Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Eurovision 1979 legends Dschingis Khan are still going strong and this summer their megahit - and one of this blogger's all time favorite songs - Ralph Siegel's stunning Moskau has been taken as this summer's football anthem! How very fitting. And awesome! The song, originally releaseed in 1979 was later released in 1980 in English for the Moscow Olympic Games and has been covered dozens of times in various languages, for example Finnish . It has sold zillions! Stay tuned for more!

Moscow hosts again another Eurovision pre-party, for the 7th time already. This time in Izvestiya Hall. Apparently 13 acts will be present - even though there are mixed information on Albania's and San Marino's participation, let's see.... Albania - Eneda Tarifa Armenia - Iveta Mukuchyan Azerbaijan - Semra Rahimli Belarus - Ivan Cyprus - Minus One Israel - Hovi Star Macedonia - Kaliopi Malta - Ira Losco Moldova - Lidia Isac Russia - Sergey Lazarev San Marino - Serhat Spain - Barei Switzeland - Rykka

The youngest duo for the tiniest country, Sammarinese teenagers Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola have been building bridges for a more peaceful world with their chain of lights in Moscow's pre-Eurovision party. Anita said in Moscow:  "Our message is peace. Together we can build a chain of light, with our smartphones and with our hearts and m ake the world a better place. "   If you are going to Vienna, be sure to light up your phone and join in. (Better than booing as a protest, isn't it?) Watch their performance here  giving us a glimpse of their chemistry on stage. The youngsters message of peace may sound a bit lame at first but it's more current than ever in the world we live in, even in Europe - just think about Ukraine and the radarless airplanes flying around Baltic Sea area violating other nation's territories for example, as well as submarines like the one caught near Stockholm last October, and yesterday just infront of Helsinki. A little ...

Russian police arrestd two women after a small demonstration for gay rights outside the Moscow mayor's office on yesterday. Women holding rainbow flags were escorted into a police car and taken away. Other gay activists, among them the leader of Russian gay community Nikolay Alexeev, drove by the mayor's office waving rainbow flags. Alexeev and other activists wore wigs to appear like Eurovision Song Contest winner and Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst and played her winning song Rise like a Phoenix through the loudspeakers. They didn't have a permit for the demostration but then it would be impossible to get one due to the new laws that forbit all "gay propaganda"....

That is how another article in Iltalehti today is headlined. Talking about the gay in  Eurovision. Or actually in the fan base. For many gaymen the Eurovision is an annual pilgrimage for partying, sex and making contacts.  Finnish Kalle tells he has been to Moscow, Oslo and now Dusseldorf and it’s very good, especially after homophobic Moscow as a gay man who’s single during these weeks. The city is full of saunas, bars and sex is available easily, for free or for cash.  He says he spends about 3000 euros a week there. He also ads there could be more fights and sly games like the Russian and Swedish fight this year, and Norway complaining the Eastern Europe didn’t like the African rhythms. Two German gay couples Stefan & Peter and Sven & Henrik are also interviewed. They have been to Helsinki, Moscow and Athens before. They think the Helsinki 2007 was the best: many gay bars and good local transport, and one could walk to the hotel afterwards. As couples they...

So, the first day of rehearsals is over. They might be "only" technical but already give hints what to expect how things will turn out later. This first part of the first semifinal turned out to be a solid pack and when five songs were presented I had five possible or sure qualifiers. Disturbing! Of course it's not going to be like that when tomorrow we have another nine songs to go through ( btw, tomorrow I can't be blogging until the evening so tomorrow's comments and posts will all come together, not as the day progresses ) and the things may look a bit clearer - or then not.  The biggest positive surprise today was maybe Albania . I didn't count much on it but it did make an impact. I was also very relieved Finland did look stunning and sounded as good as I hoped it would. Way to go Axel! I have to admit Armenia gave a good show without being over the top and as much as I wished it would be a disaster it's a contender. Not for the victory but for a g...

The first gay themed movie Veseltšaki (Jolly fellows) has opened in the Russian cinemas to pretty good success and critic. A sort of Russian adaption of Priscilla - queen of the desert tells a story of drag queens performing in a Moscow nightclub that are sent to tour the provinces - without a happy end. One of the main roles is played by Finnish Ville Haapasalo and Verka Serduchka has provided some music, including the main title Casta diva . The Russian homofobic society has taken well to the movie, it seems, and many VIPs were seen in its premiere, including Dima Bilan. Hopefully this is a start of something better in Russia.... Watch the trailer here .

Soraya has been touring both Americas recently and it sounds like especially Mexicans went wild for her. She has also found some time to pose in Victoria's Secret lingerie in New York and Brooklyn bridge... Way to go, chica!

Sammarinese newspaper Tribuna wrote about Eurovision on August 5 revealing they had already chosen Little Tony to follow Miodio's footsteps. Little Tony was the chairman of the committee that chose Miodio to be the country's first represent in Eurovision in 2008 in Belgrade. Despite the lack of success in contest itself Miodio has managed to keep going and become rather popular. The government of San Marino was happy for the visibility ESC gave them. So, they were to be in Moscow initially and government decided to skip the selection process (apparently around 30 acts did apply to represent San Marino in 2008, amongst them Jalisse and L'Aura) and send Little Tony - who is not so little anymore at the tender age of 68 - instead of giving a chance to some new talent. Change of government and lack of funds put end to this little farsa italiana and San Marino did not return to the contest in Moscow 2009. Maybe it was a good thing.... Little Tony's hits include Cuore matt...

So here they are. Fans have been demanding them (may I ask why?) and after 2 months of checking and double checking EBU has released the results of both jury voting and televoting. Many countries did publish their own votes already but let's see how it all went, like if it made any difference now... On top the televoters and juries were rather similar in their voting: Norway won both, Iceland was 2nd by juries and 4th by televoters and 2nd in overall. Azerbaijan was lifted by televoters to third place while juries placed it 8th. Same goes for Turkey when televoters lifted it 4th while juries placed it 7th. Also Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Russia and especially Albania has to thank televoters by lifting them higher on the final scoreboard - in Albania's case from 23rd place to 17th when televoters put it 11th. Then we have those who may take a bow to the direction of the juries: United Kingdom (3rd by juries, 10th by televoters), France (4th and 17th), Denmark (6th and ...

Ádokzoli or Zoli Ádok from Hungary wins the Barbara Dex Award for the worst dressed artist in Moscow 2009 Eurovision. Czech Republic's Gipsy.cz came second and Krassimir from Bulgaria third. None of the top-3 reached the final. Fourth, and remarkably the first female singer, was Albania's Kejsi Tola who did get to the final. Slovenian and Slovakian teams didn't receive one single vote so could we say they were the best dressed? Or simply so plain and boring no one paid any attention? Congratulations to Andorra and Susanne Georgi for not making the top of this list! Here are the full results: 1.Hungary 199 2.Czech Republic 159 3.Bulgaria 140 4.Albania 115 5.The Netherlands 66 6.Ukraine 59 7.Germany 58 8.Iceland 56 9.Russia 55 10.Armenia 52 11.Greece 50 12.Turkey 37 13.Spain 27 14.Ireland 23 15.Norway 23 16.Serbia 18 17.Portugal 17 18.Belgium 15 19.Azerbaijan 14 20.Sweden 13 21.Malta 10 22.Moldova 9 22.Andorra 9 22.Belarus 9 25.Romania 8 26.Poland 7 26.Israel 7 26.France 7 26...

The ratings were higher in most of Europe this year and makes a total of over 122 million viewers live all over Europe. All the 42 participating countries broadcasted the show and it was also seen in Austria, Kosova and Australia, reports eurovision.tv (but didn't Austria only show the voting live?). The share across Europe was 43,1% instead of the usual Saturday night average of 18,4%. Some countries had a big increase in the ratings like Estonia and the Netherlands. France did the biggest leap here thanks to Patricia Kaas. The televoting went smoothly with only 4 exceptions of a total of 84 individual votings. Spain failed the televote in the second semifinal as they didn't broadcast the show live and used the back up jury vote instead. Also another country failed to register enough votes to use the televote and used the jury vote as well. In the final Hungary had a problem with the televotes but the SMS voting worked fine so only they counted for their votes. In Norway inste...

UPDATED WITH JURY VOTES ! We can see that the top-2 would be the same but smaller margin. UK and France climb up while Azerbaijan and Turkey drop. Biggest climbers are however Denmark, Germany, Malta and Israel. Armenia, Russia and Albania drop the most while Spain and Finland switch places at the bottom. 01. NORWAY 387 (01 - 312) 02. ICELAND 218 (02 -260) 03. AZERBAIJAN 207 (08 - 112) 04. TURKEY 177 (07 - 114) 05. UNITED KINGDOM 173 (03 - 223) 06. ESTONIA 129 (05 - 124) 07. GREECE 120 (10 - 93) 08. FRANCE 107 (04 - 164) 09. BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA 106 (12 - 90) 10. ARMENIA 92 (15 - 71) 11. RUSSIA 91 (17 - 67) 12. UKRAINE 76 (16 - 68) 13. DENMARK 74 (06 - 120) 14. MOLDOVA 69 (11 - 93) 15. PORTUGAL 57 (18 - 64) 16. ISRAEL 53 (09 - 107) 17. ALBANIA 48 (23 - 26) 18. CROATIA 45 (19 - 58) 19. ROMANIA 40 (21 - 31) 20. GERMANY 35 ( 14 - 83) 21. SWEDEN 33 (22 - 27) 22. MALTA 31 (13 - 87) 23. LITHUANIA 23 (20 - 31) 23. SPAIN 23 ...

Chatrooms and blogs are still talking about Jari Sillanpää's shirt and its still making headlines but the Finnish eBay-like Huuto.net has it already. Jari - or the organization behind YLE's charity program Nenäpäivä - is putting this Dolce & Gabbana creation on sale. The starting bid is 300 euros. Wanna own a piece of Eurovision history? Jari himself has commented on his website the whole affair as "amusing".

Jari Sillanpää's shirt and serious and rather clumsy performance as the spokesperson has caused a minor media scandal in Finland. Soon after Finland gave its points live in Moscow's Eurovision the blogs and chatrooms were filled by criticism. Why was he wearing that horrid shirt that did little to hide his big belly? Why he was so serious and lost for words as he is known to be a real showman and usually relaxed and on top of things, including what he wears in public. On Ilta-Sanomat's online poll 81% think he's shirt/performance was tasteless. Similar result on Iltalehti's poll: 85%. What do you think?

Marcel Bezençon Award 2009 awards were given moments before the final this year and Patricia Kaas won the best artist award and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Bistra voda was chosen as the best composition. Norway was the Press favourite. These awards assigned by the delegations in Moscow are named after Marcel Bezençon, the father of the Eurovision song contest. He got the idea in 1955 after Sanremo Festival in Italy and the first Eurovision took place in 1956. It was also a special night to Patricia Kaas in many ways. Her mother died on this day exactly 20 years ago, and since then she has never performed on May 16 until now. She finished 8th, the best placing for France since 2002.

Norwegian TV was so sure about the victory they have started already preparations a few days ago. The rumours say the venue is already booked for May 2010 - most likely Spectrum or Telenor Arena, both in Oslo. Meanwhile as usual most and every city is Norway has thrown in its candidacy as host. As for the hosts someone has already thrown in Bobbysocks, Norway's first winners in 1985. They would surely provide some fun to the show! Also Jostein Pedersen's name has been thrown in. Norway is celebrating its National Day today and Eurovision win adds extra to the already happy fest in the country. Rybak invited on live broadcast everybody to the airport to meet him and the management in Oslo airport are ready to minimize the chaos by calling in extra security and getting ready for thousands and thousands of people tonight when the Norwegian team comes back from Moscow...

The Finnish team is extremely happy for the qualification for the final, even more so when they found out it was thanks to the professional juries. Waldo's People showed so regrets for the last place in the final and partied all night in Moscow. Karoliina and the girls were seen in the EuroClub until morning while Waldo and some others left the club earlier and partied in the hotel's lobby until 5.30. "Fantastic experience and we have no regrets. We did the best we could and after all 17 countries were left behind us so... This is an ultimate once in a lifetime experience, something to tell to grandkids one day watching the DVD!" However, in eurovision.tv's backstage video Waldo is saying he wouldn't exclude an another particiapation in the future.

Happy national day to all Norwegians and congratulations to Alexander & Frikar - even if he apparently broke his glass trophy already!!

Congratulations also to Russians who gave us last night a great show that run smoothly, looked wonderful and ended in time. Plus gave us the interval act to remember! It makes us forget the less fortunate semifinals, what's been going outside the venue and the streets. On the other hand one can ask what was Russian in the final? Cinque de soleil or the interval act by Argentinian Fuerza Bruta definitely not! While Norwegians are already busy preparing for next year, YLE's Kjell Ekholm reveals they, Norwegians, have been already asking YLE for hints and advice in organizing the 2010 event, days before they won! Also the Russian TV visited Helsinki weeks before Eurovision 2009 to compare notes and how they have been doing compared to Helsinki 2007. Worth mentioning is that once again Finns were behind the press center facilities in Moscow, just like in Belgrade and Helsinki, and once again the Finnish Pyroman provided the fireworks and pyros on stage in Moscow. So we came last? S...