Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

After two years of internal choices in search of "a jackpot" in vain Yle and UMK are returning to an open call. The song submission window is from November 1 to 8, 2019 and Yle is hoping to get a variety of entries from various genres and various artist categories from newcomers to veterans, stars of the moment and has-been in search for a comeback because "each and everyone can have a boost to their career with the participation, not only the winner". They also expect the entries being chosen already the next week.  Their hopes seem to be high despite the fact some are still suspicious and not so trusting this will all go smoothly after their sudden change of plans three years ago when they just threw all the submissions to the rubbish bin and decided to go for Saara Aalto instead.  The fact that they haven't published clear rules and information yet but only "we expect and wish to choose 4-10 entries for the one off final depending on the quality o...

  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.9 Check out the previous posts by scrolling down. Zühlke is the reigning runner up with Perfect villain and definitely deserves a second chance.  Since then she has released Closer (below) and Die again .  Woman's got the voice and the talent. Sanni has been one of the most succesful female artists in the past few years; three alnums and 13 Top-5 hits to prove it. She also did Vain elämää reality show that made her a household name and curr...

Sweden's Melodifestivaen brings together every year the big names, well known names, a few new names and mixes a show that appeals to most Swedes - and not only. UMK in Finland has been changing from ... well, I don't know what it was ment to be really. In the current form no big names seem to be willing to be part of it, and if we think these years it has been running it has produced only one star: Krista Siegfrids, and Softengine to some level. Mikko Pohjola was ment to become big for example, but nothing happened. From last season's finalist NONE made any impact in the charts or music industry and all are already forgotten. Sad but true.  So, let's play with the idea UMK was actually remodelled with MF style. Big names, four semifinals and all. This is my outtake or who I would have invited for the first new styled UMK that I would also rename as Euroviisut . Simple as that! One can dream, right? Check out after the jump my choices for the first semifinal. An...

Another year has passed and I can't but thank you all who followed me, read me, and in some cases looked at the post photos only. That's the case - I suspect - with the most read post, Serebro 's naked photo must have something to do with it :-) Maybe that's the case also with the second most read one, as surprisingly it's the lyrics of Mikko Pohjola 's UMK 2014 runner up Sängyn reunalla that came along with its tastefully bare video. And yes, also the third one might be helped by the photo, Twin Twin wearing nothing but their socks.... Finally at number 4 we have someone fully dressed up, Valentina Monetta 's honest and bare confessions of her three Eurovision adventures as chatted in San Marino this summer at her house. At number five we have them again, Twin Twin . Naked again. I'm starting to worry about you readers.... or should I worry about my own editorial skills? Number six is quite a surprise, a Greek friend of Alkaios or Iakovos Gogua fr...

While the winner Softengine is still working on their debut album and is about to release their new single Yellow house shortly, the girls of MIAU have come out with their debut album Trinity . Ten songs including of course their 3rd placed God/Drug .  Jasmin Michaela 's new single is called Irtokarkkeja following Kertakäyttösydän . Clarissa is out with Lies , following her duet with Josh Standing in Top of the world . Oh, and Madcraft is out with Never had the guts , too. Let's not forget Mikko Pohjola being featured in Jannika B's Sateen rummut while waiting for his new album including of course Sängyn reunalla .  Hukka ja Mama are also working on their debut album with Selja . And Lili Lambert has released this fabulous music video for her Let me take you there . Hanna Sky has released a follow up single, too, Softer rain . Lauri Mikkola has been busy with various live shows but it's worth remembering his appearance in Elastinen's Uus . Even Jos...

After last year's glitter and crazy Ding dong here comes a cool rockband with some stadium sized rock. All the guys are still under 19 so it would be propriate to talk about a boyband but for me boyband screams pop, and these guys are rock. The lead singer has a voice like no one else and they have some youthful charm to add and make it look and sound beyond their years. They got a recording deal already before winning UMK (just like Krista last year) and are backed by the label big time. Let's see how it goes..... Are they Something better ? Robert: Slowly I start to like this song a bit but I must admit I was quite upset with UMK, the Finnish national preselection, this year. I had two absolute favourites, Sängyn reunalla by Mikko Pohjola and Going down by Lauri Mikkola  and Selja by Hukka & Mama was also very nice. None of them won but a sympathetic boyband instead. Just sometimes I do not understand the Finns.... Oh well..:) Blogilkar: I agree with Robert ...

As much as I would like to only concentrate on the positive things about UMK sometimes I can't. This third season of UMK was clearly the best what comes to music and it has proven succesful at least in getting new artists record deals and even hitsongs as Mikko Pohjola hit number one in iTunes right after the final and has one big hit in his hands for sure.  The final show was great with fabulous opening and interval acts by Krista Siegfrids. If you like her is another matter altogether but there was effort and hard work behind them. The arena, the stage, the presenters and the final songs, all was there in theory. The TV-viewers interest wasn't. 423.000 people tuned in to watch, when with Euroviisut it was doubled and sometimes even tripled. But who can blame them? This blogger has already got the idea of UMK but I can also easily see why general viewer aren't interested to see the same songs over and over again and very little action: first three presentaion shows wh...

Oh, it's been so busy I forgot to post the poll reults! First of all, a huge thank you to all 502 of you who voted! You even got the top-2 right even if the order was reversed and the one I personaly would have prefered. But it's done deal and congrats to Softengine. Good luck in Copenhagen, see you around! 1. MIKKO POHJOLA  162  32% 2. SOFTENGINE  147  29% 3. CLARISSA FT JOSH  109  21% 4. HANNA SKY  91  18% 5. HUKKA JA MAMA  82  16% 5. MADCRAFT  82  16% 7. JASMIN MICHAELA  81  16% 8. MIAU  64  12% 8. LAURI MIKKOLA  64  12% 10. DENNIS FAGERSTRÖM  35  6% 11. MAKEA  34  6% 12. LILI LAMBERT  29  5%

UMK 2014 final takes place tomorrow and Ilta-Sanomat has gathered together the data from Spotify. It shows Mikko Pohjola is by far the most listened song song from UMK 2014 with over 30% of all listenings. Also his video on Youtube has been watched over 50.000 times already. He surely has a domestic hit in his hand, and who knows wins the whole thing?! He's also leading in my poll here on the right side where you can still vote... -> Meanwhile YLE has noticed #UMK14 has become a success also abroad in social medias. Thousends of foreigners are following, tweeting, commenting, watching online. YLE wants to thank the artists themselves that who have been more active than ever in social medias. Martin Hart sums it up nicely in his tweet In viewing figures on TV UMK is still struggling. The semifinal was the first show that made it to YLE2's weekly Top-20 at number 14 with 248.000 viewers or 44%. But back to the Spotify. Softengine follows Mikko Pohjola but only hal...

Here are the eight UMK 2014 finalist for your viewing and listening pleasure with voting instructions as well. It all started with performing the demo versions to the judges, then the remixed version to live audiences in the heats and semifinals. Some of them have also produced already videos for their entries, including Lili Lambert who didn't reach the final with her Let me take you there . What is remarkable this year is that Softengine, MIAU and Hukka ja Mama have all secured a recording deal before the final. 01. Softengine – Something Better: Jury live , live , video 02. Hanna Sky – Hope: Jury live , live , studio 03. MIAU – God/Drug: Jury live , live , video 04. Lauri Mikkola – Going Down: Jury live , live , studio  Acoustic video 05. Madcraft – Shining Bright: Jury live , live, video 06. Mikko Pohjola – Sängyn Reunalla: Jury live , live , video 07. Clarissa feat. Josh Standing – Top Of The World: Jury live , live , video 08. Hukka ja Mam...

UPDATE 30.1 11.30am: Nearly 500 votes, thank you all! Mikko has taken a clear lead over Softengine and this couple has left the others far behind. Do you agree? If not, change the situation by voting, the last 24h to vote are here! When writing this a few votes are missing from the 400 votes and Mikko Pohjola has catched up Softengine, who have been ledding the poll for ages. Clarissa and Josh are already far behind and then there's another gap where MadCraft, the early leaders of the poll are with Jasmin Michaela and Hanna Sky. You still have a few days to vote or change your vote on the right hand side of this page -> This is the situation right now, January 27 at 5.23pm: Mikko Pohjola   104 Softengine   104 Clarissa ft. Josh    92 MadCraft   75 *Jasmin Michaela   74 Hanna Sky   72 Hukka ja Mama   52 MIAU   47 Lauri Mikkola   46 *MAKEA   34 *Dennis F...

This is it. The crucial semifinal. The remaining eight acts and songs are battling it out with televote only for the six places in the final. So far we have only known the jury votes and the result of 50-50 televote-jury vote. Tonight we might be in for some surprises.... We are back in Peacock Theater in Helsinki, for the last time, and Anne Lainto and Ile Uusivuori have been styled by the winner of an online contest (Helena Pirhonen) instead of the usual YLE's stylist, will they look different?  UMK+ will start online already 19.30 CET while the live show starts at 20 CET. Brädi will be the guest star performing together with UMK judge Toni Wirtanen. It will be also interesting to see if this semifinal manages to attract more viewers in front of TV as the previous shows have all got less than about 250.000, none of them entering the Top-20 most viewed programmes of the week iin YLE2. As always, I'll be here blogging it live for you so join in and enjoy the ride! ...