Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Vain elämää is a hugely popular semi reality music program where top artists get together for a week and each day is dedicated to one of them. The day's artist sits through lunch and dinner telling about own life and career while the others each perform a cover song of this artist's repertoire. At the moment the season 11 is airing. The season always gives birth to countless streaming hits, restarts careers, cements the up and coming ones and sells out Hartwall Arena for a concert later in the year.  The artists are so already so many, and fit also the other given #umk2021 categories like past Eurovision stars and Emma award winners. Withoiut further a do, here the very unlikely big stars come: Jannika B - Kaksi jotka pelkää Petra - Miljoona syytä Mira Luoti - Plää plää plää Sani - Tulin tänne sua varten Reino Nordin - Antaudun Nikke Ankara - Rikkinäinen prinsessa Juha Tapio - Päiväni ilman sinua Mikael Gabriel - Oli aikoi Erin - Yhtenä sunnuntaina Ellinoora - Nartut Anna Puu -...

  Pyhimys feat. Aksel Kankaanranta - Jättiläinen JVG - Popkorni Adi L Hasla feat. Pihlaja - Kevät Nikke Ankara - Rikkinäinen prinsessa Pikku G feat. BHM - Solmussa The most listened Finnish artists were  Cheek,  JVG, Pyhimys,  Sanni,  Evelina,  Ellinoora  and Jenni Vartiainen. I guess it's safe to think none of these artists is the UMK2019 chosen one...

In the post- Despacito era also Finnish artists are taking the Latin sounds to their own and we have some surprising hits in the charts. Evelina 's Sun vika hit the airways already in winter and despite being labeled as Havana wannabe has found its way to the radiowaves. Abreu goes back to her Portuguese roots and throws in a lot of Latin flavor to her Amor amor while Mikael Gabriel hits gold with his Naapurit kuulee . Another rapper turned into pop singer Nikke Ankara also has his share of Latin vibe in his Rikkinäinen prinsessa .  I suspect we will get some more of this stuff in coming weeks and months, thankst to the heatwave we are enjoying in this hottest May ever.... Ay que calor!

A total of 18 songs made it to the number one in the official Finnish singles charts in 2017;  15 of them being Finnish! But as the Finnish ones, mostly various pop rapper, shot to the top and dropped out in a week or two mostly, the foreign ones stayed on top for several weeeks and months making a total of 30 weeks! The hugely popular Vain elämää's two seasons both gave us countless radiohits but only two made it to #1 (Nikke Ankara and Cheek with a Jari Sillanpää cover) last year, one from each series. Without further a do, have a listen below.... ARTTU LINDEMAN - HUKUTAAN (Week 1) ED SHEERAN - SHAPE OF YOU (Weeks 2-6, 12-15) MIKAEL GABRIEL & ISAC ELLIOT - LIIKAA SUSSA KII (Weeks 7-8) JVG feat. ELLINOORA - SITÄ SÄÄT MITÄ TILAAT (Weeks 9-10) ANTTI TUISKU - RAHAN TAKII (Week 11) REINO NORDIN - ANTAUDUN (Weeeks 16-17) NIKKEluis f ANKARA - PETTÄVÄLLÄ JÄÄLLÄ (Week 18) LUIS FONSI  ft. DADDY YANKEE - DESPACITO (Weeks 19-23, 24-31) ANTTI TUISK...

The 2016 was rich with Number One songs in the official singles chart. A total of 26 songs made it, and the most remarkable thing is 21 of them were Finnish! Sadly only Finnish (humour) rap though. The foreign number ones go to Alan Walker, Justin Bieber featured by Mazor Laser or DJ Snake, and Clean Bandit & co.  Elastinen and JVG are featured in four #1's, Mikael Gabriel, Sanni, Cheek and Arttu Lindeman in three and even Nikke Ankara in two. Doesn't leave much for the others.  Looking at the streaming, download and radioplay charts it's a different story.... Thankfully.  JVG - Paluu tulevaisuuteen (weeks 1-2) Alan Walker (feat. Isolin Solheim) - Faded (weeks 3-4-5-6) Sanni - Että mitähän vittua (weeks 7-8-9) Cheek - Me ollaan ne ,  part 2 (Feat. Elastinen, JVG, Nikke Ankara, Kube, Pete Parkkonen) (weeks 10-11) Elastinen feat.  Lauri Tähkä - Lempo (weeks 12-13) Nikke Ankara - Ettei nyt vaan sattuis mitään (week 14) Eveliina - Sire...

Emma Gaala's Male artist of the Year nominees include some names from various reality music tv programmes, rappers and a surprise. I would give this one out to Mikael Gabriel as icing on the cake for his fabulous year and marvelous metamorposis. Lauri Tähkä started his succesful year with a Elastinen duet (read more below)  Lempo , Then he released an album that went straight to #1, scored a hit with  Morsian  (radioplay #1), followed it with hits from the Vain elämää reality tv-series, including Kipua (#2), a Mikael Gabriel cover, Minun Suomeni , Lauri, Elastinen, Mikael - all are here nominated. Mikael Gabriel really broke through this year. He's been around but as "just another rapper" but his latest album did well featuring #2 single Helium . Then he became the nation's sweetheart against all odds in Vain elämää . His personality made us all fall in love with him a little, and adopt him as nation's own son. He scored the most hits from the...

People have the power to vote for their favorite video of the year at Emma Gaala, aka the Finnish Grammys. Here are the nominees, who's your favorite? Alma - Karma (directed by Pyry Pelkonen and Jens Alexander Zitting) Arttu Lindeman - Läikkyy (directed by Jan-Erik Olin) Kaija Koo feat. Cheek - Nää yöt ei anna armoo (directed by Hannu Aukia) Nikke Ankara feat. Julma H - Pahoi poikii (directed by Jaakko Jokela) Sanni feat. Paperi T - Oo se kun oot (directed by Ezra Gould) Stam1na - Kuudet raamit (directed by Tuomas Petsalo) Teflon Brothers feat, Mariska - Lähiöunelmii (directed by Hannu Aukia) Tuure Kilpeläinen ja Kaihon Karavaani - Autiosaari (directed by Patrick Lindholm) Vesala - Älä droppaa mun tunnelmaa (directed by Malin Nyqvist) Ville Valo - Olet mun kaikuluotain (directed by Ykä Järvinen) As a bonus the most talked about video of the past days:

The Emma Gaala (aka Finnish Grammys) nominations are out. The People's choice and the best video are voted by the people, the other awards handed out by a jury. The gala will take place February 4, 2017 in Metro Arena in Espoo, the week after UMK2017... same stage.  This year's nomination queen is Vesala or Paula Vesala, ex-PMMP. She scored seven nominations: album, song, female artist, pop artist, producer, people's choice and video. Lauri Tähkä is the king with five: album, song, schlager album, male artist and people's choice. Below are the ones with the most nominations: Alma (song, pop artist, newcomer, people's choice, video), Sanni (album, song, female artist, pop artist, video)  and Evelina (pop artist, newcomer, people's choice) Nikke Ankara (hip hop, male artist, people's choice, video), JVG (song, hip hop, group, people's choice) and   Mikael Gabriel (hip hop, male artist, people's choice) Ellinoora (song, pop ar...

Some years ago MTV and Eurovision were living in a parallel realities never even getting close. Then slowly some Eurovision entrants or wannabes started popping up in the nominees or even winning awards (maNga, Marco Mengoni, Lena, Dima Bilan...) This year is no exception, as many as six Eurovision stars are nominated in their home countries to be the one and only for the race for the ultimate award: in Italy we have Francesca Michielin and Emma , in France Amir , in Belgium Laura Tesoro , in the Netherlands Douwe Bob and finally in Poland Cleo , who battles it out with wannabe Margaret .  In Romania this year's runner up Vanotek is nominated. Special mention for Spain's Alvaro Soler who would be pefect for Eurovision.... who knows? In Finland it might be in pack for Antti Tuisku this year crowning his newfound megasuccess. The other nominees are Eveliina who has taken the spotlight from her girlfriend Sanni a bit (last week the girls were in the singles top-...

The Finnish Grammys aka Emmas will be awarded next month in Barona Arena in Espoo. Here are the nominees for the best video: Cheek - Äärirajoille Isac Elliot - Baby I Haloo Helsinki - Beibi My First Band - Don't break my corazon JVG ft Anna Abreu - Huominen on huomenna Olavi Uusivirta - Kauneus sekoittaa mun pään Janna - Läpinäkyvää Stam1na - Panzerfaust Robin ft. Nikke Ankara - Parasta just nyt Kasmir - Vadelmavene This award will be voted by the public. Would you have wanted to see any of these among Eurovision preview videos?