Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

"The rules are the rules and they are what they are and are to respected", said Käärijä in his homecoming interview at Helsinki airport today. But he continued that maybe they should be changed to be more fair. "Loreen deserved to win. Of course I wanted to win and I am disappointed. You enter a competition to win. Not for our performance, I wouldn't change a thing. We had a chance to beat her, did well but it wasn't enough. Loreen is amazing person and I love her. But I would have loved to beat her!"  He didn't know Finland didn't give Sweden any televote points. "Wow, I didn't know that! But it only proves Finns supported me also that way and I am grateful." Mayor of Vantaa, his hometown, and CEO of Yle were also there to welcome him home. Käärijä tells he has been in the Eurovision bubble for two weeks and has only a tiny idea of what's been going in Finland with this green hype and now it will take some time to let it sink. City...

Lordi won the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens by song Hard Rock Hallelujah on May 20, 2006 with 292 points, which was more than any artist had received so far then. Lordi is still the only Finnish Eurovision Song Contest winner. Helsingin Sanomat searched the news archives from that Eurovision spring. They run the videos and gave Tomi Putaansuu aka Mr Lordi the microphone and asked the man to remember the spring of 2006. Let's start with the maximum, the Market Square's Welcome home party. An estimated one hundred thousand Finns met in the Market Square to celebrate the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is said that from Lapland came busses filled with people and that part of them visited the capital for the first time. "It's funny, that this is the gig, which most Finns have seen from us, and it is one of the shittiest gigs, that we're ever had. Just because the preparation for it was zero" he says. ”The atmosphere was great of co...

Ahead of tonight's second semifinal where Nika Kocharov and his Young Georgian Loltaz will perform Midnight gold , Nika sat down with my Flying reporter Robert in Stockholm. He talks about his musical style and his band's history. He also tells the secret which member of the band it's best to be. And how did they end up at Eurovision and what they expect from it? And what's the difference with a normal performance and Eurovision? And what's Thomas G:son got to do with it all? What does he think of the other songs? And how many times he has watched Eurovision? Watch the video below and find out! And as a bonus the band is playing acoustic Midnight gold live  at Kulturfyren during the Eurovision week. Enjoy!

Katerina is another British based artist trying her luck in the Swiss selection and being a multitalented all around artist of Greek Cypriot background she would fit nicely in the long string of foreign artists who have represented the multicultural Switzerland. She's a girl with a motto, an ex-footballer, practical joker and big Eurovision fan. Her entry is   Love tonight  She was kind enough to have a little chat with your truly. Here: Singer, dancer, actress, choreographer... what else is Katerina? Clever question! I sometimes like to think I am great cook, if that counts! Tell us a bit about the private Katerina, your background etc. I come from a Greek Cypriot background of two brothers and a sister, born and raised in Tottenham, north London. That being said, I have seven nieces and a nephew which keep me on my toes. I am a very creative person that enjoys fashion, music as well as history. My cheeky side enjoys making practical jokes. I used to play foot...

Valentina Monetta 2014 - Italiano Valentina Monetta 2014 - English

This season I did an editorial choice not to do any interviews for various reasons, but there's one I just had to do: my main girl Valentina Monetta, the Sammarinese representative for the third year in a row. The young girl using social network almost emerged from the crisalide last year as a woman but this year, maybe, she will shine like a a pearl in the shell in Copenhagen! What does she think about her past, present and future? And what does kite surfing mean to her? Would she rather hang out with Nina, Raphael or Marco? Find it all out here: Valentina, here you are again. What's up? It's good, I'm happy and I go forward, doing what I love the most in life and if I have this ability and luck, I owe it to Eurovision.   To begin with, let's go back in time. Valentina in 2004. Where was she and what she was doing, what she dreamed about? In 2004, I was working, dating a police officer and in the evenings I trasformed as a singer .. Well, now let...

Valentina, ancora qui. Come va? Benissimo, sono contenta e vado avanti, ma facendo quello che più amo nella vita e se ho questa capacità e fortuna, lo devo anche all’Eurofestival. Per iniziare, torniamo indietro nel tempo. Dove era Valentina nel 2004 e di cosa faceva, cosa sognava? Nel 2004 facevo l’operaia, stavo con un poliziotto e la sera mi trasformavo in una cantante ... Bene, ora andiamo invece al futuro. Valentina nel 2024? Bella domanda!! Forse avrò’ 2 figli e un compagno Pigmalione. Forse produrrò me stessa e altri talenti, una cosa è certa che canterò ancora! Torniamo al presente. Presto sarai sia all'Eurovision in Concert che al London Eurovision Party un'altra volta. Quale significato hanno questi due eventi dei fans per te? E’ fantastico, in entrambe le occasioni mi sono sentita amata tantissimo e questo ovviamente fa sempre molto piacere, Lo spero anche questa volta. Cosa ti aspetti di piú a Copenaghen? Sei stata all...

.. in form of the interviews that is. Have you read what they had to say in the Bicyckling reporter Robert's interviews that went a bit deeper than the usual ones? Among things - sometimeS under pressure - they also revealed who they would like to see representing their countries in Eurovision 2014. Read them here from A to Z:  Amandine Bourgeois (France) Birgit (Estonia) ByeAlex (Hungary) ESDM (Spain) Eythor Ingi (Iceland) Gor Sujyan (Armenia) Krista Siegfrids (Finland) Marco Mengoni (Italy) Nodi & Sophie (Georgia) Roberto Bellarosa (Belgium) Zlata Ognevich (Ukraine) And there's more. Check the right hand side panel for links!

Blogilkar's Bicyckling reporter Robert had a chance to interview the essential Italian Marco Mengoni. In his press conference he said Europe needs more to unite it than coins: music. And music needs place to breath: Eurovision. He's also happy Italy has returned to the contest after the absence of 14 years and thinks it's a shame they missed all those years as it's so great! What did he talk about in this joint interview in more private settings? Find out here: Thank you Marco for your time. Italian broadcaster RAI chose you for Eurovision. Was it also your wish beforehand?  It was some years that I heard again about Eurovision since we returned in 2011, and yes of course I wanted to do this fantastic event. It was a dream. But I was feeling a bit inmature for such a big international stage, not knowing languages, being so young.... I'm living a wonderful experience here and I hope this will be a big brick in the wall of my career, so to speak. When and...

Have you checked the exclusive in depth interview we have done with the stars of the Second semifinal? All of them will also reveal who would they like to represent their country next year! The links are on the right hand side panel. Click away!

If you are in Skopje and ask any taxi driver to take you to Esma's house, they will know the way. That's how famous she is. Her trademark is the "Shhh finger" and it was invented to shut up her numerous children. And her audience in the concerts. The Queen of gipsies is still going strong but what keeps her going? And in what the other countries in the world should take example of Macedonia? And is there any diplomacy left for your question who should represent the country next year? Find out here: Mrs. Redzepova, thank you very much for this interview opportunity. You have an impressive career that covers 55 years. Your album The Queen of the Gipsies has been selected as one of the 20 best albums in world music selection ever. How do you look back your musical career? First of all, hello to everybody reading. I was born. And I have lived. I hope to leave to all my fans and the people of Macedonia a museum, that will open next year. All my career will be v...

Robert took his bike and went to meet Valentina Monetta yesterday and we had a chance to talk to her once again. This time we do a lot of name dropping, she tells how the swing version was born, something very personal, her hobbies and background and who would she like to sing for San Marino next year? And what's Calabria to do with it all? And in the case of victory? Here: Hello Valentina again and thank you for this interview! With the song Crisalide you come closer to your true self in singing, and a couple of nights ago you gave a concert in San Marino party singing in a very jazzy way. Who are your musical idols? I have many, I don't have just one above the others. I love soul, jazz, black music but growing I'm revalutating the sing-songwriters, especially in Italian music. And the music of the 1960's and 1970's. And names like Mina, Patty Pravo, Milva, Ornella Vanoni... all these artists that have combined jazz and bossa style with the Italian styl...

The Bicycling reporter Robert has a chat next with the Cypriot entrant Despina Olympiou, and a chat turns into a long conversation of this and that. She's very lovely, without further ado, find out yourself here: Hello and thank you for this interview, Despina Olympiou. What a beautiful name! Thank you! But you can call me Denna like my family and friends call me :-) It's like a shortened version of my name, pronounced very quickly. A very Cypriot thing! Your musical career covers some 21 years. Could you name some highlights of your career? I feel blessed for having had such a wonderful career so far, with so many nice moments. I have been singing to many beautiful theaters all over Europe, in Greece and Cyprus. In some theaters that have a historical meaning to us. Then of course when I sung in the studio for the first time, all the big events... like the Badminton Theater in Athens singing songs by great Greek composers... singing with Giorgios Dalaras.... the...