Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Yle is going internal again in 2019 and it will be very curious to see who they choose (or get) after Saara Aalto - will they go for big international name or something big in Finland.  Or someone new and emerging? Anna Puu (or Puustjärvi) started with Idols placing 2nd, her debut album went to #1 and sold platinum. Nearly ten years later she has released four albums (and will release her 5th next month) with countless radiohits. She has won Emma award as the Female artist of the year twice, she did Vain elämää , she's The Voice coach.... and an Eurovision/UMK link comes in form of a boyfriend: Jukka Immonen, who's been involved with both and switched from Jenni Vartiainen to Anna a couple of years ago. While Jenni might have the image of an ultimate classy diva, Anna has been the cute little girl next door. Until now. Her new promo pics for the new album are rather Lady Gagaic, so does that also give a hint of even more upbeat and Eurovision friendly music as the chan...

Niila Arajuuri (28) is yet another footballer turned into musician. He's produced by Jukka Immonen (heavily linked with UMK) for Universal and toured Germany with Sunrise Avenue, and indeed his debut EP may have gotten more exposure in Germany than in Finland. Doesn't it all sound like a perfect match for UMK 2016? Even more so as he is prepairing his debut album for early 2016 release..... Sounds like perfect timing. Below is his single Sorry (and here's the acoustic and the DeepHouse Hippie Bootleg mix )

One of the biggest names in the Finnish music business is making a comeback after a break, Jenni Vartiainen. Her previous album Seili won her 7 Emma awards (Finnish Grammy) and spent 15 weeks at #1 (out of total of 62 weeks). It was also the best selling album of the year 2010 in Finland and ranks the 14th most sold album of all time. Even her singles sold platinum reaching almost 35.000 in total, something very unusual these days! Expectations are high for her new and third solo album Terra , to be released in October 2013. The first single is Junat ja naiset (Trains and women)and it promises good indeed! The video was shot in Iceland this summer.... It surely doesn't look very summery though, does it?! Check out her older songs as well: Missä muruseni on? , Mä en haluu kuolla tänä yönä , Ihmisten edessä , Duran Duran , Nettiin , Eikö kukaan meitä voi pelastaa ... She would be a dream artist for Eurovision but no way it's going to happen, even if her boyfriend Jukka Immo...

Weekly videos return after two weeks Eurovision break but tonight we go on with Eurovision artists. First Margaret Berger with Samantha . This is an old track from 2006 but it's still good. And with an interesting Eurovision twist: it's produced by Jukka Immonen, the man behind Roberto Bellarosa 's entry for Belgium this year. Talking of Roberto, he has released the London underground mix of Be heroes , one of his three national final songs. Krista Siegfrids story continues with Amen . Finally Loreen and her We got the power , the song premiered in the Eurovision 2013 final.

The Finnish media has finally woken up to the fact the Belgian entry Love kills is co-written and produced by Jukka Immonen. They recall Belgium's rather sad Eurovision history recently and state the fact that this song's qualification surprised even Eurovision fans. Jukka Immonen has in Malmö last night himself. Belgium has reached the final only twice since the semifinals were introduced back in 2004. Also the fact that another co-writer Iain Farquharson (aka Iain James aka Sparx) co-wrote the winning entry Running scared in 2011 for Azerbaijan gets a lot of attention.

The voice of Belgique Roberto Bellarosa sat down with Bicycling reporter Robert. He may seem a bit shy and timid but he knows what he wants. Read how he took on the "December disaster" that was the Belgian song selection show, what his future plans are and of course, the already classic Blogilkar question: Who should sing for his country next!? Thank you Roberto for this interview. You sing your song Love kills in English, have you considered singing it in French? Was English the only choice from the beginning? The song was originally in English and we wanted to keep it that way as it is an universal language that is understood in many countries, we think it's important in Eurovision that people understand the lyrics and the story. But I would have preferred to sing it in French of course! You feel more confortable singing in French? Yeah! But I wanted to have a new challenge! To sing in English. So after Eurovision you'll be back singing in French, ...

The Finnish composer & producer Jukka Immonen who's behind the Belgian entry Love kills by Roberto Bellarosa is in Malmö 2013 to see Roberto and his team to take on the rehearsals. However he will be back in Finland already tomorrow and will only return if and when Belgium makes the final..... Got your flights back booked yet, Jukka? Meanwhile Roberto's today's rehearsal video is here .

Sweden - Robin Stjernberg - You Robin did the same that Krista did in Finland: beating the favorites and conquering performance by performance and winning in the end and coming from the Second Chance round. And partly for the same reasons besides the song; open friendly likable personality and energy to envy. You isn't the easiest song on earth nor the catchiest, but it works, even as this fantastic acoustic version.  The show factor will be tuned down for ESC and it'll be all about Robin and his vocals. If he nails it the big night, he might end up very high in the scoreboard following rather the suit of Roger Pontare than Christer Björkman. If he fails, well.... it might be rather nightmarish to listen to... But I trust he delivers on May 18.... Belgium - Roberto Bellarosa - Love kills The fans slaughtered this song ever since it was selected, not concidering the fact that the Belgian "final" was done with demos, flu effected voice at 10am on Sunday bru...

Norway - Margaret Berger - I feed you my love Margaret, who has been working with Jukka Immonen, the Finn behind Belgium's entry this year, is among the superfavorites this year. And it's easy to see why.  She came like an alien from the outer space, looked stunning like an ice queen and fed the viewers her love and will to vote for her. Less is more in staging. The song looses some when only hearing it though. Yet, Norway shouldn't be worried about qualifying this year but how far this will carry in the final is another matter.... as this is rather cold package filled with drama that may be lost to other than hardcore Eurovision fans.... And the intro alone may get some tender people change channel as they might think there's something wrong with the sound. But I like it. Finland - Krista Siegfrids - Marry me Krista is another creature and total opposite on stage; while Margaret is cool and distant, Krista is all over the place and certainly more is more ! S...

The Belgian entrant Roberto Bellarosa was in Helsinki to revamp his Love kills with Jukka Immonen in Fried Studios ( read more here ). And indeed it sound pretty good. It seems most eurofans hate this song for reasons unknown to me - unless they judge someone who is singing 10am on a Sunday morning with a flu some demos only, like the Belgian selection was handled - but I always had a soft spot for this song. When it was selected I thought it will be ok but will be shadowed by other entries later on, but now with all the songs selected, it sound all of sudden very good, POP. Something that is missing this year....

Roberto Bellarosa's Love kills , the Belgian entry for Eurovision 2013 didn't meet many positive comments when selected but let's see if they have managed to breathe some life to it when it has been rerecorded in Fried Studios in the heart of Helsinki by Jukka Immonen, one of its writers. Fried Studios is familiar to names like Lordi and Hanna Pakarinen among others. Immonen is one of the leading Finnihs producers and responsable for for chart topping singles and albums by likes of Jenni Vartiainen, Redrama, Anna Abreu and so on. He has also worked with Norwegian Margaret Berger who will be in Malmö 2013 as well. he's been also involved with UMK.

Belgium has chosen Love kills for Roberto Bellarosa to bring to Malmö 2013 Eurovision. Oh well..... The song is written by Greek-Cypriot Andreas Anastasiou, Finnish Jukka Immonen (who's also in charge for the production of UMK entries) and Iain James, who doesn't sound very Belgian either... In fact he's apparently one of the writers for Running scared , while Anastasiou's CV includes the Cypriot entry 2011.