Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

"Singing Fernando for the movie Mamma mia! Here we go again was such fun I decided to record a whole album of ABBA songs" told Cher earlier this year. And here it is. Match made in glitter heaven. And among the coutless ABBA classics Cher does also Eurovision song contest winner Waterloo ... and some less covered tunes like One of us and The name of the game . The arrangements are pretty true to the originals without trying to update and alter them too much. But it's a Cher album so get ready for some heavy auto-tune effects. And hooray for that!

The ever so popular Mamma mia! musical by ABBA is having its Finnish version coming up next May in Helsinki. Laura Voutilainen has landed the role as Donna (played by Meryl Streep in the movie) and she describes it as her dream role and as written for her. She's done musicals before but says this is her first experience in such an acting role. She auditioned for the role by the request by the producers and there was no doubt she'll be perfect.  But the Eurovision connections don't end here: Nina Tapio and Tomi Metsäketo are also in the cast. Nina Tapio has been several times in Eurovision as a backing singer, as well as in the national final and even performed in the opening numbers in Helsinki 2007 Eurovision. Tomi Metsäketo nearly beat Lordi in Euroviisut 2006 but let's see how it goes for him now. He's in the middle of #metoo scandal now and was kicked out last week from a tv production he was supposed to be in several future episodes still in coming we...

It's September and the Eurovision 2018 season is officially on. I will feature in coming days names that could be in UMK18, if only...... I say if only, as most likely we won't see any of them in there for UMK is profilied as a newcomers contest instead of being our own Sanremo or Melodifestivalen. In short: a major contest all the big names want to take part not only to win but to boost their record sales and score hits. But one can dream, right? I have thrown in some not so known names for variety. Let's go.... Vol.10 Check out the previous posts by scrolling down. Vesala is singer-songwriter, actress and playwriter, started in hugely popular PMMP before going solo, writes hit songs to other artists as well and Lauri's ex-wife and mother of his kid. Past few years it seems everything she touches turns into a success and she's got her shelves full of awards to prove it. This week it was revealed she has written the Finnish version of  hit musical Mamma M...

Elena Gheorghe has been delivering hits ever since her Eurovision adventure with The Balcan girls back in 2009. This summer she teams up with Glance for Mamma mia (He's Italiano) which is Romanian summer pop by numbers including hilariously idiotic lyrics filled with commonly known Italian words and a hook that stick to your mind. (They teamed already last year with Ecou that became #1 in Romania) It's a nice summer earworm that wouldn't sound quite the same in winter's darkness but in summer sun and a cocktail or two running through your veins it's just perfect. But one question remains: Can you trust an Italiano?

Now this is what I call a lost chance! Elisa came from nowhere singing for the first time in Italian after being recording only in English before and took the trophy right from Giorgia's nose, the super favourite before the final. The song was originally Come speak to me , the Italian text written by her with the help of her mother and Zucchero, and she recorded it also in Spanish . She won also the critic's Mia Martini award for the best song and Volare award for the best vocal performance. The single sold over 30.000 copies in a week and shot to number one in Italy and stayed there for weeks. Here is the Sanremo performance. The song later charted in various countries and Elisa has also had success in the USA later on, especially with Dancing , featured already twice in So you think you can dance. I can only wonder how she would have done in Eurovision.... Other Elisa hits include Rock your soul, A fest for me ,  Sleeping in your hand , Heaven out of hell , tribute to M...

Agnetha came to Stockholm and made the ABBA reunion possible! Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Frida walked the red carpet with Meryl Streep & co and posed for photographs. ABBA was last seen together in public in 2005 in Mamma mia! the musical's premiere in Stockholm. There are also rumours they performed in a private party in 1999. They have been offered one billion dollars to reunite but have always refused.... Watch interviews & stuff from the premiere here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAObzmHg7r0

ABB or Anni-Frid, Benny and Björn attended Mamma Mia! movie premiere in London without A or Agnetha as espected. Benny Anderson also confirmed ABBA will never perform together again. "Maybe we should get together and sing our songs, just us 4 and a bottle of champagne" he said though. Agnetha might attend the Swedish premiere of the movie tomorrow Friday and that would be the first ABBA reunion for years... Mamma Mia! the musical will be back on Hartwall Areena stage in Helsinki later this year.