Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Jaana Pelkonen retuns to Eurovision bubble being the Finnish spokesperson 2026 nicely after 20 years when she was commenting the 2006 edition won by Lordi with Heikki Paasonen, and then hosting the show in Helsinki 2007 with Mikko Leppilampi.  But not only. She has hosted the Finnish national selection seven times, and has been the Finnish commentator also in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010.  After the national final in 2011 she left the bubble and went to the parliament instead after being selected in 2011 and again in 2015 when she was the 5th most voted MP in the whole country. After two rounds she stepped out of politics and returned to show biz in 2020.  Maybe, just maybe she'll repeat the magic..... 

Laura Pausini, a global superstar, was the hostess of the Eurovision song contest 2022 and in true Italian aka Sanremo style her outfits were designed by top design houses, one per every evening. More outfits were displayed in her grand final opening number. She also caused a bit of a commotion when in the final she disappeared from screens and left Alessandro Cattelan and Mika alone during the voting.  She had a drop of blood pressure and had to rest for about 20 minutes. This adds to Italian stars with unlucky moments in this week after Il Volo's Gianluca had to perform on video being in Covid-19 guarantee, and Måneskin's Damiano performing clearly in pain due to an ankle injury... But let's check Laura's looks! In the first semi-final she wore Valentino I wasn't so sure about her make up and hairdo though Second semi-final was all about Alberta Ferretti Her make up and hairdo improved a bit And finally the final was pure Versace And finally she started to look li...

It's been just hours when the first cities announced they want to host it ( read more here ) but also first proposals to conduct it. Who said Italy wan't willing to win & host Eurovision? Or is it a classic case that everyone wants to have a piece of action now? But just like with the lack of suitable arenas Italy has also a problem of suitable hosts for the simple fact the conductors must speak fluent English and quite a lot of French, too. Or, let me phrase it again: There are those who can do the job but it might take awhile before the audience and people in charge realize they can't put there some random Amadeus & Fiorello to attract home audience to the screens (Amadeus indeed has said he'd consider it) like they did in 1991 with Toto Cutugno & Gigliola Cinquetti . That was then, this is now. The show must be hosted in English and a little bit of French, it must be aimed to the European audience, not the locals. Something that is very uncommon for Rai ...

I haven't been following so closely the host lottery and gossiping but I supposed Edsilia came from nowhere? And as I am convicted Edsilia fan ever since 1998 and totally in love since Helsinki 2007 I couldn't be happier! She so much fun, pretty, great singer and apparently also a good at hosting considering the jobs she's done so far including Eurovision in concert. I will forever remember her after failing to reach the final in Helsinki 2007 comforting the sad and teary eyed fans post-show in the press center telling it's ok, don't be sad, she's fine..... What a lady! Next to her there will be also Chantal Janzen, actress and musical star and hostess of Hollan's Got Talent and The Voice of Holland. The male star of the trio is Jan Smit, ex-child star and singer, plus the Dutch commentator in Eurovision for the past nine years and otherwise heavily involved in all things Dutch Eurovision. 

One step closer to the Eurovision song contest 2019: the hosts were announced today and they are pretty much the ones that have been rumored for some time already. Supermodel Bar Refaeli  (33) who has quite a lot experience on tv-work having created her own model casting show Million Dollar Shooting Star . She has also hosted several prime time tv-shows, including Israeli The X Factor . But she's maybe best know as Leonardo Di Caprio's ex-girlfriend. Erez Tal  (57) has 25 years of experience of television work and hosting, including ten seasons of Big Brother , and creating and hosting The Vault , a TV game show that has been sold to 23 territories abroad making it the most succesful Israeli tv-game show in the world. He has also been Eurovision commentator for KAN. Assi Azar (39) is one of the leading Israeli tv-hosts, including The Next star series for Eurovision. OUT Magazine also listed him among the 100 most influential gay people in the world.  Lucy Ayoub...

Jan Ola Sand and EBU gang have been to Israel to go through with KAN/IPBC the three proposals for hosting the Eurovision song contest in 2019. The choice is between fan favorite Tel Aviv, Israeli politicians favorite Jerusalem and outsider Eilat. We should know the decision shortly.  Eilat apparently has a plan a bit similar to Copenhagen 2014 to create the venue in the Port of Eilat in some old hangar or warehouse...? Jan Ola Sand stated EBU will not overlook the out of the box solutions if they only meet the schedule. There's always a risk though, ask Copenhagen that went well over budget and had some schedule issues as well but in the end it served its purpose wonderfully giving us one of the best stages ever - outside the venue was another story then, especially getting to the Eurovision Island..... Eilat is Israel's southernmost town with a population of 50.000, and an important touristic spot between Negev desert and Red Sea squeezed between Egypt, Jordania and...

Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet published yesterday as nearly a sure thing the rumor that has been going on since May that Måns Zelmerlöw, Eurovison song contest 2015 winner with Heroes, will be the contest's presenter or host in 2016. The other tabloid, Expresssen promptly responded with comments from both SVT and Måns, entourage that nothing of that sort has been confirmed and all is out in the open.  The fact is Måns would be a popular and professional host (unlike a string of previous Eurovision winners who have done the job as well) with a lot of experience in big events and live shows. I suppose the question is he also knows his value and following Conchita Wurst's example wants to have a proper slot to perform also his music to the Europe in the show(s). Yet, he won't accept being reduced a greenroom host or a side kick only and that's where the problem is: How to combine hosting the shows as the (ony) main star AND have time to give a huge show number, too, wi...

Örnsköldsvik enters the race for the Eurovision song contest 2016 hosting alongside with Stockholm (with Globen area), Gothenburg, Sandviken and Linköping. The northern town of less than 30.000 (or less than 60.000 with the surrounding areas without counting the elk and foxes) souls would be the most northern host city ever. The city's name, very easy for foreigners to pronounce, translates to Eagle shield's bay . The arena they are offering is Fjällräven Arena with it's less than 10.000 seats and that translates to (besides being a wellknown cloathing brand) to Arctic fox . How suitable for a town that consists mostly of forests..... and a very ugly " skyscryper ". SVT surprised us last time with Malmö (that has now withdrawn its bid for 2016), maybe they will surprise again? 

Next Monday, January 28, 2013 SVT will announce the host for Eurovision 2013. A direct stream will come from Stockholm's Operakällaren at 11.10 CET. Christer Björkman will be at the spot to reveal the mystery (wo)man. Who do you think it is? Sarah Dawn FIner and Måns Zelmerlöf have been rumored by the fans, but SVT may have other plans....