Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Most websites and blogs are complaining about the Spanish selection and I can't but agree. Even if the songs in general are less interesting this year than last year (I had about 20 songs last year that I really liked and some are still on my playlist while this time I don't find many songs that I care to listen...) it's absolutely ridiculous that people vote for a "song" like Soy un tsunami. First of all she can't sing and secondly she isn't even funny. I can understand why people voted for Rodolfo 2 years ago but this??? I don't get it. One can only hope in the final the jury will kill it, or that it will be disqualified for a reason or another before the final. Or do the only honorable thing, dear Pop Star Queen: resign! Meanwhile my votes go to Rafael de Alba and Javier Mota !

Back to Caribian when the island of Sant Lucia makes its entrance to the wonderful world of BlogIlkar as the country numner 173. Welcome!

Well, as a writer that is. He will write several songs for the Serbian final and choose the singers for them.... He is very well known all over the world, a sort of Balkan Lloyd-Webber. Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina 59 years ago from a Croatian father and Serbian mother. He was in a very popular band Bijelo dugme in 1970's and 1980's and after that has been writing mainly music for films. He has written songs to singers Iggy Pop and Césaria Evóra so we can expect pretty much anything from him! He also performed in the interval act in Belgrade 2008 so he is no stranger to the Eurovision stage.

Iceland's selection is coming to an end, too, and the third semifinal is this Saturday. Superfavourite Hera Björk just might be going to Oslo this time - and not as backing singer. But this may be the best Icelandic semi this year so competition is stiff. Listen here . Hera Björk - Je ne sais quoi Sjónni Brinck - Waterslide Steinarr Logi Nesheim - Every word Arnar Jónsson - Þúsund stjörnur Anna Hlin -Komdu á morgun til mín

NRK has put the songs of the third semifinal online and you can listen to them here . Mira Craig – I'll Take You High Fred Endresen – Barracks On The Hill Belinda Braza - Million Dollar Baby Didrik Solli-Tangen - My Heart Is Yours The Diamond – European Girl  Karoline Garfjell – Tokyo Night  A1 – Don't Want To Lose You Again

You can listen, watch and vote for Rafael HERE

The voting in Spain has started here. In the end there are 313 songs to listen this year. Listen and vote for your favourite, like Rafael De Alba ! Popstar Queen with Soy un tsunami takes an early lead proving joke entries never die and many people still think they are a good idea. Just a shame! On a more serious side Coral is back with a bang with her En una vida . The voting will take its real shape in a few days when the family-friends votes lose ground....

The Spanish online selection starts tomorrow and we have time to vote 10 out of about 480 songs to the tfinal until February 5, 2010. I was checking what's online already and it seems like many of those who participated last year or 2 years ago are back. But - I didn't come across anything extraordinary yet. Several nice ok songs, yes, but only this one made me listen to it to the end, and I wanted to relisten it again. And again. It's good! Javier Mota and Amarte hoy with a very nice video to go! I will be presenting other interesting ones in coming days.... Vote him HERE .

Do you want to listen and see some songs that didn't make it to Eurovision stage from Finland? Some like Sleepwalker, Amor Amor, Gabriela, Hiroshima, Shanghain valot, Valkeaa unelmaa, Parhaat puoleni, Haaveissa vainko oot mun, Mitt äppelträd, Karthago, Aamulla rakkaani näin .... the list goes on. They should have won but the jury - in most cases - opted for something else. About 80 songs from all decades can be seen now on YLE's Elävä arkisto here . Have fun! I surely know how to spend this Sunday afternoon..... Some useless trivia: Sammy Babitzin, Kirka's brother, was killed in a car crash soon after his 1973 performance. You can spot Pave Maijanen with long hair backing Seija Simola in 1978. Nina in 1973 singing Super-extra-wonder-shop is the youngest ever Euroviisut participant. She was 13. In 1977 you can see Amadeus's father singing in Hortto Kaalo. Kaija Koo is backing Frederik in 1981 with Meiju Suvas. Paula Koivuniemi, Maarit and Irina Milan form the fantast...

Two more acts made it to the Icelandic final, too: Jógvan Hansen with One more day and Hvanndahlsbraedur with Gledi og glens . In a very mediocre heat I agree.

Marie Arredondo with Rolf Lovland's The Touch and Alexander Stenerud with self penned Give it to me made it directly to the final. My favourite Venke Knutson with Heine Totland will have try again in Siste chansen. Tomine Harket , Hanne Haugsand and Skanksters have to say good bye.

Join us live tonight at 21.10 CET. Watch here . The show has just started. Ragnhildur and Eva Maria - the funny ladies - are presenting as usual. Menn Ársins - Gefts ekki upp   Two men who are a far cry from coverboys perform this rather pleasant song that might work better around a campfire than Eurovision stage.... Hvanndahlsbraeur - Gledi og glens Grown up men dessed as teenage punks on stage now. A song's a weird combination of indie rock and folk. Or something.... And Irish stuff. And violins... . Sigrún Vala Baldursdóttir - I believe in angels I was expecting a tender ballad with this title but it has some beat to it and turns out to a pop song. The singer is alobe opn stage in white dress. Not bad but passes by without a trace.. .. Jógvan Hanssen - One more day He's on stage with a guitarist and three backing singers performing this classically building pop song. The melody is easy, catchy and familiar. Vocally good. Clearly the best one so far . Edgar ...

Here are the 20 finalists in Malta. Sadly Richard Edwards is not amongst them (maybe they found the song's text too dark?) but Wayne Micallef did it. Congrats! Also my other favourites at first glance seem to be in. Foxy Federation - Fired up (Philip Vella/Gerard James Borg) Klinsmann - Her name was Anne (Jonathan Spiteri & Klinsmann / Aldo Spiteri) Claudia Faniello - Samsara (Philip Vella/Gerard James Borg) Claire Galea - Ole Satchmo blues (Claire Galea/Erin Tanti) Glen Vella - Just a little more love (Paul Giordimaina/Fleur Balzan) Thea Garrett - My dream (Jason Paul Cassar/Sunny Aquilina) Eleanor Spiteri - Velvet ocean (Paul Abela/Joe Julian Farrugia) Tiziana Galleja - Words are not enough (John David Zammit/Paul Callus) Eleanor Cassar - Choices (Paul Giordimaina/Fleur Balzan) Audrey Marie Bartolo - Good intentions (Miriam Christine/Rita Pace) Wayne Micallef - Save a life (Wayne Micallef) Ryan Dale & Duminika - One for you (Ryan Dale/J...

Join us live tonight at 19.55 CET h ere The show has just started. 1. Venke Knutson - Jealous cause I love you Venke starts the song sitting on a throne. Glittery dresses for her and 2 backing singers/dancers. Girly, summery, happy or should I say giggle bubble gum pop at its best! I like it! I wouldn't mind this going all the way from Bodø to Oslo! 2. Skanksters - Life is here today Not bad either but not a genre that I particularly like. 60's look completes the lively act on stage. 3. Tomine Harket - Be good to me Tomine is just 16 but has been on stage since she was 10. Her father is Morken from a-ha, who also presented Eurovision 1996 in Oslo . Pianist, cellist and violinist on stage with Tomine who does a good job with this simple little ballad. Makes me think of Lisa Andreas (and yes, that's a compliment) The song itself may lack the hook that makes it memorable. 4. Hanne Haugsand - Don't stop Hanne was already in Eurovision as Chamer when their H...

TRM has announced the finalist chosen from 87 songs. I don't totally agree with the list as some of my favourites are missing but Dyma, Eugen, Akord, Gloria are there, as are Sunstroke Project and Olia Tira but I preferred their other songs, as well as Ionel Istrati. (Update: after qualifying with all 3 songs Olia apparently withdraw my favourite One life. Shame.) 1. Dyma - Manipulate 2. Akord - Lady Gaga 3. Pasha- You should like 4. Boris Covali - No name 5. Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira - Run away 6. Olia Tira - Goodbye 7. Alexandru Manciu - Ramii linga mine 8. Cristy Rouge - Don 't break my heart 9. Gloria - I'm not alone 10. Mihai Teodor - Ai ai ai 11. Millenium - Before you go 12. Mariana Mihaila - Say I'm sorry 13. Mariana Mihaila - I know you can 14. Priectul Monkey mind & Daniela - Smile 15. Ionel Istrati - Wait 16. Cristina Croitoriu - My heart 17. Marcel Rosca - If love is a thing 18. Vica Mahu - Padure verde padure 19. Valeria Ta...

Sofia Nizharadze or ეტიკეტი (soon 24) has been internally selected to represant Georgia in its return to Eurovision. The country debuted with Sopho in Helsinki 2007 placing 12th. The year after Diana Gurtskaya made it even better, 11th. Last year Georgia was banned or disqualified/withdrew depending who you ask. She released her debut album in 2008 and has been participating in various festivals in Italy, France, Russia, Turkey, Latvia etc since she was 11. She has also startted in various musicals. Warch her belt out the Dreamgirls show stopper And I'm telling you

Yet another flag to add, 172nd when one of the Channel Islands makes a visit: Guernsey. Welcome, bienvenue!

According various sites there has been a withdrawel in Cyprus. Song Nothing is real has been taken out by its writers to favour their other entry Life looks better in spring . In Greece Despina Ricci leaves the race for scheduling problems. It is not yet known if they will be replaced or not. Meanwhile there are rumours about the presenters as well. Nikos Aliagas may be the Greek presenter while Andreas Georgiou is rumoured to be the Cypriot one....

Super fan favourite Heli Kajo charmed also the TV-viewers and made it to the final - even if some press has also written its the worst song of them all - and so did Sister Twister , no doubt with the votes of the Swedish speaking population as expected. How far it will take them in the final is another matter.... The male duel Antti vs Veeti won by Antti Kleemola who really delivered when it matters while Veeti remained a bit cold.... So, Monday and Veeti are out at the moment waiting for YLE's possible wildcard.

Live report tonight at 8pm CET. Please join us! (Expect to see some big hairdos....) In Viisukuppila's poll Heli Kajo is a clear favourite (55%) followed by Antti Kleemola (18%), Sister Twister and Veeti Kallio (9%) and last Monday (7%). However Monday might appeal to televoters and Sister Twister proved already in the internet selection they have a lot of active voters.... Here we go again. Jaana Pelkonen and Peltsi Peltola host the show from Tohloppi TV-studios in Tampere.They are once again in the greenroom instead of the stage... and Peltsi made it to the screen as well and joins Jaana. He was still under the shower a few moments ago..... Click the titles for Youtubes :-) Monday - Play Monday takes the tirngle stage first all dressed in white and black as usual. Pyros complete the act that comes across a bit bored and uninspired. Rock guitar posing and rather weak vocals.   After that we see a bit Eurovision 1970, the only one that has not been broadcasted in Finnish ...

Malta had its sixth and last semifinal or selection show a couple of days ago and all I can say after all the six ones... where's the winner? It's no secret I like both of the Micallef brothers Richard and Wayne , but honestly I would be very surprised if one of them would get the ticket to Oslo - not that they don't deserve it as they really do but televoters tend to prefer something much more trashier and louder. Petra Zammitt , Rosman Pace , Baklava , Thea Garrett , Claire Galea , Claudia Faniello , Foxy Federation , Lawrence Gray and Dorothy Bezzina would get my ticket to the final.  Foxy Federation seems to be the big favourite and surely is one that can accomodate an explosive stage show. Or will Claudia finally win with this mediocre effort after many tries and better songs as it often happens? We will know the finalists in the near future. The songs in the sixth semi were: Ruth Portelli , Roger Tirazona , Jessica Muscat , Silver Clash, Lawrence Gray and Dorothy ...

Monday is another act in tomorrow's second Finnish semifinal. The band is still rather unknown despite the fact they have been playing together already five years and they released their debut album last year. "We play melancholy poprock so we are rather Finnish. I compose the songs and write the lyrics with our singer Salla Lehtinen" tells Tuomas "Gary" Keskinen, who has been playing also in Technicolor and Negative. "We use a lot of screens on stage and therefor have a different stage act from regular rockbands. It is also very difficult to get a recording deal these days so I started my own company, and that also opened the doors to Eurovision. Just be sure I had songs ready for the open call, too, but luckily YLE picked us up !" he continues." Our song Play is not very Eurovisionary, even if I was listening to the previous winners when I wrote it. It sounds very much like Monday. Eurovision is very interesting format, especially after Lordi...

Antti Kleemola who will be under fire tomorrow night in the second Eurovisiut 2010 semifinal was on MTV3's morning show yesterday and amongst other things they talked quite a lot about the Spanish version De tu lado by Rafael De Alba ! Antti also told he had played Rafael's version to his record company bosses who nearly got a heart attack thinking Antti had copied some Spanish song! Lol. Well, if Antti wins he can always sing the song in Spanish in Oslo....  and maybe sing against Rafael who is running in Spain with Chelsea boy . Meanwhile the single Sun puolella was also released in Finland yesterday. You can get it here .

We have been having visits from various Carinian islands lately but now yet another African country joins in: Botswana! Welcome as number 171!

We hit 170 when a visitor from American Samoa comes to Blogilkar! Welcome!