Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Belgium delivered a surprise last night when they announced Eliot Vassamillet (18) will be going to Tel Aviv 2019 Eurovision song contest. He's the latest addition to the string of young succsful singers from The Voice  following Roberto Bellarosa, Loïc Nottet, Blanche, Laura Tesoro and Axel Hirsoux (and Olivier Kay, Season 5 3rd is compting in Romania this year).  His song Wake up will be written by Pierre Dumoulin who was behind Blanche's 4th placed Citylights .

Chances of getting Kendji Girac to do Eurovision anytime soon despite his minor flirting with the idea are rather slim now that France has gotten back to the national final system - unless the new man in charge decides to cancel it all and go internal after all (As Edoardo Grassi was axed in favor of Steven Clerima as HoD after all (and because of) that he has done in the past three years) Kendji is still only 22 even if it feels like he's been around a lot longer already. He rose to the fame in 2014 when winning The Voice and has released three #1 albums with six top-10 hits. His mix of pop, folk and catchy gipsy music is a cocktail that should work everywhere in Europe. He has it all going and would be a perfect choice if France should go internal again. Just listen to Maria Maria , No me mires ma , Color gitano and Andalouse to gt the idea. 

Yle is going internal again in 2019 and it will be very curious to see who they choose (or get) after Saara Aalto - will they go for big international name or something big in Finland.  Or someone new and emerging? Anna Puu (or Puustjärvi) started with Idols placing 2nd, her debut album went to #1 and sold platinum. Nearly ten years later she has released four albums (and will release her 5th next month) with countless radiohits. She has won Emma award as the Female artist of the year twice, she did Vain elämää , she's The Voice coach.... and an Eurovision/UMK link comes in form of a boyfriend: Jukka Immonen, who's been involved with both and switched from Jenni Vartiainen to Anna a couple of years ago. While Jenni might have the image of an ultimate classy diva, Anna has been the cute little girl next door. Until now. Her new promo pics for the new album are rather Lady Gagaic, so does that also give a hint of even more upbeat and Eurovision friendly music as the chan...

Saara Aalto is breaking records in X Factor UK and in less than a week we know if she's an eternal runner up or will she take the trophy against all odds from Matt Terry and 5 after midnight and finally actually win something.  Today she was in Helsinki for her Homecoming shoot and it was something else; Finns don't get crazy often but when they do it's all out. The airport was packed and a certain hysteria was in the air. This evening she was at Helsinki's Senate's Square and thousends and thousends of people filled the whoLe square and chanted "Saara! Saara!" so that it was propbaly heard in the suburbs, too. DEspite the fact it was all delayed an hour, it was fReezingly cold and windy. But then she came and sung Let it go, Chandelier, No fear and Winner takes it all and talked. A lot. About believeing in your dreams no matter what. She was put down for 20 years but she never gave up on her dream and... look at her now!   The X Factor...

Krista Siegfrids releases the video for her latest. The album is coming soon.... :-) And maybe she'll be in Melodifestivalen again? This year it won't clash with her #UMK2017 hosting duties....

Amir, who represented France with success - for a change! - at the Eurovision song contest 2016 in Stockholm released his debut French* album during the Eurovision holabaloo. The album includes besides his Eurovision entry J'ai cherche also his  single Oasis but ignoring his The Voice single All of me and video Candle in the wind . Nor this wonderful David D'Or affair is included. Twelve songs with a nice mixture of French pop, a hint of oriental especially in the way he uses his voice at times. Some English here and there. There are several songs that would have been worthy the Eurovision stage in Globen. This blogger enjoys the whole album and it's difficult to pick up songs to highlight but Tres haut, I know, Ma vie ma ville mon monde, Lost and Il est temps qu'on m'aime are all excellent and playing in this household in repeat. If you haven't got this album yet and liked J'ai cherche even a little bit you will like this album. Buy it. Amir deser...

For me she's the winner and the one I wanted for Eurovison. Period. That doesn't mean I don't like Francesca Michielin, on the contrary. I listened her album and it's fab. I just didn't know how fabulous she actually was before that. But Dolcenera, I have followed and adored her for years. And Dolcenera will be too busy anyways judging The Voice this season..... Next year! Her video shot in one cut in Castello di Sammezzano  is something very beautiful to watch.... both her and the castle, that is one of the hidden treasures of Tuscany region

Annica Milán and Kimmo Blom both are already television talent search veterans and have been in Idols, The Voice and Kimmo also did #UMK15 as Angelo De Nile. Together they have also done musical theater and performing together since some time.  Annica tried her luck in The Voice 2013 where she was kicked out in the battle stage by Suvi Aalto, Saara's sister. Before that did Idols 2008 and didn't reach the final seven. In between she has won a random talent contest Palatsin tähti 2011.  Kimmo has been singing in many bands, and particiated with Boys of the Band in Euroviisut 2010, and then as mentioned before as Angelo De Nile in UMK last year. He has been backing singer to many heavy bands, played Freddie Mercury in The Show must go on musical, He has also written songs to countless artists over the years.  Apparently they are alos romantically involved so are we witnessing the birth of rock Al Bano & Romina Power here? Maybe..... 14/20

Mietta. The one that was supposed to do Eurovision 1990 but then Toto Cutugno, already on RAI's payroll got a job in the very last minute. She was the hottest female singer in the early 1990's collecting awards and top placings in various festivals, released hit albums with songs by Amedeo Minghi and Mango among others before she started to experiment a bit with her music and success vanished. She's done eight Sanremos, winning the newcomers in 1989 and finishing in top-10 five times. She's become an actress and a writer, too, and a mother.  It's been four years since her latest album, she has tried to get back to Sanremo (or so it is rumored) almost every year. Hopefully Carlo Conti will take her this time and relaunch her career big time. And it'd be time she does that Eurovision, too. After all she's got one of the best voices and is one of the most beautiful women in Italy. The world deserves to see and hear more of her! Her latest releases are ...

Krista Siegfrids has been travelling between Helsinki and Stockholm the past months while writing and recording her new album to be released later this year. She also took part in Tähdet, tähdet tv-show where she mastered 1990's pop , punk , Finnpop , country , opera , heavy and soul before she was sadly voted out and she finished 5th (ex-Eurovision stars Laura Voutilianen and Teräsbetoni's Jarkko Ahola made it to top-3 when the show is still on. Last year Jari Sillanpää won it). Those who thought she's only a ding dong girl and can't do but songs like Marry me , Amen or Cinderella finally saw she is much more, like her singles Can you see me and On & off have proven, too. 

Sicily has produced a lot of famous and succesful artists from Franco Battiato to Giuni Russo , Marcella Bella and Gianni Bella , Carmen Consoli , Gerardina Trovato , Rosario Di Bella , Luca Madonia and Silvia Salemi come to mind from the past decennies. But the season of various talent shows and competitions 2014-2015 is all Sicilian! In 2014 Suor Cristina from Comiso wins The Voice Italia, Deborah Uirato from Ragusa Amici and Lorenzo Fragola from Catania X Factor, now Giovanni Caccamo from Modica wins Sanremo nuove proposte and Il Volo the festival itself. Two of the guys are Sicilian (Piero from Naro and Ignazio from Marsala), only Gianluca comes from Abruzzo region. 6-1 for Sicily vs. rest of Italy, not bad? Now all we need to add to the list is an Eurovision victory :-)

Krista Siegfrids has been doing a lot since Eurovision 2013 and Marry me . (She hasn't yet married but got at least engaged!) Besides releasing her debut album, touring thr world and being one of the judges in The Voice Kids for the two first seasons (2013, 2014) winning both. Now she's working on the second album and will participate in Tähdet, tähdet ( more here ) and says about it: "It will be so cool to challenge yourself and try new crazy things. I really can't sing opera so I will become a joke in that,  but then who cares?" But she reveales she has been asked to take part also in another programme this spring: Melodifestivalen! "I was approached to take part but they wanted me to sing in Swedish but I have done this career decision to sing only in English. It just wasn't the right song. It has to feel right or the performance won't be good. So I declined" she says. Not only, she has also turned down various cooking, wedding and babys...

Despite all sort of rumors - like Sergey Lazarev - the only more or less semiofficial announcement from Russia has been that the winner of The Voice will go for Russia in 2015. The season came to an end last night with 24-year-old Aleksandra Vorobyeva winning. Will she be confirmed as the one? We will find out soon. Meanwhile, enjoy her voice with Chandelier , You lost me , Listen ,  Лебединая верность

The 60+1 names with their songs have been revealed in Italy. The +1 being the winner of Castrocaro festival (that gave us The Peppermints) Alina Nicosia. Out of these six names will be chosen to take part in the next Sanremo festival in the newcomers aka Nuove Proposte category. The audition will take place on December 1 in Rome.  Among the artists we have countless names from various talent shows on TV: Italia's got talent winner Daniel Adamako, from X Factor (that gave us Marco Mengoni) Giovanni Caccamo and Violetta Zironi and TRE.N.D, from Amici (the show that gave us Emma Marrone among others) Diana Del Bufalo, Carboidrati, Stefano Maiuolo, Enrico Nigiotti, Lidia Pastorello, Simons, Simonetta Spiri and Willy De Lello. From The Voice Manuel Foresta, Francesco Caccamo, Jimmy Ingrassia and Tommaso Pini. From Ti lascio una canzone (that gave us Vincenzo Cantiello, Federica Falzon and Gaia Gauchi) Donato Santoianni, Simona Collura and Grazia Buffa. Also from Castrocar...

More songs has been submitten to the Swiss selection when the deadline comes closer. Today we start with a group of three The Voice of Switzerland finalist; Iris Moné, Argentinian Gisel de Marco and Ricardo Sanz aka 3 For All . Their song is Together forever . Let's see if they together at least until Copenhagen! The song has a good feeling, nice arrangements and incredients. Yasmina Hunzinger from the German Voice performs a standard ballad I still believe . It has a bit of a country flavor and she has a lovely voice and can hold her note. Paula Marengo comes from Spain and sings in French her J'ai envie de toi , that is rather charming, catchy and different. What would be an Eurovision selection be without fans writing a song? That is the case of It's not impossible by Michael James . Written and produced by Michael James Down, Primoz Poglajen, Jonas Gladnikoff, Johnny Sanchez & Dimitri Stassos - all familiar names to Eurovision freaks. In good or in bad it'...

Redrama will be once again one of the judges for UMK 2014 or Uuden musiikin kilpailu aka ex-Euroviisut. The submission is due September 16, 2013 so there's still some time to send in entries. He spoke about UMK in YleX radio interview: "It's really cool to be part of it again, it was a great experience and gave me a chance to listen to all kind of music that I would never have heard otherwise. I ask all of you out there to send in your best song, not a leftover from your last album. UMK can give you visibility that those participating in The Voice of Finland or Idols can only dream of. It's all about the song, not the performance. The possibility to end up representing Finland in the Eurovision is alone a good enough reason to take part. It's also proven out that getting a recording deal thanks to UMK is much easier than Idols or Voice. Most of the 12 artists or bands this year have gotten pretty far and it's mostly thanks to UMK. This said, I want also ...

The various reality shows are a way to make it into music business but it doesn't mean you can stay on top after the winning exposure fades away. Some make it a bit further and this year's Eurovision isn't immune to that either. We have the winners of The Voice of Russia, Belgium and Serbia among us, and even Finland's Krista Siegfrids may have to thank The Voice for her being here now even if she didn't reach the final in it last year. Very unfairly, as most Finns agreed and awarded her an UMK victory instead. We have also a French Idol, a Swedish Idols runner up (with the smallest winning margin in the history as Robin, the runner up got 48% of the votes, one might add), and a Norwegian Idols finalist. Then we have also an Italian X Factor winner. We have even a Junior Eurovision participant, Serbia's Nevana Bozovic! Other artists that have started their career that had lead them to Malmö 2013 in various reality shows are at least Vlatko Lozanovsk...

One of the best songs in tomorrow's Israeli final is out. Kathleen Reyter has decided to withdraw and for very valid reasons it seems. Read the whole story here . Such a shame.... Listen her entry here .

Iina Salin (27) is from Mikkeli but lives now in Helsinki, a singer, musician, vocal coach and music teacher. She also sings in Emma Salokoski Voices and was also a finalist in UMO's new talent contest earlier this year. And now she chose UMK instead of The Voice so that she can sing her own song. She likes soul and dance music and lists Madonna as one of her favorites along with Aretha Franklin but feels most confortable singing disco and pop songs. Coffee and chocolate keeps this energetic woman going.  What did the judges say? Toni Wirtanen: I must give credit that she comes in with the chorus, the strongest part of the song.  Aija Puurtinen: Very strong start indeed. Tomi Saarinen : Best in this clearly is the singer. You can hear she's been doing it a lot. Redrama : Even if the chorus is very strong I don't think it comes out strong enough. I would make it even stronger as now the beat is the same all through the song.  Toni: With better...