Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

The Finnish Idols, season 7 just ended in Espoo's Barona Areena and the winner is 21-year-old Mitra Kaislaranta, who was since the very start this blogger's favorite, despite this season giving us several very good singers with their own styles and interesting personalities, but only one can win. As we remember Diandra Flores won season 6, and Hanna Pakarinen the very first one. She beat Jospeh Miettinen in the final and one could say they were very different. Mitra has a fantastic voice and can make almost any song her own and comes across a bit mysterius and distant but giving her soul to each song at the same time. Joseph may lack in singing voice but makes it up as a real show man and security on stage. One can xpect both of them starting a succesful career... Here are some Mitra's performances along the way: Maailma on sun , Sex on fire , I will always love you , Toinen and with Flute of Shame, Coming home . Her debut single is Äkkisyvää. Joseph did along t...

Some more songs I've been listening this week. John Mamann ft Kika has an insanely catchy summer vibe in their Love life . Beware! Azerbaijan's favorite son-in-law Emin goes for summer hit recipe as well in Amor . As a video bonus there is Miss Universe Olivia Culpo. All the incredients are there but... somehow something is missing, don't you think? Swedish Ola is hit in Italy with his I'm in love . The song was a hit in Sweden already last summer but now he's ready to conquer the world, without Melodifestivalen and Eurovision, it seems. Finally, another one wishing for a world domination is Finnish Diandra . She didn't win UMK but she won Idols, and is about to release her second album, the first single is Lost . She's got the voice and a song that wouldn't be out of place in any chart, but she desperately needs to sack her stylist! She's 18 for God's sake!

Justin Bieber was in Finland and resulted as fainting and screaming fans as everywhere. On Friday afternoon a warm-up concert was held in Kaisaniemi park with some 4.000 fans attending and the list of artists included Robin (not the Swedish one but the Finnish teenage sensation), Diandra, Mikael Gabriel, JVG and most of all Krista Siegfrids! She performed obviously her Marry me as well as the new single Amen . In true wedding tradtion to Krista's surprise a maiden heist was performed, and it was for a moment unclear if it was the beginning of her hen party or not? Later she went to Bieber's concert along with other 12.000 fans in sold out Hartwall Arena as well and commented that he's cute, and if he proposed she'd say yes! And she said she'd keep eye on the show to find possible new ideas... Today she'll be entertaining the crowds again in the Linnanmäki amusement park's opening party in a free open air affair. Another occasion to catch pheunomia as t...

The common belief was that Diandra would have won the televote and Krista won only thanks to the jury. We can forget that now, she won also the televote with 38,6% of the votes! Mikael was second with 18,4% and Diandra only third with 15,8%. As both weighted 50% they the percentages have been divived in two below: Artist Jury Juryi% Televote% Total% Krista Siegfrids 38 7,3% 19,3% 26,6% Mikael Saari 38 7,3% 9,2% 16,5% Diandra 32 6,2% 7,9% 14,1% Great Wide North 38 7,3% 6,0% 13,3% Arion 35 6,7% 3,5% 10,2% Elina Orkoneva 30 5,8% 2,6% 8,4% Lucy Was Driving 25 4,8% 0,8% 5,6% Last Panda 24 4,6% 0,7% 5,3%

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...

Mikael Saari has taken the clear lead in Unibet's betting for who's going to win UMK 2013 this Saturday. Last Saturday Diandra was still leading but shares now the second place with Krista Siegfrids with 2,75. Mikael has gone from last week's 5,0 to 1,9. These three are far ahead of the other artists in the final. Will televoters and the jury agree? And let's hope he gets rid of the flu he's apparently having before Saturday... In a song like this is it's a bit crucial... Meanwhile you can vote in my poll right here on the rightside where Mikael is fighting it neck to neck with Diandra Krista right behind them. Mikael Saari - We should be through Diandra Flores - Colliding into you Krista Siegfrids - Marry me

Diandra started the UMK 2013 race as the clear favorite. She's playing a lot in radios and is topping most every poll, but will it carry all the way to Malmö 2013? Here's her jury performance and the first live gig where she qualified directly to the final. Her look in the latter was heavily critizised by fans and media alike, let's see how she will look in Barona Arena this Saturday!

Diandra, the biggest pre-contest favourite to win UMK has also taken a moment to answer some questions to your truly. She was once the Little Red Riding Hood but who was the Big Bad wolf? What happened in her house when Lordi won Eurovision? Does she speak Spanish? Read it all here and don't forget to vote her in the poll on your right hand side -> You won Idols, released a hit album and now UMK. If you win UMK and go to Eurovision, does it mean more to you than winning Idols? I've always wanted to be a singer and a performer, so winning the Idol was magical. I've studied music since the age of 3, but Idols was the thing that started my career. It’s very exciting to be competing in UMK. Performing on the Eurovision stage would be an absolute dream come true. You were spotted by David Lee Brewer, Beyonce's vocal couch. Tell us a bit about the collaboration. David is an amazing vocal coach. He’s taught me a lot about singing and performing and ...

Finnish rapper Mikael Gabriel has released a new video Päästä mut pois featuring UMK favorite Diandra in the vocals. And it looks like Mikael's part in the video has been filmed in Madrid. Making her acting debut is also Miss Finland 2011 Sara Sieppi and in the making of the track we have also Cheek.

UMK ladies are getting for the live gigs and if their nails are something to judge at least Krista got her Ding donged nails bling blinged (left) while Diandra goes for a more sober golden shine. Hopefully there won't be any cat fights behind the scenes as it would be shame to ruin these... How do you answer to this, Iina and Elina?

Here's another list of the top-100 songs in Finland in 2012, this time the download and sales charts combined. Once again the full top-100 is here . If Loreen was the runner up in radio play here she took a clear victory! The Finnish songs lose 45-55 here for the foreign ones.  1. Loreen: EUPHORIA 2. Carly Rae Jepsen: CALL ME MAYBE   3. Gotye ft Kimbra: SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW   4. Cheek ft Yasmine Yamajako: SYYPÄÄ SUN HYMYYN  5. Michel Teló: AI SE EU TE PEGO 6. JVG ft Raappana: KRAN TURISMO  7. Jukka Poika: ÄLÄ TYRI NYT   8. Psy: GANGNAM STYLE 9. David Guetta ft Sia: TITANIUM (95) 10. Robin: FRONTSIDE OLLIE   11. Elokuu: SOUTAA HUOPAA   12. Jennifer Lopez ft Pitbull: DANCE AGAIN 13. Tacabro: TACATA   14. Flo Rida: WHISTLE   15. Cheek: SOKKA IRTI   16. Nicki Minaj: STARSHIPS  17...

Here are the 20 most played songs in Finnish radios in 2012 (and their highest chart position). The full top-100 is here . The top of the list is filled with Finnish songs but in the end it's 51-49 for the foreign songs in top-100 1. Pariisin kevät: KESÄYÖ (1) 2. Loreen: EUPHORIA (1) 3. Train: DRIVE BY (1) 4. Chisu: KOHTALON OMA (1) 5. Jesse Kaikuranta: VIE MUT KOTIIN (1) 6. Jesse Kaikuranta: JÄRJETÖN RAKKAUS (1) 7. Elokuu: SAATILLA (2) 8. Nickelback: WHEN WE STAND TOGETHER (1) 9. Chisu: KOLMAS PYÖRÄ (1) 10. PMMP: RAKKAALLENI (1) 11. Juha Tapio: RAKASTAN NIIN KAUAN KUIN MÄ VOIN (2) 12. Laura Närhi: HETKEN TIE ON KEVYT (4) 13. Erin: ON ELÄMÄ LAINA (6) 14. Kelly Clarkson: STRONGER (WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU) (1) 15. Elokuu: SOUTAA HUOPAA (1) 16. Chisu: TIE (2) 17. Samuli Putro: OLET PUOLISONI NYT...

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...

It seems this year the UMK songs are getting radio play and have ever a chance to become hits, minor or major. In YleX Krista Siegfrid 's Marry me is #1 in the new songs list and #3 in the Most desired songs. But she's also #3 in the Most hated songs! So, she surely gets your attention, in one way or the other. So far there's no trace of any other UMK songs on this station. In RadioSuomi that is more schlager oriented there are more songs. Diandra 's Colliding into you is the third most played song this week, followed by Elina Orkoneva 's He's not my man at #4 and Mikael Saari 's We should be through at #5. Atlético Kumpula 's Paperilyhty made it to #12. There are no other songs in Top-40. The Swedish speaking X3M plays both Diandra and Krista. So, at least five songs are getting airplay in YLE's channels....

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...

Diandra Flores (18) is the big pre-contest favorite to win UMK 2013 and the only name one can consider big among the artist, or at least a household name in Finland. Her entry is Colliding into you and it's written by Patrik Sarin, Leri Leskinen and Sharon Vaughn, who has co-written Jedward's Waterline and also Release me by Agnes. Diandra or Didi herself shot to fame from Idols 2012 where by most critics she really didn't have any competition to challenge her. Her father comes from Chile that explains her name, and she suffers from synesthesia, meaning she sees the music as colors and shapes! She started with violin at age of six, later won a kid's singing competition and her talent has caught also the eye of American vocal couch David Lee Brewer who took her under his wings a few months ago and she flew to Berlin to work with him. His previous students include Didi's idol Beyoncè. She is also a devoted fan of Lady Gaga. Her debut album ...

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...

Emma (the Finnish Grammy) nominations have been revealed and there are many familiar names. The award ceremony will take place on March 1, 2013 in Barona Arena, Espoo. You can see the full lists here . Below I have picked some nominations and familiar names to readers of this blog. Jesse Kaikuranta picked up five nominations, Robin six, Cheek four and even Eva & Manu two! UMK hopeful Idol winner Diandra even got one and Pernilla's brother and writer of När jag blundar several with his band Elokuu and as a producer! Song of the year :  Frontside Ollie - Robin, Kesäyö - Pariisin kevät, Kran turismo - Raappana ft. JVG,  Olet puolisoni nyt - Samuli Putro, Soutaa huopaa - Elokuu, Vie minut kotiin - Jesse Kaikuranta Male artist:   Cheek, Jesse Kaikuranta, Jukka Poika, Samuli Putro, Stig Female artist:   Anna Eriksson, Anna Puu, Johanna Kurkela, Laura Närhi, Paula Koivuniemi Band:  Apulanta, Elonkerjuu, Nightwish, PMMP, Stam...

So, here they are. One very famous female singer (Diandra, Idols 2012 winner) and another a little known (Krista Siegfrids, of The Voice of Finland 2012 fame) and the rest totally unknown names and bands. That's UMK 2013. I'll post more information when available.... The snippets are the demoversions. The re-recorded and produced studio versions will be only heard later. Arion: Lost in the Woods listen (Iivo Kaipainen)  The band is made of Viljami Holopainen, Iivo Kaipainen, Arttu Vauhkonen, Georgi ’Gege’ Velinov and Topias Kupiainen. They are 17-18 years old guys from Helsinki. Atlético Kumpula: Paperilyhty listen (Kyösti Salokorpi/Atlético Kumpula) Singer Kyösti Salokorpi has made a name in the music business already. His band members are Miikka Paatelainen, Rasmus Pailos, Samuli Luoma, Valtteri Pöyhönen and Janne Friman. The band comes from Kumpula neighbourhood in Helsinki. Diandra: Colliding Into You listen   (Patrick Sari...