent results...... Somehow I almost like all the Sanni covers more than the originals.... what it tells about me. Or Sanni? Anssi Kela Vs. Sanni - 2080-luvulla Anssi brings this song to 1980's in the sound and in my opinion does his best cover so far. Excellent, I almost like this more than Sanni's original! Incredible but true. His falsettos and Sanni's tears mean a success. This could become the next iTunes chart topper. VilleGalle Vs. Sanni - Prinsessoja ja astronautteja Sanni's debut single. The one that m...

Anssi is a very talented songwriter, and this episode turned out to be one of the most interesting ones when his songs with minor changes turned out something different and in most cases something very good. In his own words: These kids come and show how it's done. Damn! He also confessed enjoying being the Artisti Anssi Kela these days more than ever. He came down hard from his debut albums 160.000 sales (13th most sold album ever in Finland) but is back in business today enjoying his fame and success.  Pave Maijanen Vs. Anssi Kela - Milla Pave turned this originally for a movie written song into a rockabilly swing affair. Nice and fun, but that's all I guess. The original is great. Antti Tuisku Vs. Anssi Kela - Kaksi sisarta Antti gave this a makeover modernizing the sound and bringing out the melody. The result is rather etheric and epic. Antti lost himself in the interpretation but in a good way. He has really proven he can transmit emotions and bring out ne...

This week it was Antti Tuisku's day, and one of the episodes I looked forward the most.  Meanwhile his version of Vicky Rosti's Eurovision 1987 entry Sata salamaa stays as number on both on official singles chart as well as download and streaming chart. In the radiolay it jumps from 71 to 19. And as we talk about charts Maija Vilkkumaa's day last week created to hits: Anssi Kela's Kasarin lapsi made an apperance in the download charts at 17 while Sanni's Ei entered the charts at number 4.  This week Vicky Rosti made wonders with Antti's Hyökyaalto and I wouldm't be surprised at all t see it charting next week..... But now to Antt's songs. VillaGalle Vs. Antti Tuisku - Peto on irti Antti's latest hit gets a makeover by VilleGalle with the usual rap, vocal samples and lyrics changes. With added jungle bet as the title (Beast is loose) suggests. Not my cup of tea, as is Antti's original.  Anssi Kela Vs. Antti Tuisku - Vaarallin...

This episode was one of the most awaited by this blogger as I'm a huge Maija Vilkkumaa fan. I was curiously waiting how these artists would treat her usually rather aggressive pop-rock songs, most sticking very much to the same formula. And indeed they all arranged them in an all new way, making them all quite different from the original. All had picked up one of her biggest hits and from her solo career. Pave Maijanen Vs. Maija Vilkkumaa - Satumaa tango Maija originally had wanted Pave as the producer for her debut solo album but he had turned the offer down. Now he gave us a taste how it could have been in this more middle-of-the-road version of her first hit. More polished, tuned down if compared to Maija's in-your-face approach. Vicky Rosti Vs. Maija Vilkkumaa - Ingalsin Laura Vicky turned this another angry song into an American line dancing kind of country schlager, but her voice fits is perfectly without the need of being angry-aggressive like Maija...

Second episode was dedicated to rapper VilleGalle. Most of his songs as JVG are all about what they enjoy the most in life: ice hockey and Playstation. Most songs also are rapped with featured singers so the covers by his fellow Vain elämää stars were mostly completely reworked, most of them by lyrics, too. This was the episode I maybe waited the least as I thought I wouldn't know his music at all but then.... four of these were such big hits you couldn not have not heard them.... In the end a very enjoyable evening after all and if the first three seasons have been marked by tears and artists crying their eyes out this season so far it's been mostly laughter and good vibes! Vicky Rosti Vs. JVG feat Anna Abreu  - Huominen on huomenna Vicky as a 50something grandmother had turned the teenager party song into an anthem for a hot mama who goes for holidays and parties all night with her daddy man. Very well done and she already declared this one's going in to her gig ...

Vicky Rosti had the honor to open the fourth season of megapopular Vain elämää series. Over one million Finns tuned in to see it on television and streaming continues online. Antti Tuisku's Sata salamaa has got already over 300.000 views. This season the artists doesn't seem to know each other beforehand that well or at all so the first lunch and dinner were still a bit akward but surely when the season goes on they loosen up. As expected all but Anssi have searched a song from Vicky's early years and 70's cover hits - besides her Eurovision entry 1987 of course that was sure to be in the line up.  VilleGalle Vs. Vicky - Menolippu ( One way ticket ) Him being a rapper the song had gone through a total make over and gotten new lyrics sampling Vicky's original vocals. Good start but not outstanding or quite totally there.  Maija Vilkkumaa Vs. Vicky - Näinkö meille aina täällä käy ( Ain't that just the way ) This song fitted nicely Maija's voic...

The series will air on Nelonen next autumn. It was recorded in June 2015  when the artists spent a week together 24/7. I will then follow it episode by episode right here.  Vain elämää S4 E7 - Pave Maijanen Vain elämää S4 E6 - Sanni Vain elämää S4 E5 - Anssi Kela Vain elämää S4 E4 - Antti Tuisku Vain elämää S4 E3 - Maija Vilkkumaa Vain elämää S4 E2 - VilleGalle Vain elämää S4 E1 - Virve Rosti Vain elämää - Anssi Kela Vain elämää - Pave Maijanen Vain elämää - Virve Rosti Vain elämää - Sanni Vain elämää - Antti Tuisku Vain elämää - Maija Vilkkumaa Vain elämää - VilleGalle Vain elämää - with Eurovision stars (again)

Last but not lest in this series: Maija Vilkkumaa. She's been leading Finnish rock stars for years, delivered countless hits and this blogger is a huge fan: Her lyrics are always original, playing with words and double meanings - you can hear she studied Finnish language for sure! Her album sales are over 300.000 and all her albums have sold gold and/or (multi)platinum. She has won 5 Emma awards (aka Finnish Grammy) among others, and she has also written a book and done a lot of television. Her latest album is from 2010 as she has been concentrating on her two kids and marriage but is about to come back this fall.

When Sanni's name was announced as one of the artists taking part in Vain elämää 4 it caused quite a social media stir. Because she's kinda new. And young (22). Only two albums, the debut coming out only two years ago. But she has been flirting with stardom for a long time and has scored half a dozen hits already. 

Antti Tuisku may have finished only 3rd in Idols (won by Hanna Pakarinen) but since then he has become the one who has sold most. he has been very active in studio and has released already 8 albums and two Christmas albums and the sales are over 250.000 and has scored a string of hits. He is also the one and only real male pop star in Finland if a popstar is one with catchy songs and great stage shows with choreographed acts. Three platinum records and five gold records on his wall he's ready to take on his second tv reality, as he has already won Strickly come dancing in 2010.

Ville-Petteri Galle aka VilleGalle is another half of rap duo JVG. He follows Cheek and Elastinen in the rap genre to make it to a household name in this reality and who knows, he (or JVG) will move on to the next level of notority? He broke through in summer 2011 when Häissä went to number one in all possible charts and was declared the summer hit of 2011. They have released three albums so far and all have went to #1 in the official album chart. He says this is a huge opportunity for him, and hopes he is worth it, and hopes to make some great covers.

Anssi Kela is one of those artists who shot to the fame and success with his debut album, then sales and popularity dropped by each album until he was dropped by his label. A break, new label, still a lot of loyal fans in social medias got him back on top last year. And now he gies his song repertoire to other artists to cover and he sure has a lot to choose from. And it will be interesting to see what he makes of the songs of the others, having quite a personal style. He says he hopes the other artists will make his songs as different as possible, showing also him a new side of them. On the other hand he says sky's the limit in his own versions, as there's no need to think they would fit into any album context or whatever - they can be anything!

The artists for fourth season of megapopular Vain Elämää (originally Dutch De beste zangers van Nederland , Så mycket bättre in Sweden etc) have been released today and once again it's a mixed lot but Eurovision veterans are in again: Vicky Rosti and Pave Maijanen. Maijanen's presence is quite surprising but maybe this will be his revenge? More about that later.... The season four singers are: Anssi Kela (six albums to date), VilleGalle (part of Jare & JVG rapper duo, three albums to date), Antti Tuisku (10 albums, including Christmas ones), Pave Maijanen (11 solo albums between 1983-2010, in various bands and combinations since 1964), Sanni (hottest female pop star of the moment (?), with two albums), Maija Vilkkumaa (8 solo albums) and Virve "Vicky" Rosti (10 solo albums between 1975-2014).

Teosto, the Finnish performance rights organization that collects royalties, has made public the most played and performed songs in Finland. Overall the most played and performed song on radios, TV and gigs was Anssi Kela's Levoton tyttö with over 6.600 performances followed by J.Karjalainen's Meripihkahuone and Erin's Ei taida tyttö tietää . But if we look only at YLE's radio channels the number one is suprisingly Krista Siegfrid's Marry me , the Finnish Eurovision 2013 entry! It collected 1.165 plays, or divided througout the year it was played on some of YLEs radio channels three-four times a day, every day of the year! Who says Eurovision music is not played? That is even more remarkable if we think the Finnish music makes only 25% of the music played on YLE's channels and in TV even less, 16%. In commercial radios it's a bit better, 29%. But the Finnish music is alive in gigs and festivals, from 67 to 80% (depending a category).

Once again the excellent Listablogi has collected the charts and here is the Top-10 most played songs in radios in Finland (Check the full top-100 here ). In 2012 the second most played one was Loreen's Euphoria , but this year Eurovision winner is nowhere to be seen. Krista Siegfrids is at no.68 with Marry me . Remarkable is that only Avicii manages to squeese in among the Finnish acts! The highest chart position in brackets. 1. Haloo Helsinki!: VAPAUS KÄTEEN JÄÄ (1) 2. Juha Tapio: TSNEH (TYKKÄÄN SUSTA NIIN ETTÄ HALKEEN) (2) 3. Haloo Helsinki!: MAAILMA ON TEHTY MEITÄ VARTEN   (1) 4. Cheek: TIMANTIT ON IKUISIA (1) 5. Jenni Vartiainen: JUNAT JA NAISET (1) 6. Elokuu: TÄNÄÄN LÄHTEE (1) 7. Redrama ft A.J. McLean: CLOUDS (1) 8. Avicii: WAKE ME UP (1) 9. Erin: EI TAIDA TIETÄÄ TYTTÖ (1) 10. Anssi Kela: LEVOTON TYTTÖ (1)

There rarely as much criticism towards something like there was for the first edition of UMK, the revamped Finnish national final. It was pretty much a flop in every possible way and it seems YLE has learned a lesson and studied well what went wrong and done the possible changes. Last year there were 40 artists online, but this year they decided to pick up the 12 semifinalists directly and giving all of them more focus. They also learned this kind of program needs more live shows and concentration on the songs and artists. This time there will be three live shows with televote and eliminations. There will be also a guest star on each show; Anssi Kela in the first one, Jesse Kaikuranta in the second and Elonkerjuu in the semifinal. But the pre-recorded shows start already December 27 followed by January 3 and 10, 2013 where we will get to know the artists and songs better. So far you can listen to snippets of the demos here .  Here are the running orders for the l...

We continue with familiar names with the exception of Neljänsuora, Each song is worth its place here I guess, even Finlanders who really aren't my cup of tea but the song's great. C'est la vie is very recent hit and Milla is a true classic, too. And tomorrow we enter the top-10!! 11. OHIKIITÄVÄÄ - JUHA TAPIO 12. HETKEKSI EN SULLE RUPIA - LAURI TÄHKÄ 13. LOISTO - YÖ 14. OIKEESTI - FINLANDERS 15. SUN SÄRKYÄ ANNA MÄ EN - JOHANNA KURKELA 16. TIE SYDÄMEENI - YÖ 17. C'EST LA VIE - ANNA PUU 18. SIIPIRIKKO - NELJÄNSUORA 19. HUKUN - JANI WICKHOLM 20. MILLA - ANSSI KELA

We are nearing the top-50 and the dancebands are making way to poppier and rockier artists. In this part we have a lot of lauras and Lauris, Annika's classic Euroviisut entry and Jari with the omnipresent Yö and Finlanders. 61. KUULTA KYSELEN - LAURA VOUTILAINEN 62. KATUJEN KUNINGATAR - YÖ 63. SHANGHAIN VALOT - ANNIKA EKLUND 64. PITKÄT PELLOT - LAURI TÄHKÄ 65. TIMANTTINEN TÄHTI - LAURA VOUTILAINEN 66. KIMPALE KULTAA - LAURI TÄHKÄ 67. PAREMMIN KUIN KUKAAN MUU - JARI SILLANPÄÄ 68. PUISTOSSA - ANSSI KELA 69. SINUN VUOKSES - FINLANDERS 70. ASFALTTIVIIDAKKO - ANNE MATTILA

We are heading for the top but the names stay the same! Janne Raappana is here, too, as is Anssi Kela with one of his finest songs. Simo Silmu is here solo as he is also Yölintu's solist. Eppu Normaali and Egotrippi break the danceband oriented mole and Sakari Kuosmanen is present well deserved. 71. OLISITPA TÄÄLLÄ - CHARLES PLOGMAN 72. SUURENMOINEN ELÄMÄ - JUHA TAPIO 73. JUNA KULKEE (IL TRENO VA) - KARI TAPIO 74. NUMMELA - ANSSI KELA 75. PIENI SYDÄN - SAKARI KUOSMANEN 76. SADAN VUODEN PÄÄSTÄKIN - EPPU NORMAALI 77. SYDÄNSÄRKYÄ - SIMO SILMU 78. KAVERI - JANI WICKHOLM 79. ODOTA MUA - JANNE RAAPPANA 80. ÄLÄ KOSKAAN IKINÄ - EGOTRIPPI