Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  First there was Bronski Beat and Jimmu Somerville's falsetto voice. Then it evolved into The Communards when he left and joined forces with Bronski's collaborator pianist Richard Coles. Two albums, a few singles most hits being covers. But they left a mark in my musical memory...

Day 2 of season 10 was dedicated to Paula Vesala and her solo songs and the songs of her ex-band PMMP.  Being a female writer with some very rough, meaningful and strong lyrics the male artists took the best out of them this time, even if Maija Vilkkumaa and Erin did a good h´job. My favorites were however again Lauri Tähkä and Samu Haber, with Antti Tuisku making his debut, a very strong one and Elastinen did a good job after last week's flop. Check out the episode one, Antti Tuisku's Day here Studio Paula's original Studio PMMP's original Studio Paula's original Studio Paula's original

  Musical Swedish family Glenmark has given several singers and various combinations but the one here is the duo of Anders and Karin. They first scored well in Melodifestivalen 1984 with Kall som is , before becoming the wannabe ABBA when ABBAs boys wrote material for them for the next two albums, and their debut single Just like that was even an unfinished, unreleased ABBA track . Anders also scored internationally with ABBA boys' Chess musical's hit single One night in Bangkok . His falsetto and her chrystal clear voice, what's there not to love? Shame it lasted only two albums (and occasional live returns). As a duo. Both have continued and done a lot of stuff ever since.

  Fashion designer and part time model Sade brought the elegance and grace to pop music in the early 1980's and has continued ever since, maybe not celebrating in singles' charts anymore but selling and permorning to adoring audiences. I have a soft spot for those early hits, or should I say evergreens? Check out also:

  Today it's 15 years since when one of the most amazing voices ever anywhere was lost forever. Her memory is kept alive by devoted fans and remembered regularly by her collaborators France Battiato and Alice, among others. Like Alice she left the easy pop in the 80's and dedicated for more challenging sounds and created something amazing along the way. However, her 80's pop hits are evergreens, with ot without Battiato's magic touch. She is missed. A lot. That voice gives shivers and joy everytime I hear it. Check out also:

  The Newcomers aka Giovani selection will make a welcome return to the festival next year. There will be eight in total in this category: two selected through Area Sanremo selection, one from Sanremo Young selection and five from Sanremo Giovani aired live on Raiuno in December 17, 2019.  In February, during the 70th Sanremo festival the first two nights will have 10 Big and 4 Giovani performing, and two Giovani will be eliminated. Third night the 20 Big will be performing covers while the four Giovani will battle out for the two final spots. Fourth night there will be the Giovani final who then gets a chance to perform also on the final night, but outside competition. In November 2018 Mahmood won one of the two tickets to compete among the Big in 2019 (gladly this nonsense selection is dropped now, despite Mahmood's success. I just think the categories work better separately, and the winner gets to compete among the Big the year after if worthy) and won it all and e...

After two years of internal choices in search of "a jackpot" in vain Yle and UMK are returning to an open call. The song submission window is from November 1 to 8, 2019 and Yle is hoping to get a variety of entries from various genres and various artist categories from newcomers to veterans, stars of the moment and has-been in search for a comeback because "each and everyone can have a boost to their career with the participation, not only the winner". They also expect the entries being chosen already the next week.  Their hopes seem to be high despite the fact some are still suspicious and not so trusting this will all go smoothly after their sudden change of plans three years ago when they just threw all the submissions to the rubbish bin and decided to go for Saara Aalto instead.  The fact that they haven't published clear rules and information yet but only "we expect and wish to choose 4-10 entries for the one off final depending on the quality o...

  Late France Gall, Eurovision 1965 winner recorded only songs by her late husband Michel Berger in the 1980's and hit the international jackpot again in the 1987 Babacar album. That's how I discovered her again as well, and later digged into her older (and later newer) material as well as Berger 's solo material. Such great songs he wrote! Check out also

Earlier this year Måns Zelmerlöw invested some of his money into web pharmacy MEDS and now he's ready to bare it all for its advertising film, which is.... how to put it? The corniest thing I have seen for a long, long time perhaps? Supposed to be funny the way his Eurovision presenting stunts were I presume, but this falls somewhere between embarassing and uncool. Well, we get to admire some over acrting and a lot of naked Måns riding a horse and sporting a hard on at one point. Maybe that's enough to make MEDS a success.... Where's Edward af Sillen when you need him?

  Brother Beyond was another short lived boyband from PWL delivering nice little hits. After they split lead singer Nathan Moore joined Worlds Apart and even acted Eurovision artist Jessica Garlick's manager before concentrating on acting.... while still performing in nostalgia circuit. Other members continued in music as managers and such, one became an artist and one, Eg White, wrote award winning songs to Will Smith and Adele! Check out also

  Whitney, do I need to say more? I was lucky enough to see her live on her last tour in 2010 but sadly she was only a shadow of what she was at her prime, I sippose. Yet, the magic was there and I'm still angry at those people who booed and left mid concert. So sad. As is the path she took in life.... but her voice stays and lives forever. This said I think her best albums are the 90's one while her early 80's repertoire is continuation right where Diana Ross left it when moving on to other things and Whitney got her backing team to work with. Check out also:

  From Levi's tv advert (later chosen as one of the top-5 adverts ever) to getting Madonna write you a song and sing backing vocals that's what model Nick Kamen experienced in mid-80's. Then he continued my covering a Motown classic while Madonna returned as backing singer for Tell me, and especially Italians went wild for Nick .  His career continued to early 90's and his self penned I promised myself became his biggest success with several cover versions in the years to come. And then.... nothing. Or is he a painter in London these days? Check out also:

  Carola turns 53 today, and I have been a fan for 36 years. I happened to be in Sweden visiting my aunt when she won Melodifestivalen 1983 (actually Kikki Danielsson's Varför är kärleken röd, the runner up, was my favorite...) The next summer I was back in Sweden and was taken to see her live in her first record breaking tour. Ever since I have seen her live in Finland a few times and followed her career ever since. Funny how despite her PR in Japan and an album with BeeGees she never really made it outside the Nordics... ah yes, that Guy came in between.... maybe. Even if her debut album is maybe the album I have ever listened the most I chose these songs outside of it, just for the variety. And as an extra vids from her latest Finland gig by moi.  Rendezvous Check out also:

Vain elämää series, where top artists gather together in a villa for a week to perform each other's songs and talk over everything over lunch and dinner has reached its 10th season already and it's a All Stars one featuring JVG's VilleGalle, Elastinen, Lauri Tähkä, Paula Vesala, Maija Vilkkumaa, Erin, Antti Tuisku and Sunrise Avenue's Samu Haber . The series kicked off with Antti Tuisku's Day and below are my favorites out of the performances (and Antti's originals) that all outdid the original for a reason or another.... Lauri and Erin turned the songs something else and were for me the outstanding ones by far.  Antti Tuisku Antti Tuisku Antti Tuisku Antti Tuisku

  I had a very intense French period in my music listening in the late 80's-early 90's for various reasons, and Feldman was one of my favorites. I see now that he has continued all these years... I had no idea. Another artist I have to rediscover again. But these songs have left a mark. Check out also:

  Pino Mango is one of my all time favorite artists and fully bloomed in the 90's for me, even if I followed him all the way from early 80's to his premature death on stage during his concert in December 2014. He had his very recognisable own Mediterranean sound with his unique voice. I love each of his albums, some more some less but none of them has left me cold or indifferent. Such a shame we won't be getting any new Mango songs. He's deeply missed..... He also wrote songs to likes of Mia Martini and Mietta among others. Check out also:

  Before Madonna and Lady Gaga there was Cyndi being the Italo-American pop star with a look you couldn't ignore and songs that were hits. She's got some real classics under belt and she was the first female artist to score four top-5 hits in the US from a debut album. I was a total fan. Today she's a LBGT activist, Tony and Emmy award winning writer for Kinky Boots musical, actress and respected songwriter besides singing blues and country. I kinda lost her after 80's, I think I must redust her and check out also her latest works.... Check out also:

Mahmood's new video Barrio had over one million views in 48 hours and has already passed 1,5 million mark. He's proving to be the most exciting export in music from Italy in years, and has convinced also the critics with this song again managing to mix the Latin influences with a hint of  Arab exotism with the Italian melodic pop and his unique voice. And did you notice there's also a gimmick hand choreography just like in Soldi , and it fits like a glove? Meanwhile his Europa Good Vibes Tour is selling well with sold out dates and added gigs in London  and Paris, and now a new date in Tel Aviv as well. On October 4 he will be performing in Malta in Radio Italia Live concert as well besides a few dates in Italy still to come. Update 6.9: New date in Madrid Update 10.9: Friedns of Music event in Strasbourg, European Parliament 3.10 Tel Aviv - Israel *22.10 Strasbourg - European Parliament* 23.10 Lugano - Switzerland 24.10 Zurich - Switzerland (sold out) ...

Mikko is back with yet another inspirational melodic song. Well done. He deserves a major hit and exposure - even if he already has a very devoted fan base - so what about UMK2020? Everyone in Finland seems to be waiting for her several times postboned debut album (she's been too busy writing song to likes of Miley Cyrus) but here's another great track from it. Quite awesome video for the title track of her debut album. Another one waiting for The Break, and UMK2020 could just be it.... A real earworm from radio waves this summer from the rapping pop legend. 

  Well, this is a real 1,5 hit group but what a hit it is as is its half hit follow up, namely I eat cannibals and Dracula's tango . The rest is rather useless but I included them here because I still listen to those two songs occasionally ;-p Such fun! (And the rest is crap)

Franco Battiato (74) returns with a new release, his first since the accident at home in November 2017 when he broke his hip. Rumours and gossip has been wild since then, as he hasn't really appeared in public ever since. Occasionally collegues and friends like Alice have stated he's fine and very amused about the rumours that have had even dead a few times already.  The album, recorded in London together with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra two years ago, includes only one new song, the title track Torneremo ancora (We will be back)  giving as hopeful greeting he's coming back for real sometime soon, while the others are re-arranged versions of his classics.  The release date is October 18, 2019. It seems the release is taken care by Battiato's brother Michele and his daughter Grazia Christina, as his health conditions are still considered fragile. This is his 91st album release and 9th live album. He has released 29 studio albums, 18 compilations, 12 albums in...

  Jean-Jacques Goldman, one of my great musical loves. I came across him thanks to the French Cultural Centre in Helsinki, where I used to go and borrow vinyls... He has written such great music that it was hard to choose the four songs here. My love for him continued all the way to the end of his recording career (as we know it) and his various projects and songs written and produced to other artists, like Céline Dion whose French success is mainly thanks to him in her adult life, Patricia Kaas and Patrick Fiori. Sadly his last studio album is from 2001 but he's still active somewhat writing and producing, and made an appearance in Fiori's Les gens qu'on aime video. Hopefully he will still release his music as a singer, too. Pretty please? He has had a huge impact in the French music industry and in 2012-2013 for example two tribute albums were recorded by the young talents under title Genération Goldman , both hitting #1 in the French charts and selling about one m...

  Mandy Smith was one of those dozens PWL artists I got into. If Motown is my big great love, PWL was kinda its 80's/90's version and even worked pretty much the same way artists singing similar songs that came out in dozens and if they didn't work someone else had a go with it hoping in turning it into a hit.  Mandy, a former model and The Rolling Stones's Bill Wyman's 13-year-old girlfriend and later wife lasted one album and ironically her last single was a cover, Don't you want me baby ..... Nope. But it was fun as long as it lasted and Positive reaction is still fab.