Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Israel's internally selected entry Hurricane finally was approved by EBU March 7, 2024 and published three days later after several re-writes after its original lyrics and title October rain. The song and its music video refers to Re'im Music Festival Massacre on October 7, 2023 when Hamas did a surprise attack killing 384 and taking at least 40 hostages, many of them still missing.  Eden Golan (20) is Israeli-Russian singer. She was born in Israel but moved to Moscow when she was six for 12 years. She started her singing career taking part in the Russian selection for Junior Eurovision in 2015 and later Russian The Voice Kids. Back in Israel she found fame winning The Rising Star that was used to select the Eurovision artist. She won both the jury and the public vote. She has released recently four singles before Hurricane, and already one in Russia in 2015: Schastye. So, what do I think? Putting everything else side and concentrating only solemnly on this entry it's one o...

Cyan Kicks is no stranger to UMK followers as this is their second participation, a rare event in recent UMK history where returnees are very rare. In 2022 they lost it to The Rasmus who went with Jezebel to Turin Eurovision and placed 7th in the semi-final and 21st in the grand final.   They beat however the biggest hit of the year, Ram pam pam by BESS. Their 2022 entry Hurricane spent 15 weeks in the singles chart peaking at n.o 24. Cyan Kicks was founded in 2016 and is considered an alternative rock band with a touch of pop and electric music. The band is fronted by lead singer Susanna Alexandra (Saarinen), guitarist Niila Perkkiö, bassist Leevi Erkkilä and drummer Pietari Reijonen. Susanna has a past in Idols 2008 and also performed in a duo. She and Niila met each other in 2011 and the year after already worked as a duo named Fusel.They still write most of Cyan Kicks songs together. The other two joined in 2016 and they released their first singles Feathers and Gasoli...

I already reviewed the first semi-final here , so let's move on to the second semi-final without further explanations. (Edit. I have made a tiny little mistake in the main photos - spot the wrong one!) Hurricane - Zumi zimi zami *** Hurricane is no more, long live the new Hurricane. Somehow this feels a bit Hurricane light compared to the original trio and their energy and voices. But this is fun anyways. I don't know how they are live so hard to say how this works on stage or will they make a mess of zumi zimi zami?.  Nadia -  Devojka tvog dečka  * This takes forever to get going and when it does it isn't anything special. A filler.  Filarri - Posle mene *** Balcan botox disco, quite pleasant one. I imagine myself driving with a car by the Adriatic seaside roof down this blasting out enjoying life. Zejna - Rumba **** Oh yes, love this one! I hope she delivers live and the staging works. This is silly enough yet catchy enough to stand out. Rumbanbumbum! Ram pam pam! ...

Serbia was riding high on success last year (clap clap) and obviously wants to repeat it. Who knows? Among this year's entrants Tijana Dapcevic (North Macedonia 2015 ESC) and Hurricane, but hold your horses; the three girls Sanja, Ivana and Ksenia have changed and only the name remains. Don't know if these new girls  Jovana, Sara and Miona are a hurricane of hair as well.  Among song writers Eurovision 2007 winner Vladimir Graić (as well as Slovenia 2012 and Serbia 2015). There will be two semi-finals on March 1 and 2, and the grand final on March 4, 2023. Nada - Moj prvi ožiljak na duši Tijana Dapčević - Mamim Egret (Petar  Pupić) - Ako  shvatim Princ (Stefan  Zdravković) -  Cvet sa Istoka Frajle - Neka, neka Angellina - Lanac Eegor - Starac dana Boris  Subotić -  Nedostupan Nadia (Nađa Terzić) -  Devojka tvog dečka Luke Black - Samo mi se spava Filip Baloš -  Novi plan drugi san Zejna - Rumba Dzipsii - Greh Igor Vins i Bane Lalić ...

Alternative rock band Cyan Kicks was founded in Helsinki 2016. They mix in their music hard rock with melodic pop and electronic sounds. The members are Susanna Alexandra (vocals), Niila Perkkiö (guitars), Leevi Erkkilä (bass) and Pietari Reijonen (drums). They have written their entry Hurricane with Swedish-Danish Eliza Ryd, singer in Amarathe and it's been produced and mixed with American Chris Walla and Zakk Cervini. Their debut single Feathers was released in 2017 but it was the second single Gasoline that brought them to radio waves and notoriety. Critics have labeled them as a very possible export product. Their debut album I don't love you (2019) was nominated for Emma award as the best rock album of the year. Last year they released their second album Not your kind and their latest (and 10th) single is Invincible . Late last year they also did a cover of Blind Channel's I died enough for you . Check out also The Flood , Tidal wave , Wish you well   and Beat of m...

Here is the next set of today's second rehearsal for the semi final two ones. Check out the previous post for more information  here  . Poland is one the fandom loves to dislike this year with passion. But like with Estonia one can't remember the televoting powers and also all the Poles around Europe. The song isn't that bad but watching this clip one can only wonder: Why those pyros? Why in his face? What's all that? Looks like a bad random tv-show anywhere, not Eurovision quality and standars. Shame. With a better one this could have been a big Maybe qualifier. Moldova follows Poland's suit: the mediocre song could have been saved with a proper staging but also here it's without any effort, cheap and unimaginative. Boring with weak vocals and zero sex appeal she so hard tries to display. And to think this was one of The Songs when released. Now it struggles to qualify.... Iceland. Oh well. No. I can't take this seriously. I don't find it funny either. ...

Another act that won national final last year and was then internally selected for 2021 is the Serbian Hurricane girls. If they exploded with energy last year with Hasta la vista they have mellowed down to Macarena tempo in Loco loco . 

San Marino - Senhit - Freaky! Not exactly a song I play in repeat but everytime I hear it it makes me happy and jamming along. Senhit is so full of positive energy and sells this so well. All was looking good for San Marino to reach the final for the third time most likely. I'm between 7 and 8 but as it is my second adopted home country I give 8/10 Italy - Diodato - Fai rumore I fell in love with this song during Sanremo, and in the end after hearing all the Eurovision entries in a long run it has climbed back to the top. Excellent song with a proper melody, sung in a good old fashioned way belting it out from the heart in a proper manner when due. No gimmicks, no today's trendy arrangements or production but a timeless classic. The pandemic has given this song another dimension. I want to think Italy would have won in Rotterdam if only.... 10/10 Albania - Arlena Ara - Fall from the sky As usual Albania revambed their song and translated it into Engli...

New series start: Let's kill some time having a look at the last decade and see who were the Top-10 best scoring countries in the Eurovision song contest in the past ten years. The ways to calculate are many and here I have used the simple average placement method (and it's not all so serious). First out Serbia! 2010 Milan Stanković - Ovo je Balkan (Ово је Балкан) - 13th *** 2011 Nina - Čaroban (Чаробан) - 14th * 2012 Željko Joksimović - Nije ljubav stvar (Није љубав ствар) - 3rd ***** 2013 Moje 3 - Ljubav je svuda (Љубав је свуда) - NQ (11th in semi-final) *** 2015 Bojana Stamenov - Beauty never lies - 10th *** 2016 Sanja Vučić ZAA - Goodbye (Shelter) - 18th **** 2017 Tijana Bogićević - In too deep - NQ (11th in semi-final) ** 2018 Sanja Ilić & Balkanika - Nova deca (Нова деца) - 19th **** 2019 Nevena Božović - Kruna (Круна) - 18th **** As a remainder, Serbia would have been represented by Hurricane (incl...

Hurricane was only formed in November 2017 but has already taken the Serbian (and not only) music scene by like a.... hurricane. The three girls all have already experience in the music business before their joint effort. Sanja Vučić (26) is no stranger to Eurovision having already represented Serbia back in 2016 with Goodbye (Shelter) . She studied opera singing before joining band ZAA that did most everything from ska to dub and punk. She studies philospohy and Arabic among other things. Ivana Nikolić (24) has studied moderm dance and music and has done some collaborations before joining Hurricane. Ksenija Knežević (23) has done Eurovision as backing singer to her father Knez in 2015 for Montenegro with Adio . She started as a child star and has ended in Hurricane after being in various other groups. Hurricane has been busy releasing singles and videos, and Hasta la vista is their 9th but they have already released another two after that, Guellame el pantalon and Roll ...

Hurricane was a big pre-contest favorite and totally ruled the Beovizija 2020 votes gaining full marks by both the jury and televoters already in the semi-final, and repeated the same in the final. And for a change there's nothing fishy about it. If not the fact the televoters and juries didn't agree pretty much on anything else....(except Naiva and Marko more or less in the mid table) Sanja Vučić, Ivana Nikolić and Ksenija Knežević or the Hurricane girls have been performing together since 2017 and as a funny coincidence their Eurovision history is quite linear: Ksenija's dad Knez sung in Eurovision 2015  Adio , Sanja herself 2016  Goodbye and now they are doing Hasta la vista together! Hurricane has released a string of singles so far but no album yet and are apparently very popular in the region. Check out below the results and performance videos (and here the semi-final results ) 1. Hurricane - Hasta la vista (televote 12 + jury 12) 24 2. Naiva -  Ba...

Serbia is having a three night Beovizija 2020 from February 28 to March 1 to find their entry for the Eurovision song contest 2020 in Rotterdam, a mini Sanremo if you like. As usual there are some big names taking part like a succesful girl group Hurricane inclusing Eurovision veteran  Sanja Vučić (2016), Ivana Nikolić and Ksenija Knežević who is Knez's (2015) daughter and backing singer . Neda Ukraden (69), a big name from the 70s and 80s who has refound fame and success and multiple talent shows winner Bane Mojićević, Bora Dugić who was Jelena Tomašević's flautist at home in ESC 2008 while Ana Milenković and Sanja Bogosavljević both were Beauty Queens aka Marija Šerifović’s backing vocalists when she won in Helsinki 2007. Add a few returning artists and composers (incl. ESC winner Vladimir Graić) plus Thea Devy who claims her entry made it to top-3 in Austria's internal selection (but as we know now they chose Vincent Bueno instead).  There...