Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Some good news for a change: Estonia has confirmed after all its participation in Oslo 2010 (well, I for one never doubted it in the first place) as they've got a sponsor, Enterprise Estonia that promotes Estonia abroad. Finally some organisations put the money where they are noticed! Serbia will be also in Oslo 2010 hoping to keep the record straight with their successes after the drop this year - I would have put the Serbian song in 2009 to the final as well btw - but both broadcasters have announced a smaller scale national final. Which makes me think that some countries may have lost the plot. Cut the expenses and drop the national finals if that's what it takes you to participate; just invite an artist and send him/her off! Estonia has sent some great songs over the years including Keelatud maa (8th/1997), Diamond of night (6th/1999), Once in a lifetime (4th/2000) and Rändajad (6th/2009) while Serbia made history in Helsinki 2007 by winning with its first participati...

And there goes my other favourite when När vi har landat by Johan Skoog drops out, Yesterday Siberia's Hot for the night had to leave, Halla's How was kicked out 2 days ago and Alrik Paulsson's Lite sex och lite spex 3 days ago. Six songs remain in the competition, including the naked man in the mirror Adam Sandahl.

Not only the Swedish artists like to take the road and spread the Christmas all over the country, so do the Finnish ones. Most everyone from Tapani Kansa to Arja Koriseva are doing it once again but the big production featuring Jari Sillanpää and Katri Helena that has dominated the scene the past couple of years is not happening this year. Instead Jari will be doing a solo tour that kicks off  November 28 in Palacio de la paz in Fuengirola, Spain, passed Kulturhuset in Stockholm, Sweden on December 13 and end in Finlandiatalo in Helsinki on 19th. Laura Voutilainen instead will be doing Ave Maria - Lauran tarinallinen joulu, a Christmas spectacle that tells a story besides singing the songs and will mainly perform in churches all over Finland in December. And many more Christmas show to come as usual...

Sanremo 2010 is also getting its pieces together and Sanremo Lab is in full swing. Out of this selection 2-3 ones will be chosen to take part in Sanremo newcomers selection and this year's winner Arisa came through this method. 40 names has been selected at this point and amongst them many names from various talent shows X Factor, Amici (wherefrom this year's winner Marco Carta came from originally), Sanremofestival.59 internet selection, Castrocaro and so on. But not all "famous" names didn't make it, including Michele Imberti who many of you Eurofans might now. Shame! A partly new jury will now judge the artists again and choose the finalists wherefrom the Sanremo participants will be chosen. Giulia Anania, Anima Popolare, Dott. Fra, 21 Grammi, Eleonora Crupi (Amici 2005), Giorgia Del Mese, Devacian, Diastema, Rossana, Gabriella Ferrone, Andrea Gregori, Federica Lanciotti, Angelica Lubian, Selenia Mazzucco, Mario Nunziante (Amici 2008), Rino De Maria (Sanre...

And here are some more Eros. He has had so many big hits over the years it's hard to choose. Here is fantanstic Favola , Un'altra te and Domo mea he co-wrote and produced to a Sardinia band Tazenda. Favola has been also covered by Laura Pausini.

Samantha Fox is back with a new single Tomorrow and a new album is coming, too. She gained fame as page 3 girl and huge booms, turned into a singer and scored 3 top-10 hits in 1986-1988: Touch me , Do ya do ya and Nothing's gonna stop me now , and made it big also with a Dusty Springfield cover I only wanna be with you . She has already participated in the UK selection in 1995 with Go for the heart as a girlband Sox, and also teamed up with Melodifestivalen participant Gunther in a remake of Touch me in 2004. Other twists of career include coming out as lesbian (actually in Finland it was when it was discovered in sauna with her female manager and... well, never mind!) and new born Christian. Her latest album, release is from 2005 when Angel with an attitude was released in Canada. She has also had time to do a Bollywood movie and various reality TV shows like Celebrity Wife swap. In the making is also a Blondie cover Call me with another star with boobs and 80's rival ...

Aqua's new My mamma said is a far cry from Barbie girl . In every way. But I like it!

Another divas to sing with Eros include Cher in Piú che puoi and Anastacia in I belong to you . One of my favourite tracks is uptempo L'ombra del gigante . He should do more these popsongs instead of ballads, I think!

Namely tonight! . He will take part in YLE's Nenäpäivä or Red nose day charity show that will run on YLE's channels from 6pm til midnight with a lot of guest stars, both singers and actors and other media persons, all there to help raise money for poor children. And yes, Alexander will be there too!

OGAE Germany is having its annual convention tomorrow in Cologne. The special guests for the night are Croatia's Igor Cukrov and Germany's Oscar Loya from Moscow 2009 as well as Hera Björk who has been backing the Icelandic entries both 2008 and 2009 , almost won in Denmark this year and is highly actual in the Icelandic 2010 selection as well. If you are nearby drop in Gloria Theatre and join in the fun!

Eros Ramazzotti has done many duets in his career and Cose della vita turned into this a few years later with Tina Turner. Family has also inspired him to write songs, L'Aurora is dedicated to his daughter Aurora, Piú bella cosa to his ex-wife.

Carola ads concerts to her Christmas tour bringing the total already to 18 (9 in Norway, 5 in Finland and 4 in Sweden) when an extra concert is added in Mariehamn, Finland and Stavanger, Norway. The album is available for pre-orders on iTunes in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy etc. In Sweden it enters the iTunes chart at #26 based only on the preorders even before the album is released. It will be out in Sweden November 11, in Norway 5 days later and in Finland November 18. The Danish release date is yet to be announced. The album release party will be in Stockholm on November 19. You can already hear some songs on her MySpace . The album is already on sale in the Japanese iTunes, and short clips of each song is available to listen to.

Finlandiatalo will host a charity gala concert on November 14, 2009 to raise money for cancer research. Alexander Rybak will be one of the artists along with Katri Helena, Jari Sillanpää and Eurovision hopefuls Pentti Hietanen and Maria Lund and many more.

The little funny story that left from this blog with collaboration with 3minutes.me quickly was picked up by some other sites - some with rather dubious interpretation - and today it makes waves also in Sweden in Aftonbladet , and even in Norway ! Adam himself has commented the whole affair that they were filming the video in a small room and the lights were getting a bit too hot... Meanwhile Alrik Paulsson's dreadful Lite sex och lite spex was dropped out of the Melodifestivalen webjoker and only 9 songs are left. When writing this Jessica Friberg is leading and Adam is 8th while my favourite Halla Vihjalmsdottir looks to be on her way out next...

Patricia Kaas is advertising Lipton tea in Russia but Euroviisut 2010 hopeful Veeti Kallio is advertising milk in Finland. His latest success Oot niin kaunis is featured in Valio's ad that also features Veeti himself singing the song.

The Swiss band that did Moscow 2009 with Highest heights for Switzerland and surprisingly didn't qualify for the final releases its first greatest hits Only forever on November 13. It features 18 singles plus 2 new songs, including the new single Shine . Listen to the new great songs here .

In late 80's and early 90's Ramazzotti exploded in South America with songs like Si bastasen un par de canciones and Amarte es total . In 2007 he dueted with Ricky Martin in Non siamo soli or Nos estamos . In 2000 he was also a bit latin inspired in Fuoco nel fuoco .

It has been awhile but today I have yet another country visiting my blog: Namibia! Welcome!

Darin took a step towards Melodifestivalen already in March 2005 when he at 17 did Lena Philipsson's Det gör ont infront of "Who's who" in the Swedish music business and got a standing ovation. Since then he has been asked every year by Christer Björkman and songwriters and said no. Why? "It just wasn't the right time and I have been busy elsewhere. But I never said never and the thought has always been in the back of my mind. Now everything just came together. Out of my life is one of the best songs I have recorded, it made me to go for it.  When I heard it for the first time I just knew. It was a magical moment !" Also Christer Björkman is happy. Four year's of asking has come to and end and he has a modern artist that is widely liked by all age groups. Darin has already worked abroad, especially in Germany and Finland, does he think it will be an advantage if he eventually wins Melodifestivalen? "I think it's all about the song in th...

Kärleken vänder allt or love changes everything but it also makes you to drop your clothes it seems. Watch the video of Adam Sandahl and the Man in the mirror.. Watch it here . UPDATE: This was supposed to be just fun and a funny post about something funny in a video, that harms no one, nor "lacks professionalism by SVT" or anything like that. If someone gets offended by a naked man in a mirror who even hides his privates and is merely just a shadow, what can I say? It's 2009. And who is saying SVT didn't see and approve it? I'm sure they did and found it just funny and not at least offending to anyone. Relax everyone, have some fun and enjoy life! It isn't that serious!

The songs are down to ten from original 181 in the Melodifestivalen webjoker voting and now the dropping starts. Next days one song will drop out daily until the one is left. Out of my original shortlisted 60 ofter ONE hearing only two made it to this far: How and När vi har landat. And after a relistening they remain my favourites and I can only wonder the quality of these songs that is really bad and how some - without giving names - made it this far. Without being a patriot I can say the Finnish 30 were much better and far more interesting. The ten qualifiers for this stage are: Ingela Hemming - Love for People Jörgen Frinell - My Kind of Love Jessica Friberg - Break Free Adam Sandahl - Kärleken Vänder Allt Mark Woznicki - I'll Make You Want Me Mia Terngård - Come And Get Me Now Alrik Paulsson - Lite Sex Och Lite Spex Halla Viljhalmsdottir - How Johan Skoog - När Vi Har Landet Peter Månsson - Hot For Tonight Listen to the songs here .

Eros Ramazzotti started touring the world and scoring hits, both in Italian and Spanish. In 1988 he released an EP Musica é with the title track that lasts some 10 minutes. Yet it was a huge hit! Later he re-recorded it with Andrea Bocelli . They have also dueted in Nel cuore lei . And here is Ancora vita from 1991.

The Norwegian-British boyband A1 is prepairing for a comeback with a new single and participation in the Norwegian selection. The band was active 1999-2002 and scored 9 Top-10 hits in the UK and 5 Top-3 hits in Norway. They are ready with their fourth studio album and new single Take me home. My favourite remains Caught in the middle (UK #2, #3 in Sweden and Norway, and a hit in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand as well in 2002). The video was directed by a Finn, Miikka Lommi and shot in Finland. One of their #1's is an a-ha cover Take on me .

Darin is the first Melodifestivalen joker and it looks like his name hasn't been mentioned this year at all beforehand which makes it even nicer! Incidently I heard some Darin music just yesterday and the thought crossed my mind but.... Darin Zanyar (22) came second in the Idols 2004 and is of Kurdistan heritage. He has released already four albums and has covered Lena Philipsson and dueted with Finnish Jonna ( Explain ) for example, and has also a following in Finland. He also claims he had an affair with Anna Abreu in the past... Great choice! His latest single is a Coldplay cover and current #1 in Sweden Viva la vida and other hits include Money for nothing , Why does it rain? , Step up , Who's that girl? , Want ya! , Perfect , Everything but the girl , Desire , Insanity , Breathing your love . He will perform Out of my life in Melodifestivalen 2010 that he didn't write but he is already a co-writer of two other songs in 2010: Doctor doctor and Headlines !

Once again the Euroviisut 2010 songs will be published on one CD. It will be released on January 4, 2010 and includes all 15 songs that will be featured in the semifinals, or songs by Amadeus, Boys of Band (BOB, Bääbs, Eläkeläiset, Pentti Hietanen, Osmo Ikonen, Heli Kajo, Veeti Kallio, Antti Kleemola, Kuunkuiskaajat, Nina Lassander, Linn, Maria Lund, Monday and Sister Twister. The titles and writers of the songs will be made public November 30 when they will be also available on YLE's website.