Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Hungarian A Dal 2015 kicks of tonight with the first semifinal. Six songs will be voted further. There's an App voting for everyone - that means you! - besides the jurors. Five songs will qualify this way, and the sixth will be selected with a second round of voting from the remaining ones with SMS.  The show starts at 20.25 CET and you can watch it live online here . Hungary has been flirting with the victory for years now and A Dal has grown one of the best national selections around. Will they finally take the victory in Vienna? Could be.... Bori Magyar -  Lead Me To Heaven Balazs Farkas Jenser - Liar Gabi Szucs -  Ugysem felejtesz el Passed -  Mesmerize Bogi - World Of Violence Karmapolis -  The Time Is Now Gergo Szakacs – Ösz utca Timi Antak - Woke Up This Way Vera Toth - Gyemant MDC -  Maniac

Also Cyprus has nearly come to and end with its long selection marathon aka Eurovision Song Project and we have the six finalists only left. The final will take place on February 1, and will be streamed live by eurovision.tv. There's Cypriot rock, an Eurovision ballad in Greek-French, Cypriot Enrique Iglesias, a touch of Armenia, Constantinos little brother and male Lisa Andreas. It's almost a full male cast Charis being the only female among them.... Among all that crap they managed to get together a rather decent line up (considering what was in offer). One of the best was however left outside: Meine by Christos Rialas.  Minus One – Shine Nearchos Evangelou & Charis Savva – Deila den agapo Hovig – Stone in a river Doody – Magic Panagiotis Koufogiannis – Without your love  ( video ) Giannis Karagiannis – One thing I should have done

The Israeli selection has cut down to the ten finalists.  One of them will be The Next Star and will represent Israel in Vienna 2015 Eurovision. The selection process started in early December and first the artists were 45, then in next stages to these ten.  Asif Ziberman Avia Shoshani Iki Levi & The Rasta Hebrew Men Lirose Balas Nadav Gadej Nava Tehila Walker Orit Binsay Sa’ar “Rusty” Davidov Sari Nachmias Yifi & Osher Aricha Update: Three acts have been eliminated the in the next heat and seven remain. 

Iceland has made its songs available today, you can listen to them here .  The Icelandic final will take place on Febraury 14 in Reykjavik. Semifinal one - January 31 HIMENOA - Þú leitar líka að mér Björn og félagar - Piltur og stúlka Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir - Myrkrið hljótt Friðrik Dór Jónsson - Í síðasta skipti Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir - Í kvöld Stefanía Svavarsdóttir - Augnablik Semifinal two - February 7 Haukur Heiðar Hauksson - Milljón augnablik María Ólafsdóttir - Lítil skref CADEM - Fyrir alla Sunday - Fjaðrir Regína Ósk Óskarsdóttir - Aldrei of seint  Bjarni Lárus Hall - Brotið gler UPDATE : Iceland has chosen its finalists: Haukur got the jury's wildcard while the other six were chosen three per semifinal, thus the final will have seven songs. 

France has announced today 46-year-old Lisa Angell will represant France this year with N'oubliez pas , a classic French ballad written to commemorate the Wold War I by Robert (Jean-Jacues's brother) Goldman) and also all the wars and recent events in Paris. She's half Italian and has released three albums so far, the latst one a cover album of songs from the 1930's-1950's. Last year she met with Conchita Wurst and even recorded the last French winning song L'oiseau et l'enfant with Tony Carreira. 

Opera Skaala is a group of professionals and for this Eurovision adventure we have in the front line opera diva Essi and sound wizerd Visa. Both have a long CV in music studies and experiences. Culture and arts in all its forms are close to their heart. Essi is also interested in acting and performing and in Opera Skaala she can take that to a whole new level. Visa is also involved in Helsinki-Cotonou Emsable that plays west African woodoo music, his debut solo album is shameless fusion jazz . he has also arranged strings to bands like Sunrise Avenue. He has also released techno and downtempo as Binary Boyz for an Italian label. They think Finland couldn't send a better combination to Vienna than a fusion of opera and EDM with a huge stage spectacle. Heart of light is just that.  Operatic Dance Music Timo: Well FINALLY, now we are talking. This is something that awakes feelings. This has been heard in Eurovision before but anyways. This is daring, shameless. This is the...

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?

Ingá-Máret Gaup-Juuso has revealed she was offered a song for Eurovison song contest 2015. Hold your colours could have been sent to either Norway, Sweden or Finland and it's written by Ylva & Linda Persson. It ended up in #umk15 sung by Solju. "I didn't feel it was joik enough, I don't think myself as a pop singer. I can sing but I do joik. I'm very delighted to hear the song, it turned out very well. I couldn't have done it better!" she says.  Ingá-Máret isn't just any random joiker. She performed to the king of Sweden last summer with Loreen, and has performed also for the king of Norway and various festivals in Finland. She hopes to get funding to record a joik album. Maybe she could get help from Andte, Finland's Big Brother winner and her brother? 

Otto Ivar debuts as solo singer after years in various bands, most notably Superscar , that released one album and toured Europe. Otto is a big Eurovision fan and has dreamed of taking part since forever. He sent his first demo to the contest at 16 and finally he has arrived with Truth or dare ! He comes from Kokkola and releases stress by boxing. Music is his life and he says his living his dream right now: waking up in the morning, making coffee and going to his studio to write some new music. He likes to dress smart and takes pride of the best fitting jacket in #umk15. And his video was shot in Iceland. Timo: I was wondering while listening this song how it can be so full of nothingness. Is Finnish pop music always this bland? Or Finnish music in general? It is not finished, just left like it was a demo and in the end it says nothing to no one and moves nothing. Could someone for once really take control and make something that shakes you, either with love or hate, but awake...

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...

The Finnish Grammys aka Emmas will be awarded next month in Barona Arena in Espoo and here are the nominees for the best song: Haloo Helsinki -  Beibi JVG ft Anna Abreu - Huominen on huomenna Nopsajalka - Lupaan olla Janna - Sä et ole hullu Kasmir - Vadelmavene Which one is your favorite and which one could have been a succesful Eurovision entry perhaps?

Elisabeth Andreassen (57) is one of the handful of Eurovision artists who have won the contest and have also placed in the top-3 another year - the others being of course Lys Assia, Johnny Logan, Carola and Gigliola Cinquetti. Besides that she has participated in the national final 11 times already between 1981 and 2011 and is making it a perfect dozen as she's back in the Norwegian MGP this year. She has been to Eurovision song contest four times already, placing 1st, 2nd, 6th and 8th - not bad! Is it going to be her 5th Eurovision in Vienna? And if so, can she keep up the top-10 record? 1981 as Sweets'n Chips - God morgon (Melodifestivalen) 2nd 1982 as Chips - Dag efter dag (Melodifestivalen) 1st/ ESC 8th 1984 Kärleksmagi (Melodifestivalen) 6th 1985 as Bobbysocks - La det swinge (MGP) 1st/ ESC 1st 1990 Jag ser en stjärna falla (Melodifestivalen) 7th 1994 with Jan Werner - Duett (MGP) 1st/ ESC 6th 1996 I evighet (MGP) 1st/ ESC 2nd 1998 Winds of the ...

NRK has made public the line up for their MGP15. Eleven acts in one off final with live orchestra like in the good old days. Old good days maybe also in the line up as it includes shameless old times schlager! There's a bit of everything from dance band to Idol winner, I feed you my love, part 2, Talent winner, violinist, artists with Greek, Swiss and British influence, a possible joke entry and finally two Eurovision veterans with 22 participations in national finals with five wins and Eurovision song contests in their CV. Also among the songwriters several familiar names. Could be ask for more? Listen to snippets here .  Alexandra Joner - Cinderella Contrazt - Heaven Erlend Bratland - Thunderstruck Ira Konstantinidis - We don't worry Jenny Langlo - Next to you Karin Park - Human beings Marie Klåpbakken - Ta meg tilbake Kjetil Mørland & Debrah Scarlett - A monster like me Raylee - Louder Staysman & Lazz - En godt stekt pizza Tor Endresen &...

Eeverest is Ida (16, from Vaasa), Niko (20, from Vaasa) and Marcus (31, from Tampere). Niko and Ida met last summer when working at McDonalds in Vaasa and the rest is history. They like to drop slogans like If I can see it and believe it, I can achieve it and describe their music as larger than life. They look up to Adele, Michael Jackson and Korn. Their entry Love it all away is about never giving up, being positive and believing in themselves.  We make music Timo: The intro sounded promising, like a real good EDM... but then nothing else happened, it never really took off. The singer has something nice about her, new voice but you can see in the video she's still very ”green”... 4/5 Jack : Eeverest's song is one of the strongest for sure! It's modern, catchy yet also unique. I love her voice, too. Oh I really do hope to see them in the final. A contender for victory? Hopefully, definitely one of the best! Me likes. 4/5  Michele: All in all very easy...

Emma, the Finnish Grammy award nominations have been revealed today. Among the various nominees in different categories we have Softengine , the band that scored 11th in Copenhagen Eurovision 2014. They have been nominated as the newcomer of the year, and they are also among the nominees in the People's Choice award. In newcomers they fight it againt Arion , from UMK 2013. Jari Sillanpää has three nominations: Schlager album of the year, Male artist of the year and he's also listed for People's Choise. Another Eurovision veteran Katri Helena is still going strong; she scored also nomination in Schlager album of the year and also Female artist of the year. Diandra , Idol winner and UMK participant is also nominated for the Female artist of the year and People's Choice. Finally we have Tango King and national selection participant Amadeus Lundberg up for Peoples Choice. Also UMK judge Redrama and national final participant Samuli Edelmann are nominated. The...

Tähdet, tähdet or Stars, stars is a variety show that premiered last year and was won by Eurovision veteran Jari Sillanpää (ESC 2004) and featuring also Vicky Rosti (ESC 1987) and UMK participants Diandra and Stig. This year it is even more Eurovision connected when Krista Siegfrids (ESC 2013), Laura Voutilainen (ESC 2002), Markku Aro (ESC 1971), Jarkko Ahola of Teräsbetoni (ESC 2008) join national selections veteran Arja Koriseva  and #umk15 host Roope Salminen among others in the line. In this series artists perform each week music from different genres from rap to opera, from heavy rock to schlager and pop and everything in between. One of the most talked about performance last season was Jari Sillanpää's Gangnam style .

Jouni Aslak is in his late 20s and has started his solo career after being the lead singer of Grandeville . He writes, mxes and produces also for other artists and fancies steam boats. His song Lions and lambs is about contradictions of life, black and white. He mixes all from 50s grooners and 60s soul to electronic music and blues, not forgetting especially French and British EM. He also challenges anyone in #umk15 to beat his tie collection!  Singer, producer, activist @ music since can't remember.  Master @ confusing handshake/fistbump mixup moments.  Michele: Strange song... because it starts one way and proceeds to another. Well produced pop but lacking a proper hook. He's good but uses his voice in a weird way. Strange entry. 3/5 Timo: Jouni is like a lamb even if the song could make him a lion. But it doesn't... it's quite mediocre. But I do like the melody somehow... 3/5 Jack. Meh, it's not bad but not that great either! I just find...

After venue, slogan, theme art and presenters here comes the stage design. ORF's got its eye on you.  “The vision for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is the bridge from the past to the present and the future. The eye is a symbol of this bridge – a mutual respect between cultures, countries and people. ” explains Kathrin Zechner, ORF’s TV director. The stage consists of 1288 individual pillars and measures 44 metres in width, 14,3 metres in height and up to 22 metres in depth. The LED pillars can produce a wide variety of lighting effects as can the 11 metre diameter stage floor. In the background, there is another LED wall of 22 metres wide and 8,5 metres high. As we knew already before, it's design is by Florian Wieder. He's been helped by lighting designer Al Gurdon and director Kurt Pongratz. With first look at these pics this blogger thinks of Helsinki 2007 somehow.....

YLE has finally revealed some information on how the 18 songs were selected. First of all 420 demos were sent (exactly the same amount as last year, but less than in 2013 and 2012). Around ten people from the UMK production team listened the songs and made their own lists of their favorites. Those lists were then compared and a new list of some 30-40 songs was made. Then these lucky ones were met in person and the team had a chat with them to find out how prepaired and serious they were, what kind of ideas they had and what their plans were in case they win. That means those who just sent in a demos out of curiosity without having any proper plans how to proceed were eliminated. Apparently YLE has also invited artists to take part besides the open submission possibility. This year all shows will be live broadcasts from YLE studios in Helsinki, even the final. The first three shows have six songs and half of them will make the final, the other half is eliminated. The previous year...

A few days ago we said goodbye to two singers, Reda Striškaitė and Wilma La . Now it's time to say goodbye to a song. Say you love me , written by Edgaras Lubys who is also in the running as a singer, was eliminated after online voting and 11 songs remain in the race. Last week it was performed by Mia, watch it here . For all the other performances you can find links here . If you want to listen the original demos they are here . 

Satin Circus is the boyband turned into man band, in Crossroads indeed. January 13 when the #umk15 entries were published was also band's 5th anniversary. Their aim has been success from the start and after they signed with Sony in 2012 their debut album was released the next year. They are at the moment working on their second album and enjoy fame and success both in Finland and Norway. Curious facts are Axel is also a pilot, Paul does some modelling and even ended up in Vogue Italy, Olli spends time at the gym and Krippe plays videogames. Another oddity is Paradise Oskar once was part of the band briefly. And they met while playing jazz music! They say they are energetic and promise Finns need not to be ashamed if they are off to Vienna. Recently Scandipop.co.uk's readers voted Paul the 37th and Axel the hottest guy in the Scandinavian pop scene. Their entry topped the iTunes charts in Finland right after its release. Is that all enough to make them winners? Pop ban...

Presenting Sanremo could be a dream job for many for the honor, fame and visibility but one can't forget the economical side. This year it is reported RAI has actually saved a lot in the cost of the hosts. If Fabio Fazio got 600.000 euros and Luciana Littizzetto 300.000 for their five nights on air last year this time Carlo Conti gets "only" 500.000 and Emma, Arisa and Spanish model Rocio Munoz Morales 100.000 each. So, 100.000 euros savings even if the hosts double from two to four. Hopefully they will use that saved money for flowers on stage because what's Sanremo without flowers? They have been absent for too long now....

Lithuanias's Eurovizijos 2015 continued this week with two eliminations and this time the artists did perform their potential Eurovision entries. Monika Linkyte won this round and is getting better week after week while favorite Vaidas only managed 5th place thanks to jury, televoters placed him 9th! It seems some of the songs will be eliminated over the next week as well. It's still a long way to find the perfect combination.... In the end  Reda Striškaitė and Wilma La were eliminated. Below in the chart their placements in the three heats so far... Tadas Juodsnukis (01-02-04 Vaidas Baumila (02-01-05 Edgaras Lybus (04-03-02 Monika Linkyte (09-05-01 Mia (05-04-07 Liepa Mondeikaite (06-07-03 Milita Daikeryte (03-08-06 Jurgis Bruzga (07-09-09 Neringa Siaudikyte (10-11-08 10. Reda Striskaite (08-06-10 eliminated) 11. Wilma La (12-10-11 eliminated) 12. Rollikai (11-e liminated )

Pihka ja myrsky is a band founded back in 2012 and is a mix of capital Helsinki and eastern Joensuu. It includes two brothers and one married couple. Lasse, the lead male singer is also part of Ukkosmaine , and Henna, the female singer has done musicals. Band members hobbies include football, video games, movies and dogs. They describe their music as stadium pop with two lead singers and EDM played with real instruments aka ODM. They released their debut album in March 2014 and have released several EPs online in 2013-2014. #umk15 could just be their big break through.... A very cute band full of pop music lovers. Timo: Pihka is like something from a fairy tale or children's song ... Some good ingredients but it remains somehow unfinished... However appropriately weird but yeah, still nothing earth shaking 3/5 Michele: Not understanding a language implies that the melody should be the backbone of a song in order to attract the attention of the tv viewer. Here y...

Here are the 24 survivors from the Moldovan live auditions and the list is filled with already familiar names for the national final also known as the feast of broken English, from Gorun to Markitan, Brescan, Gherman and Edict, from Glam Girls to Romanuyta and Sunstroke Project at it again so maybe the epic sax guy will make a comeback in Vienna? And yes, Kitty Brucknell made it in Moldova, a little consolation of not making it in Switzerland. You can listen all the songs here . O melodie pentru Europ a has two semifinals and the grand final between February 24 and 28, 2015.  Carolina Gorun - Sublime Cezara - Am devenit străini Dana Markitan - Love me Diana Brescan - Up and Down Doiniţa Gherman - Inimă fierbinte Domenico Protino - Let me fly Doredos - Maricica Edict - Our Star Eduard Romanyuta - I want your love Glam Girls - Magia Irina Kitoroagă - I’m gonna get you Julia Sandu - Fire Kitty Brucknell - Remix Lidia Isac - I Can't Breathe Marc...