Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Emma, the Finnish Grammy award nominations have been revealed today. Among the various nominees in different categories we have Softengine , the band that scored 11th in Copenhagen Eurovision 2014. They have been nominated as the newcomer of the year, and they are also among the nominees in the People's Choice award. In newcomers they fight it againt Arion , from UMK 2013. Jari Sillanpää has three nominations: Schlager album of the year, Male artist of the year and he's also listed for People's Choise. Another Eurovision veteran Katri Helena is still going strong; she scored also nomination in Schlager album of the year and also Female artist of the year. Diandra , Idol winner and UMK participant is also nominated for the Female artist of the year and People's Choice. Finally we have Tango King and national selection participant Amadeus Lundberg up for Peoples Choice. Also UMK judge Redrama and national final participant Samuli Edelmann are nominated. The...

Well, it might be only wishful thinking but apparently some of the UMK 2013 artists have been planning on going on tour together, and even more so: to cover each other's songs, just as they have been doing in dressing rooms and backstage. True or fiction? Time will tell. However, the boys of Last Panda and also Lucy Was Driving would like to cover Mikael Saari's song. Panda boys would make it a rock song, and so would Lucys "Goosebumps are overrated. We would show it's really done! " says Otso Koskelo, band's lead singer. Diandra would love to cover Iina's song . "I really like the song and have been listenong to it! " And finally the winner Krista Siegfrid, a real rock chick in heart would do Arion's Lost. Besides, she has already altered the lyrics in her song including Arion's lead singer: "Marry me, Bieber!" - like he has been labelled by the jury, heavyrocks' Justin Bieber. Oh well.... maybe this is better to stay...

Here it is. The grand final of UMK 2013 and the field is wild open! Diandra and Mikael have been winning polls, bot so have Krista and Arion. And we can't rule out Great Wide North either. When did we last have a final where five out of eight would be worthy winners? Never propably. This blogger will be happy if the winner is Mikael, Krista or Diandra, but wouldn't be surprised (or so very pleased) if Arion wins. And if Great Wide North wins I would say it's 2000 all over again.... There will be 50-50 televote-jury and no superfinal. Anyways, I will be live blogging the event as always so come along at 20.00 CET! 1. Arion - Lost 2. Elina Orkoneva - He's not my man 3. Lucy Was Driving - Dancing all around the universe 4. Krista Siegfrids - Marry me 5. Last Panda - Saturday night forever 6. Mikael Saari - We should be through 7. Great Wide North - Flags 8. Diandra - Colliding into you

Over 500 of you voted in my poll and it was a very close run with Diandra and Mikael, followed by Arion and Krista having a good fight, too. Then we had Elina and Iina having a fight, and the rest following in a steady flow. Thank you every one of you who took part and here are the full results: 1. Diandra  187 (36,6%) 2. Mikael Saari  184 (36,0%) 3. Arion  133 (26,0%) 4. Krista Siegfrids  129 (25,2%) 5. Elina Orkoneva  70 (13,7%) 6. Iina Salin  68 (13,3%) 7. Great Wide North  54 (10,6%) 8. Last Panda  51,0 (10,0%) 9. Rautakoura  48 (9,4%) 10. Lucy Was Driving  35 (6,8%) 11. Atlético Kumpula  29 (5,7%) 12. Ilari Hamäläinen  22 (4,3%)

Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat is closely following the UMK 2013 finalists and their Spotify listening times. Diandra has been in the lead since they started that but today Mikael has almost reached her gaining 20% of the total hits against Diandra's 21%. Apparently the difference is 0,7% at the moment. Krista Siegfrids is a solid #3 with 17% followed by Great Wide North on the rise at 14%. Arion keeps falling and is now at 12% before Elina Orkoneva at 6%, Lucy Was Driving 5% and Last Panda at 4%.  They are also doing different kind of statistics and it reveals Diandra is women's favorite while Mikael is men's! (One would think the opposite!) Under 18 year's olds Diandra reigns at 41% while Krista comes 2nd and Mikael a close 3rd. In over 46 year olds the situation is the same, only that Arion is more popular than Mikael! He takes a revenge at the age of 26-45 where he is a clear #1 with 25% before Diandra and Great Wide North. And finally the 19-25 category is to...

Finland decided next Saturday in a live national final in Barona Arena, Espoo. But who's going to win? The race might be more open that it seems at first glance... Who do the UMK 2013 finalists think are their worst enemies in the final? Elina Orkoneva thinks the other ladies (Diandra and Krista Siegfrids) while Great Wide North, ever so polite and positive think themselves because "they always want to be better than their last performance". Diandra likes the songs of Krista and Mikael Saari personally and would vote for either of them. Lucy Was Driving thinks every act is their worst enemy but most of all Last Panda, the closest to their genre. And the Pandas are afraid of Mikael. Krista thinks Diandra's huge fanbase can make her way to Malmö 2013 a bit more difficult. Arion names Mikael without hesitation and Mikael himself thinks the ladies will take the trophy this year.  So, summa summarum the artists themselves seem to think like the fans and the media: ...

I will be once again live blogging the UMK live tonight. It's time for the semifinal and see who will be the two (or apparently it is four!?) lucky ones the jury and televoters send to next week's grand final with Mikael Saari, Diandra Flores, Krista Siegfrids and Arion. Like the previous weeks the show time is on YLE Areena with UMK+ 19.45 CET and the show itself starts at 20.00 CET,  also on YLE's website. Tonight's guest star is Elonkerjuu. Twitter #UMK13 19.45 UMK+ has started online and soon we will move to The Circus nightclub in Helsinki city center. One of the judges, Aija is interviewed and she tells how she has given advice to the vocalists in the early stages of UMK but now they are on their own and the judges only... judge. She also tells she wished there was more indie pop but apparently that's something missing in the Finnish scene at the moment... Next we talk with the hosts, Ile and Anne, and most of all their outfits for tonight. They remind ...

It looked like the judges would turn the tables but in the end the televote turned them back and all ended as planned: Krista Siegfrids and Arion straight to the final and Atlérico Kumpula was kicked out. Here are the full jury votes (as usual the televotes were not announced): Great Wide North 36 (Toni 9, Aija 9, Tomi 9, Redrama 9) Arion 35 (Toni 9, Aija 9, Tomi 9, Redrama 8) Krista Siegfrids 34 (Toni 8, Aija 8, Tomi 9, Redrama 9) Atlético Kumpula  28 (Toni 7, Aija 6, Tomi 8, Redrama 7) Lucy Was Driving 26 (Toni 6, Aija 7, Tomi 7, Redrama 6) Elina Orkoneva 26 (Toni 6, Aija 7, Tomi 7, Redrama 6)

Join me again tonight at 20.00 CET for the second heat of UMK 2013. Two songs will send to the final directly with 50/50 jury/televote. One act will be send home, the others will get another chance next week. The Circus nightclub in Helsinki is once again sold out venue and you can follow it here. UMK+ will bring you backstage 19.45-20.00 here and during the break before the results part of the show.  Last week fan favorites Mikael Saari and Diandra made it to the final, this week we have Krista Siegfrids (who just today has signed her first recording deal with Universal, congrats!) and Arion as clear fan favorites and knowing the judges like them, too, anyone else qualifying would be a surprise. But who will be kicked out? That's the question tonight! And tonight's guest star is Jesse Kaikuranta! Don't forget to read these UMK artists exclusive interviews right here -> 19.45 Here we go again! The backstage UMK+ online has just started.The web presenters are t...

Jack at Eurovisionjack3 has reviewed the UMK entries for Blogilkar. This blogger agrees in most cases but the beauty of these reviews and opinions that there is always something to disagree :-). Here's what he had to say: Arion - Lost  This is what Finland does best - ROCK! It's just awesome - the kind of music I like! Unfortunately, I was very underwhelmed by their stage performance - I hope they will be able to improve on that for next week. It's a powerful song which could do very well in the charts, even if it doesn't make ESC! One of my favourites for sure... 9/12 Atlético Kumpula - Paperilyhty Don't get me wrong, it's a really good song, but I feel like something is missing! It has a folk sound which I don't think will do very well. I can't see it doing very well - it's too strange. I would love to see it do well (or at least make the UMK final) but I can't see it happening... 4/12   Diandra - Colliding into y...

Tonight we got to see the remaining six perform their demos to the judges for the first time in studio stage. The artists didn't know who the judges would be until they entered the stage so that gave them some extra excitement, too. And the judges finally saw the artists they had only heard on tape so far. As always the judges commented the song, the performance and gave the artists hints how to make it better for the live gig next week. Here's a short round up what was said and how the performances were.  LUCY WAS DRIVING - ALL AROUND THE UNIVERSE *** Toni praised them and says he thinks they have a really good song in its genre. Some critic for the vocals that surely would sound fine if there were 300 girls screaming along but here in this studio one can hear everything. Aija thinks the chorus is a killer. She also likes the drum beat. She also criticized the vocals, as did Tomi. And finally they commented their look, the scarves especially, too cliche. They sugg...

Tomorrow UMK continues on TV and the artists and judges meet for the first time and they get to perform to them for them as well. I will of course post about that tomorrow with video links and comments. I have made posts about each of them based on the first program where the judges listened the demos and picked up the 12 qualifiers. Those artists were interviewed as well and they got to present themselves a bit and you can read my sum ups here: Last Panda , Iina Salin , Mikael Saari , Ilari Hämäläinen , Rautakoura , Diandra , Atlético Kumpula ,  Krista Siegfrids , Lucy was driving , Arion , Elina Orkoneva and Great Wide North . My comments on hearing the songs in full and in final versions for the first time is here . Don't forget to vote for your top-3 in my poll on the right hand side of this page! In other fan poll Diandra is keeping her early lead still but Mikael Saari and Iina Salin are reaching her while Krista Siegfrids seems to be struggling a little. But th...

The guys of Arion are only 17-18 year olds and from Helsinki. Viljami Holopainen, Iivo Kaipainen, Arttu Vauhkonen, Georgi "Gege" Velinov and Topias Kupiainen. They have a link to Stratovarius, as Topias is little brother of their guitarist and mentor. Their music could be labeled as soulful heavy with clean vocals and symphonic arrangements. They are also very pedant, they can train one detail over and over with a metronome to get it right. Their song Lost in the woods is a story about being lost in general, in psychological way, something that everyone experiences at some point of their lives. Deep words from the 17-year-old songwriter Iivo.  What did the jurors say? Toni Wirtanen: Damn it. It's great when young guys can do such good heavyrock! Really good. Tomi Saarinen: This is really, really good. Considering this is just a demo it's perfect. It really hit me. Great chorus, too. Redrama : It hit me, too, now here even more. Good melody, the sy...