Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  The 2020's have been very good for Finland, the best era of the whole Eurovision history by far. Four out of six our best placements ever have been in the past six years.  1. Lordi - Hard rock hallelujah - 1/37   2006 2. Käärijä - Cha cha cha  2/37  2023 3. Blind Channel - Dark side  6/39    2021 4. Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen -Liekinheitin  6/35    2026 5. Erika Vikman - ICH KOMME   11/37    2025 5. Softengine - Something better  11/37    2014

Logomo in Turku will be the chosen venue for Uuden musiikin kilpailu aka UMK 2023 final on February 25, 2023. The procedure is pretty much the same as past years: Yle promises the biggest show ever, there will be seven acts competing and huge opening and interval act shows.  The chosen artists will be announced on January 11 and their entries showcased one per day as usual starting at midnight. Among the artists aree, as usual, well knows acts and up and coming new names and the genres include the best dance entry in UMK's history with a new killer vocalist, an entry full of sexual tension by a very well known artist, a show stopping ballad by one of the most significant export artists, the strongest rap banger in UMK's history (we start to repeat ourselves here) and up and coming and very popular bands..... We'll see. The UMK final also includes on spot in Turku a pre- and after party and sico, and tickets are selling already fast. Last year it was sold out. UMK has also m...

 Spotify has published the listening figures for 2021 and Eurovision song contest is present more than ever! Finland's Eurovision entry Dark side by Blind Channel is number one, while Eurovision winners Måneskin are rnner up with I wanna be your slave. And fifth with Eurovision winner Zitti e buoni. And sixth with Beggin'! Måneskin is also the fourth most listened artist! Check below the full lists: The most listened songs on Spotify Finland in 2021: 1. Blind Channel - Dark side 2. Måneskin - I wanna be your slave 3. Haloo Helsinki - Piilotan mun kyyneleet 4. Portion Boys - Vauhti kiihtyy (feat Matti & Teppo) 5. Måneskin - Zitti e buoni 6. Måneskin - Beggin' 7. Lil Nas X - Montero (Call me by your name) 8. BEHM - Frida 9. The Kid Laroi - Stay (feat Justin Bieber) 10. Masked Wolf - Astronaut in the ocean The most listened artists on Spotify Finland in 2021: 1. Haloo Helsinki 2. Cheek 3. JVG 4. Måneskin 5. Eminem 6. BEHM 7. The Weeknd 8. Ed Sheeran 9. Gettomasa 10. Justi...

Everyone knows Ricky Balboa, an underdog like Blind Channel at Eurovision 2021 where they sneaked into sixth place - Finland's second best showing ever! Måneskin may have taken over the world but also Blind Channel hasn't come back empty handed. They have a new international record deal and their summer tour in Finland has been sold out. The tour continues in Europe in January! Their gig in Helsinki's Allas Sea pool in the city center is now watchable in Yle Areena . 

The Eurovision song contest 2021 was a great success in every way, there's no doubt about that. It managed to keep the virus out (well, almost....) and gave people all around Europe what they wanted: a live show. That is proven by the viewing figures that are all over Europe the best ones in many years if not record breaking. (Well, almost...) 183 million people turned in to watch the shows on television or online where over 50 million people in 234 countries joined in! But the real success comes afterwards in streaming platforms. I have never witnessed such a rush to download and stream the Eurovision songs. And so many of them! Besides the winners Italian Måneskin who has really taken over the globe with their music, not only the winning song but their music in general, notable success has been evident for Ukrainian Go-A and Finnish Blind Channels, but that's just to name a few.  I have already lost of Måneskin's records including the most streamed Italian song within 24 ...

Let's have a closer look how Finland received votes in the semi-final and the final. In the semi-final the juries  voted less than the televoters, just like in the final: 7   France, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia 6   Iceland, Switzerland, Portugal, Serbia, Czech Republic, UK, Albania 5   Austria 4   Georgia 3   San Marino 2   Poland 0   Greece, Moldova, Bulgaria, Spain        TOTAL 84 points The televoters spread more love to the dark side placing it FIRST : 12   Poland, Bulgaria 10   Denmark, San Marino, Iceland, Estonia, Serbia 8    Czech republic, Greece, Moldova, Latvia, UK,  6    Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Georgia 5    Austria, Albania 2    France  TOTAL 150 points                  Finland placed only 5th in the semi-final but really upped their game for the final. In the jury...

Finland really, really turned into dark side again when Blind Channel took a very clear win with their violent pop  Dark side in the UMK21 final. That was no wonder as the signs were clear in the social medias all throughout the day and evening, but the amount of televotes was: 479 vs. Telfon Brothers feat. Pandora's 150. over 54% of the total. Still not as much as The Roop got in Lithuania though. This said, YLE did a great job. Each staging had an idea and was well done. Teflon Brothers feat. Pandora was a bit over the top (and vocally clearly the weakest) and one could not think the Darude example when Look away was wonderfully staged in UMK and won, and then it was literally down scaled and watered down for ESC.... All the others gave their best and worked, including Danny with his funeral symbolism and minimalism and Ilta's beautiful staging and touching performance. Oskr and Aksel clearly ate each others votes and if only one of them was in running he would have ended ...

We want to show everyone that even if your life isn’t ideal, it can still be fun. This song is dedicated to everyone who has ever felt excluded or unworthy, to those who just want to flip everyone off and scream bloody murder. We're here to say that we’re not alone in this world – and the Eurovision Song Contest is all about unity, no matter how you choose to express it! Dark Side is the soundtrack to an underground party and serves as the perfect distillation of our message.  It’s time for Finland and the world to see, hear and understand what Blind Channel is made of. Blind Channel calls its style ‘violent pop’. After honing their craft underground for three albums, the band believes that the time has come for them to bring their sound to the world. Blind Channel loves to put on a show, and the band’s members are no strangers to crazy antics and big gestures. Pretty much what I expected, but this no Viszlát nyár compared to energy and slap in the face. AWS was pure energy, these ...