Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Whitney Houston , Eurythmics or Annie Lennox, Donna Summer , Madonna , Rihanna . All these female artists must have influenced the Italian superstar Giorgia, often said to have the best Italian voice. But not only, she has released an album full of covers from artists she admires herself, including Italian Eros Ramazzotti, late Mango , Jovanotti, Elisa , Zucchero , Tiziano Ferro , hauntingly beautiful Ultimo bacio by Carmen Consoli, late Pino Daniele , Vasco Rossi and Sanremo winner, Eurovision entrant Marco Mengoni's L'essenziale . But that's not all: Tiziano Ferro duets, Elisa and Aliné are featured and even Eros Ramazzotti makes a cameo. What could you ask for more? Already #2 in the Italian charts this one's c´going to yet another multiplatinum selling album for her.  This album follows multiplatinum selling  Oronero , released in 2016 with hit singles Oronero , Vanità , Credo , Scelgo ancora te , and Come neve , the duet with Marco Mengoni off the re-releas...

The ultimate tango king Jari Sillanpää is set to conquer the pop market when he releases his new album Rakkaudella merkitty mies - his first studio one in three years - on September 26, 2014. The first single Malagaan is already out. The album features some young and popular song writers being more pop oriented than any of his previous albums after the recent success with playing with various music styles from opera to reggae, heavy and pop. About this new single he says he first thought it was just too corny and he coudn't possibly record it. After listening to it a couple of days he thought it was amusing and he just had to do it. Indeed it's kinda silly.... yet, it somehow works. Jari Sillanpää has managed to stay on top since his victory in Tangomarkkinat 1995 and his defeat in Eurovision 2004 or coming out in 2006 hasn't changed his status one bit. He has always been adored by elderly women in particular and now he may be crossing over to younger generations - ha...

In Italy they have this very popular Tale e quale TV-show on RAI1 were a number of singers/actors each week practice and then imitate in a live show other singers. This season among the ones we have for example Gigliola Cinquetti who has done already another Eurovision legend, Domenico Modugno . She's done also Milva so far. But the real surprise has been Mietta who we know as a dark husky voiced pop singer, winner of OGAE Song contest 1990 and has delivered some great tracks in Sanremo over the years ( Baciami adesso and Fare l'amore for example). The first week she did Ornella Vanoni , then Donna Summer and this week Maria Callas! And who thought she could sing like that???  Mietta won the second show as Donna Summer and came third in the third one as Maria Calla s while Gigiloa Cinquetti won that one as Gianna Nannini ! Next week Mietta will do Jennifer Lopes while Gigilola will be Gloria Gaynor! You can follow the progress of the show here . 

Carola has released a remix by Adam Rickfors of her latest single Enough is enough (No more tears), here . This is of course a cover of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer (here) off Carola's latest album, Barbra, Elvis och jag that entered the Swedish album charts at #2 and stays in the spot still. This Saturday she will hit the road for a couple of concerts and then she will be touring Sweden most of the October-December 2011.

Kaija Koo's latest album made the top-10 and it is her 10th top-10 album since 1993. Her each and every album has made it and she's about to break Katri Helena's and Marion's record in the number of top-10 albums with her next one it seems, making her the most succesful Finnish female artist ever. The queen of the charts is however Madonna who can claim 18 top-10 album since 1985. Katri Helena has ten as mentioned before between 1968 and 2006, while Marion scored them in a very short time in the 1970's, or between 1972 and 1980. Celine Dion and Swedish Eva Dahlgren have 8 albums both while Björk, Anna Eriksson and Maija Vilkkumaa have so far seven each. All have very good possibilities to add new albums to their list in the future. At six top-10 albums we have Laura Voutilainen who will surely score other ones in the future while it might be very unlikely for Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Tina Turner who also have six along with Anne Mattila. Hanna Pakarinen is ...

Pentti Hietanen has just released a new album Rakastan elämää (I love life). Naturally it doesn't include his Eurovision song that will be sung in Italian but new material mixed with Finnish covers of some classics like MacArthur Park and The brigde over troubled water . As a nice prelude to his Euroviisut 2010 experience there is a cover of Päivä kahden ihmisen (Never the end), the Finnish entry 1986... in Oslo! An omen? Meanwhile here is his Finnish cover of an Italian classic Caruso . And here is Ti aspetteró that he apparently sent into Euroviisut 2002 but was rejected