Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

The first - and weakest - semifinal is over and as expected Cardiant and Marko Maunuksela with his tango royals qualified. Johanna Iivanainen took the third place by surprise and left fan favourite Automatic Eye and Jonna to wait for a possible YLE's wildcard. Johanna Iivanainen - Luojani mun Cardiant - Rapture in time Marko Maunuksela - Synkän maan tango

Tomorrow evening the Euroviisut 2011 circus kicks off in Finland with the first semifinal. It's broadcasted live from Tohloppi TV-studios in Tampere at 20.00 CET on YLE2. I guess there won't be a webcast outside Finland this time either but don't worry: I'll be here blogging live so please tune in. Eurovision 2007 hostess Jaana Pelkonen leaves her dayjob in politics for awhile and leads the show but this time she has a new partner (third in history to be exact) Tom Nylund, a familiar voice from radio. Unfortunately this seems to be clearly the worst of three semifinals. Automatic Eye, Cardiant and Jonna are expected to qualify while reigning tango king Marko Maunuksela and Johanna Iivanainen haven't convinced the Eurovision fans but everything can change when the big public will get to vote and we see and hear the live performances. The same ones would qualify with the international voters in slighty different order. Check the songs below, and especially Jonna's...

Automatic Eye will be the first one to take the stage when Euroviisut 2011 semifinals start. Pete Murto and Heikki Hiekkasalmi, both from Espoo, formed the band in 2005 and were joined by Lauri Uusitalo and Antti Aalto in 2010. AE is aiming for international markets and has played already in Japan, Latvia and the Netherlands but while doing that have scored a couple of hits in homeground from their two albums so far. Their first hit Away from sunshine was one of the biggest hits of summer 2008 and Semi-automatic heart , Ronin , Calling on angels and Die, honey, die ! have followed. Strong melodies, interesting stories in lyrics and catchy choruses, that's AE. "The lyrics come from my own life. I believe it's easier for people to identify with them if they feel true. Stories about life and death " says frontman singer.guitarist Pete. AE will take part in the first semifinal on January 14, 2011. The song will be on line on November 29, 2010.