Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

One of the most incredible voices Sicily has given us, Giuni Russo lives on thanks to her life partner Maria Antonietta Sisini. Giuni, who sadly passed away in 2004 when she was only 54, was devoted to Saint Teresa of Avila, who is celebrated for her 500th anniversary this year and this album Las Morada s is a part of that. Also, it is dedicated to Pope Francis, who was so touched by the words expressed in Giuni's biography that he sat down and sent a handwritten thank you letter to Sisini.  The album is a remastered and integral concert Giuni had in Milan's Basilica San Lorenzo Maggiore on December 29, 1999. Grazie Marie Antonietta for keeping Giuni's legacy alive! "It is love alone that gives worth to all things."  - St. Teresa of Avila

Emma Marrone is in the middle of The Limited Edtion Tour and has declared the following: "I want to be Pope so I could give gays the possibility to marry  and adopt many children!"   At the same time the rumours about her possible sapphic relations emerge again.... She's also gone totally wild with self irony with ther merchandising as you can buy t-shirts with texts like "Mi vuoi morta? Fai la fila..." (You want me dead? Get in line...) and basketball jerseys with "Brown 21" written on them, celebrating her 21st place in the Eurovision.... I think I kinda like that.... Her tour debuted last night in Verona and contiues in Lucca the 11th, in Padua the 19th, in Gallipoli 22nd, in Taormina the 26th and ends in Naples the 28th.

Up, up, up... that seems to be the destiny of Crisalide , the Sammarinese entry this year. . The year of the snake promised us big changes and here we go; after the pope resigning, Chavez dying all of sudden everyone seems to love a Ralph Siegel song! What else does this year have in store for us? And I have been among admires of this song ever since I heard it some time back. Valentina is great, the song is nicely nostalgic Italian pop song and the presentation on stage will be ... well, fitting? Both Valentina and San Marino have really broken the crysalis and turned into a beautiful butterfly to admire, nicely fitting to the theme of Malmö 2013. Well done and complimenti!

The 63rd Sanremo festival kicks off tonight. Italians might be a little cofused with Sanremo, the coming political elections and the surprising stepping down of the Pope all happening at the same time keeping the media in full frenzy. Eurovision fans however will keep a keen eye on the show's opener Marco Mengoni, one of the three most propable Italian entrants for the Eurovision 2013 in Malmö 2013.  Meanwhile RAI calls Eurovision "the music event of the year" in their promo ! The eight artosts in the Giovani/Newcomers category will be presented but the competition is only for the Big ones. Seven first will present their songs and you can see the running order below. A mixed televote-press center vote will pick one of the two songs for each artist to bring to the final. Marco Mengoni: “Bellissimo” and “L’essenziale” Raphael Gualazzi: “Sai (ci basta un sogno)” and “Senza ritegno” Daniele Silvestri: “A bocca chiusa” and “Il bisogno di te (Ricatto d’onor)” Simo...