Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  Bonnie Tyler has been around forever in various styles but the one I liked was and is the Jim Steinman produced massive sounding Bonnie. Her later Europop and Eurovision gigs didn't impress me much, even if her voice is unique, that's for sure.  Check out also

Sunrise Avenue's Samu Haber's day gave us some rather interesting covers and the demand of him doing a solo album in Finnish is getting louder and louder.... It was a bit hard to choose the four and also Vesala , Elastinen and Lauri Tähkä all did a great job in a way or another.  Studio Sunrise Avenue's original Studio Sunrise Avenue's original Studio Sunrise Avenue's original Studio Sunrise Avenue's original

  Edem Ephrain and Dennis Fuller formed London Boys in 1986 and were active until their death in a car crash in January 1996. Their biggest hits were in 1988-89 but my favorite Sweet soul music was released in 1990 and hit the #1 in Finland of all places while was the first single to fail in the UK charts after their breakthrough. Already in 1987 they had released Supermix single in Finland only..... Check out also

Eurovision song contest winner Måns Zelmerlöw has released a new album, his first since 2016's Chameleon . Time is a sort of concept album going through his life starting with On my own , an open letter to the young Måns and with the songs that follow he sings about his life until now with its ups and downs, dark periods and good times after.  At the same time a new single, One , has been released following the previous Walk with me, Better now and Grow up to be you . 

He did it. Soldi has been streamed over 122 million times beating Loreen's Euphoria and Måns Zelmerlöw's Heroes and has become the most streamed Eurovision entry ever. Another record to the already very long list of record broken.  And Italy also holds the top of Youtube views with Francesco Gabbani's Occidentali's Karma , followed by Il Volo's Grande amore so one could say Italy rules! Let's see if in time Mahmood will catch up on them, too.  Meanwhile Mahmood is getting ready for the European tour and besides his chart topper Barrio he has recently co-written and performed with Gemitaiz and MadMan in Karate , re-recorded Barrio with Lalo Ebratt and co-written Marco Mengoni's latest hit Duemila volte , Parolaccie for Sergio Sylvestre and written and performed  Fa paura perche è vero  with Myss Keta....

  Liza is a living legend and in the late 80's became among all the other things also a pop singer helped by the Pet Shop Boys, so what's there not to love? I did. Full time. Check out also

  Billy Idol fitted nicely into my punk pop taste in the early 80's. Great look and attitude, but catchy enough songs masked as punk but they are pure pop. He continued until early 90's with a comeback in mid 2000's and and again an odd album in 2014....  Check out also

Elastinen is the artist I know less about these ones taking part in this Vain elämää 10 camp, and therefor it's harder to get excited about the covers, especially as I have never even heard the originals.... I admit. But here are the more fortunate ones.... Studio Elastinen's original Studio Elastinen's original Studio Elastinen's original Studio Elastinen's original

  I discovered Cher thanks to her 80's comeback hits penned by Diane Warren, and have followed her ever since as an artist and as an actress discovering also her back catalogue with jewels like Dark lady and Gypsies, tramps and thieves . Later the world (and I) went crazy for stuff like Believe .... and her latest incarnation goes all ABBA..... The first two songs below however stay as firm favorites.  Check out also

  I don't know if I can really say I've been a fa on U2 but I did enjoy listening some of their songs, the ones here and especially the 1991 release One , one of the best songs ever in my opinion. They are still around and these songs are classics.... Check out also:

  I got to know Fiordaliso and her original voice from Sanremo where she was present 1982-86 and again 1988-89, finishing in top-10 usually around 5th-6th, including the international megahit Non voglio mica la luna/ Yo no te pido la luna . However my favorite Fiordaliso Sanremo came in 1991 with Il mare piú grande che c'è .... She's still around and tipped for Sanremo every now and then, while  being a regular in the television realities etc.  Check out also

  Marco Mengoni has released the video for Duemila volte , his new single co-written by Mahmood off his worthcoming Atlantico/ On tour  double-cd. Ho bisogno di perderti Per venirti a cercare Altre duemila volte Anche se ora sei distante Ho bisogno di perdonarti per poterti toccare Anche una sola notte Anche se siamo soli come l'acqua su Marte

  I wasn't very convinced about Madonna when she hit it big with Like a virgin , nor Material girl even though I liked her. Then came Into the groove and I was sold. Also songs like Dress you up , and older songs discovered delayed like Holiday, Lucky star , Borderline made me a fan and I have been a fan ever since, with her ups and downs. I must admit when she lately has tried to be hip and cool wirth some semi rap nonsense I have preferred her other songs like Ghosttown , that is fabulous, in her albums. And after all these decades her Madame X album as a whole is one of her finest work. She's still got it! Check out also:

  Norwegian a-ha is one of those bands that dominated the charts in mid/late 80's but started struggling in the 90's but went on till the 00's with breaks and comebacks. They did it all from Bond theme to Nobel prize ceremonies, and Morten even co-hosted Eurovision song contest 1996. I loved their debut album but by thrid album I was lost.... Since 2015 they have been touring the world again and are set to do another world tour in 2020! Check out also:

  Marc Lavoine shot to the fame with his debut album in mid 80's and I followed his career all through to the end of 80's but have sadly lost him since. He's been giving out albums with steady flow ever since (12 so far), winning awards and having success both as singer and actor. Currently he's one of the The Voice judges in France.  Check out also

  From founding Depeche Mode to Yazoo with Alison Moyet Vince Clark found the lasting musical match in Andy Bell and Erasure is still recording and performing today. They had an amazing 24 consecutive Top-40 hits in the Uk between 1986 and 2009, 17 studio albums (4 consecutive #1's in the UK). and they even did ABBA ep in the early 90's. I was a fan. but must admit I have lost track of them these days - another act I must research better in the near future! Check out also:

A bit late but here comes the Erin's Day round up, that sadly I found a bit disappointing and it was a bit hard to choose the favoriters. Or rather the songs I may have liked the most as Erin's (or Nylon Beat's) favorites didn't quite work in new versions by JVG and Maija Vilkkumaa or Elastinen . Which is rather interesting: Erin makes fantastic covers but the others don't quite manage to cover her songs... Hmmm. Erin's original Studio Erin's original Studio Nylon Beat's original Studio Erin's original

  Oh Kylie, the Queen of PWL! Who would have thought her career still goes on over 30 years later, a bit like Madonna's. Over the years she has changed - or tried to change styles - but she's always Kylie, and I was rather surprised when seeing her live what a showgirl and fine vocalist she's on stage. She's one of those rare ones I have kept eye and ear on ever since her start.... Check out also:

  Eurythmics lasted all 80's and made one more album in the late 90's while Annie Lennox reigned the charts solo in the 90's while Dave Stewart has been producing and writing here and there but without major success but together they made some magic and evergreen hits. Like these: Check out also:

  I got onboard Bon Jovi already with their debut single Runaway that I just loved. And I kept following their music ever since, even though I had obviously more liking to their poppier hits than the hardrock efforts. Over the years I may have been less interested but still always keeping eye on what they are doing, and occasionally going all fan for releases like the This left feels right album. And hits like Always and It's my life that are awesome.  Check out also:

  After ABBA went on everlasting break Agnetha continued her solo career right away releasing three albums in mid 80's. Since then she has released about an album in a decade.... Check out also:

  I didn't really listen to any Finnish music in the 80's, back then it was still (hard) rock or elderly schlager and the pop music as we know it now was totally unexisting. Then came Dingo. Of course they considered themselves (and everybody else) as rock band but their sound and melodies were pop to my ears. And they created a Dingomania comparable only to the Beatlesmania in the 60's. Teenage girls were fainting and screaming, and streets were filled with teenagers dressed up like them.... But all that aside, their music was good and they scored hit after hit and broke selling records. Autiotalo was for years the best selling Finnish single ever (maybe it still is?) and they sold nearly half a million albums in three years before they broke up. Their break up was main news in the Yle's  very conservative tv.news, making another first. The band and lead singer Neumann are still around in various combinations (the latest one including Lordi's Eurovision winnin...

Out of the blue comes the announcement that Blas Cantò will sing for Spain in the Eurovision song contest 2020 in Rotterdam. It seems the Spanish television RTVE has finally woken up - after five years placing 21st-26th.... Maybe the internal choice is a step to the right direction? Blas Cantò (27) is a familiar name from AYRUN ,  who tried to get to Euroviison already in 2011, and has also won Tu cara me suena imitation variery show's fifth season. On top of that he tried also Junioe Euroviison in 2004. With AYRUN he released five albums, all selling gold and/or platinum while his debut solo album was released in fall 2018. So far he has released five singles. Check some of them below: 

  It's hard to find another artist like Franco Battiato: composer from experimental to pop to opera and soundtracks, singer, musician, arranger, producer, writer, documentalist, painter and philosopher and a lot more. He sold millions of albums in the 80's, started in the 60's and is still active. He has worked with Alice, Giuni Russo, Milva and Juri Camisasca just to name a few, not forgetting legendary late Giusto Pio. I adore. Still. Check out also