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A lot to expect in Italy this fall...

In music that is as four of my favourite singers are releasing new albums shortly. First of is Giorgia whose Dietro le apparenze will be released on September 6, 2011. The first single off the album was Il mio giorno migliore , the second is È l'amore che conta. Eros Ramazzotti and Jovanotti are amongst the songwriters for her on this album, her 8th studio album since 1994. Her last album was released in 2007. Alice 's new album should be out in October, including new material written by herself, Franco Battiato and Tiziano Ferro amongst others. This will ber 18th official album and first one with new material since 1998's Exit. Since then she has released albums with new or live versions or covers.  On Novenber 11, 2011 aka 11/11/11 Laura Pausini   will release her new yet untitled album. The first single Benvenuto will be out on September 12, 2011. This will be her 9th album and first in 3 years. Last but not least Tiziano Ferro will release his new album before the e

Welcome # 200: Zambia!

It took awhile before a new country graced the web world of Blogilkar but now we have a new country, the 200th and it's Zambia! Welcome!

ESC 2011 that could've been 6: Switzerland

Russia didn't have an open selection and sent Alexej Vorobiov with mediocre Get you instead and luckily it failed badly (for Russia) in the final reaching only 16th place. Switzerland on the other hand had in their selection my favourite song of the season, Vittoria Hyde's Play the trumpet . Unfortunately it was disqualified and replaced by another bella bionda alta e magra Italian, Scilla and her Barbie doll which remains my favourite of their final songs, when some of my favourites were left in the internet selection.... The winner Anna Rossinelli celebrated for awhile and was the last to qualify for the final from the first semifinal and came last in the final but hey, Switzerland did the final for a change!

ESC 2011 that could've been 5: Serbia

Turkey didn't have open selection so skip them and go to Serbia where they did have one, with three songs. Nina's Caroban was clearly the best choice and eventually finished 14th in the final. If they had sent Aleksandra Kovac with Idemo dalje they might have stayed in the semifinal but would have had a worthy entry anyways.

ESC 2011 that could've been 4: Armenia

The unthinkable happened happened in Eurovision and Armenia (as well as Turkey ) didn't make it to the final against all odds which is only refreshing and restores a bit of the faith for the jury-televote voting system. I learned to like Boom boom in the end a little but by no means it's not a great song. I preferred Ayo in the national final where Emmy (unfortunately) sung all the songs. Now relistening it after some months it doesn't make any big empression either so I can only conclude the Armenian effort in 2012 wasn't that strong, was it?

ESC 2011 that could've been 3: Albania

Azerbaijan won with a duet  but Albania could have given them a true run for the money and points if they only had sent the runner up Ende ka shpresë by Alban Skenderaj and Miriam Cani instead, a song that feels a lot more honest and autenthic than the Azeri effort Running scared made of Swedish plastic. Melodic, catchy and maybe easier to the ear than the drama Aurela Gace offered missing the final. We just might be going to Tirana istead of Baku..... (or Rome if they ate each others votes...)

ESC 2011 that could've been 2: Norway

Norway has had some wonderful national selections this year was no exception as a TV-show but the songs... Maybe not the strongest line up this year, was it? Stella Mwangi stood out and won with Haba haba and was another surprise non-qualifier in Germany reaching only 17th place in the first semifinal. What if they sent Carina Dahl's Guns & boys , or Sichelle's elegant Trenger mer ? Both songs were kicked out already in the first national semifinal without even a second chance....

Malta bans Oliva, Morena, Chiara, Thea and Glen!

An interesting move from the Maltese TV as they ban the winning artists from the past five years from their national selection 2012. Wouldn't it have been better to ban the writers of the winning entries instead?? On the other hand then they would have a drastic drop of songs sent in as they provide some 3/4 of the songs anyway as usual I guess.... Well, joking a bit perhaps but aren't they awfully many every year by certain writers?  Anyways, Malta is waiting for songs until late October and then  a jury will pick up 24 songs for the semifinal on January 27 and there will be 16 left for the final the day after where a jury will mainly decide on the winning song like this year. Will it finally be a year of Micallef/Edwards?

Edsilia Rombley goes Motown - amongst other things

Lovely Edsilia Rombley, one of the finest voices ever grace the Eurovision stage and surely one of the loveliest and easiest accessible artists in Helsinki 2007 (I will never forget her consoling the teary eyed disappointed fans in the press center's lobby after the results) has her hands full for the rest of the year. Earlier this year her latest single Geef je over came out, then she performed Motown classics with Cor Bakker live and is ready to hit the road again with a theather tour, she's planning a project with mainly 1970's soul, and an English sung album that should come out later this year, too... and of course being a mother.  Can't wait! And here's a nice performance of her very unfairly placed entry Nooit meer zonder jou   in Helsinki 2007.

Jenni Vartiainen warps it up

Jenni Vartiainen's Seili tour comes to an end after 170 gigs when tomorrow night she will perform in Helsinki's National Theatre's stage, a first for a pop artist! And not only, Finnkino's movie theatres all over Finland will show the performance live in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Oulu, Pori, Rovaniemi, Turku and Tampere. After that she will take a break and no one knows how long it will take, not even herself. That has caused wild speculation that she might be pregnant or might quit the business altogether and she has recently commented herself that she also took two years off before the album and it's normal; first time off, then slowly making new music and recording, it could easily take a few years.... But there goes hopes to have her in Eurovision 2012 as well. Time will tell if this success story will continue in a few years as so far it has been impressive: Jenni was born in Kuopio in 1983. After figure skating that she had to quit be

ESC 2011 that could've been 1: Poland

The commercially rather bland 2011 edition of Eurovision is over and it seems real international hits are missing this year and the winner just doesn't match the success of the two previous winners. Oh well, that was to expected when the voting was over, wasn't it? But hey, it's time to sit back and have a look what else was there to offer and I will go country by country presenting songs from every country that didn't win the national selection but that were my favourites to win earlier this year or just songs that now relistening them sound good and we start with Poland . I may agree with the Polish winner even if Magdalena Tul unfortunately didn't deliver live on stage and scored only disappointing 19th place in the first semifinal with Jestem despite being tipped for the final. What if they had sent Ada Fijal's Hot like fire or the violin triplets Alizma and Bow to the bow ?

Tauski aiming for Eurovision 2012

After Martina Tauski Peltonen has declared his intention to take part in next year's UMK. A bit of a shame as both would have featured nicely in the good old Euroviisut, but propably will have no chance whatsoever in UMK. This would be Tauski's fifth attempt to represant Finland. He has a long career behind him with ten album since 1989 but his private life has taken more notice for far too many years already than his music. He recently divorced Virpi CatCat Kätkä and married Henna Tuominen and all this messy affair has been spread all over the scandal tabloits this summer. His biggest hits include Sinä vain , Haavemaa and Niin minä sinulle kuulun . His latest album Reloaded featured covers like Mitä jos? and his latest single is an athem for silicon boobs Täydellinen .

UMK details revealed - Finnish final on February 25, 2012

YLE has revealed some more details on Uuden musiikin kilpailu, ex-Euroviisut. One can send their entries until September 30 and the organizers are stressing the fact they are looking for new talents with personality and the best song possible, underlining the best song, not the best Eurovision song. They also promise a lot air play on YLE's radio stations. The shows that follow the process from demos to club gigs to recording the radio versions of the songs and finally the grand final will be shown on YLE2 on January 27, February 3, 10, 17 and 24, and the grand final will be live from Helsinki on February 25. The location for the final has not been revealed yet but as YLE promises big things fans are dreaming of Hartwall Areena or the brand new Musiikkitalo in the heart of Helsinki that will be opened on September 1, 2011.

Eurovision ecstacy in Portugal again

Portugal's Setùbal hosts already for the third time Eurovision stars live in concert on September 10, 2011. The guest of honour is none other than Marie Myriam , the French winner of 1977 of Portuguese origin and this bloggers most significant ever Eurovision entry's performer. Other guests who have already had the taste of the Eurovision stage are Jari Sillanpää from Finland, Marcin Mrozinski from Poland, Igor Cukrov from Croatia,  Lucia Perez from Spain, Chiara from Malta and Andrea Demirovic from Montenegro. On top of that familiar names from various national finals: Chen Aharoni from Israel, Jenny Silver from Sweden besides local stars Filipa Ruas and Rui Andrade . I see there several names I'd love to see besides lovely Marie M but sigh, have to skip this time again..... :-(

Chisu's sabotage

Chisu is back! The first single off her third album Kun valaistun is called Sabotage and on the radios today! And yes, it's fabulous or what do you think?! The album comes in October 2011. And she's got a pretty fabulous new look, too.... UPDATE 24.8.2011 Sabotage completed. Chisu hits the #1 spot on iTunes just about 24 hrs after its release.... And I'm going to see her again live in November in Tavastia club in Helsinki. Life's good!

OMVF 2011: Kim Herold, Happoradio, Maija & Irina, Jenni Vartiainen

And this post concludes my favourites in the Oulu music video festival 2011. You can vote for your favourite here .  Kim Herold - Before I marry you Happoradio - Pelastaja Irina & Maija Vilkkumaa - Kunnon syy Jenni Vartiainen - Missä muruseni on Kim Herold , ex-model continues scoring smaller hits and using them in advertising, like this one. Happoradio also scores hit after hit while the rock ladies Irina and Maija Vilkkumaa re-recorded Irina's hit for her greatest hits compilation and made this fab video for it. And Jenni Vartiainen - yes she's here, too, and propably will this one, too!

Carola's adventures in Japan

I was going through my stuff and came across the 45 of Carola's Fushiki na hitomi (Don't tell me what to do)/Rendez vous , the single she recorded back in 1985 for the Japanese market. It didn't make her big there and this episode in her career is rather forgotten, even if she did a few lines in her 25th anniversary show. But she was dreaming of Tokyo already a year before in her first TV-show. (And that show has one of the most memorable opening acts ...) I remember back them someone blamed her boobs were too big for the Japanese market..... or wasn't the song just strong enough? I personally always preferred the B-side that unfortunately I couldn't find on Youtube.

Mango covered

To continue with yesterday's Mango post here is some more of him for you! I discovered he has been covered both in Greece by Eleftheria Arvanitaki and in France by Helene Segara besides the several local Italian covers I already knew. That great female artists want to cover him is nothing new as already back in 1976 Mia Martini did Se mi sfiori and over the decades Patty Pravo , Loretta Goggi , Mina, Mietta, Leo Sayer , Neri per caso , Scialpi and Wender ft Saretta have covered his songs. Besides that he has written songs to Mietta , Loredana Bertè , Andrea Bocelli , Andrea Mirò and Dennis Fantina , just to name a few. And he himself has covered many songs by other artists, like Franco Battiato for example. And this is Mango, too. And if pnly one day Mango would collaborate with Alice....

OMVF 2011: Erin, Neljän suora, Bajo Cero, Risto

And still some more videos. Remember you can vote for your favourite here . Erin - Vanha nainen hunningolla Neljän Suora - Valtava maailma Bajo Cero - Hierro Risto - Lyö Erin seems to have made it much better than her fellow-ex-Nylon Beat Jonna when she scored a big summer hit with her debut solo single. Neljän Suora is up and coming young band that is making it bigger with each album (three so far) and a sort of pop-dance band. Bajo Cero is a multicultural group and that's all I know about them. And about Risto I know even less but the video is ... ehm... interesting?

Mango in the world of kites

Mango is one of my favourite Italian singers as most of you propably know by now. He has released a new album La terra degli aquiloni , his first of new original material since 2007 following the release of a live and cover albums. And it was worth the wait. The first single off the album is La sposa , sounding very Mango indeed but on the album he finds new styles to mix with his unique voice and singing style like Il rifugio , Dove ti perdo , Dignitose arrendevolezze , Chiamo le cose , Il pazzo , La terra degli aquiloni . There's also a bit of an international flavor with Volver and Starlight that you can hear here with the medley of the album . And here's as a bonus Guarda l'Italia che bella in the dialect of Lagonegro where he comes from. This is his 19th studio album since 1976 and he has been on top since 1985's Australia . And since then I have been a fan.....

Spice Girls, David Hasselhoff, System of a Down......

The usual rumour mill is working also this summer. David Hasselhoff , Sasja Brouwers , System of a Down , Hari Mata Hari , Kate Ryan , Charlotte Perrelli are just some names that have been rumoured to be selected internally or planning to take part in the national selections. Falete has self candidated to represant Spain if selected internally... While Hasselhoff and System of a Down have already denayed any such plans today emerges a new rumour: Spice Girls want to reunite and represant the United Kingdom and do what the Blue boys couldn't: win. Or so thinks Geri Halliwell who accidently has a new album coming out..... When they will start talking about Dima Bilan again? Let the rumours run wild!

OMVF 2011: Hanna Pakarinen, Samuli Putro, Cristal Snow, Aste

And still some more: Hanna Pakarinen - Miehet Samuli Putro - Huono sängyssä Cristal Snow - Surrender Aste - Normipäivä Hanna Pakarinen made a big chance with her latest album by switching singing in Finnish and this one's one of the albums radiohits. Samuli Putro used to be in Zen Cafe but went solo when the band took a break and has released two succesful albums since. Cristal Snow has released two albums since his Euroviisut debut and scored several hits from the second one, including this one. Aste is one of the leading rap-hip hop artists in Finland and has released already five albums.

OMVF 2011: Antti Tuisku, Lassi Heiskanen, Haloo Helsinki, Manna

And yet some more favourites of mine: Antti Tuisku - Hyökyaalto Lassi Heiskanen - Sut tahdon kokonaan Haloo Helsinki - Maailman toisella puolella Manna - She moves Antti Tuisku needs no presentations but Lassi Heiskanen is a total newcomer. Haloo Helsinki has provided one of the biggest summer hits with this song off their third success album. Manna is a Finnish-Algerian singer, songwriter, model and actress and has already released three albums as well and could be the closest thing to Kate Bush we have here - at least in this video.

Albums that have shaped my music taste 7: Diana Ross - Stolen moments

Now, Diana Ross for me is the ultimate Diva and my very first LP I ever bought was her greatest hits compilation. However I have always loved also her jazzy stuff besides the Supremes and later times discopop. She first sung these songs for Lady sings the blues , a biography film about Billie Holiday that earned her an Oscar nomination as an actress along with four other nominations back in 1972. Twenty years later she performed the materail again live in New York's Ritz Theatre with first class musicians, some that played with late Billie Holiday as well. This album titled Stolen moments: The lady sings... jazz and blues . And she made me discover Billie Holiday all over again with this album. And btw, the film's great!  At the same time Diana recorded also Whee did we go wrong , clearly inspired by this project that included songs like Gimme a pigfoot and a bottle of beer , There's a small hotel , God bless the child , Don't explain , Fine and mellow and Good mornin

Vote for the Tormentone 2011

Tormentone. A lovely Italian word for a summer hit (mainly) or just something annoying but pleasant at the same time. Dove c'è musica , maybe the best Italian blog about pop music is hosting its annual poll right here . You can vote for your favourite until August 30, max 5 times per PC. Listen the 16 songs that made the final cut and vote for your favourite. It can't be Popular , can it? :-) I'm personally abit partial to the songs in French here....

Familiar voices: Aia

Some of you might remember Aia from the open internet selection for Euroviisut 2011. If they sounded familiar it's because amongst the vocalists are Nina Tapio and Hanna-Riikka Siitonen of Taikapeili fame and of several Euroviisut selections and back up singing efforts, as well as Riikka Timonen , also familiar from Euroviisut. With a few other singer-musicians they have now released their debut album Omia . The band describes itself as etnopop band that uses electric sounds, accapella technique, strong pop melodies and all coveed with a touch of the ethnic. Something tells me they might try again in 2012 in the UMK aka Euroviisut. Here's their debut single Kesän jälkeen .

OMVF 2011: Arttu Wiskari, Ukkosmaine, Laura Voutilainen, Anna Järvinen & Olavi Uusivirta

And some more of my favourites: Arttu Wiskari - Tuntematon potilas Ukkosmaine - Salamaponi Laura Voutilainen - Rakkauden soturi Anna Järvinen & Olavi Uusivirta - Nuori ja kaunis Arttu Wiskari has been a bit of the phenomenon of the year; out of nothing to having a megahit. Ukkosmaine I have no idea who they are but they seem to have been around a long time. Humour, I guess. Laura Voutilainen needs no presentation. Olavi Uusivirta has been around a few years and is rather popular while Anna Järvinen is a Swede of Finnish origin and together they have scored the duet hit of the year.

OGAE Second chance contest 2011

It's time for this contest won by Sweden 13 times already out of 26. Other Nordic nations take another 5 wins and that leaves the other victories for Spain (2), Italy , Slovenia , Turkey and The Netherlands . This edtion has 21 countries taking part and 10 are sending the actual runner up, the other fan favourites from the national finals.The votinh should close on August 21, 2011 and sometime later we should know the results.  Sweden won last year with Timotej's Kom and you can find more information here . 01. Poland - Anna Gogola - Ktoś taki jak ty 02. The Netherlands  - 3JS - De stroom 03. Israel - Chen Aharoni - Or 04. Slovenia - April - Ladadidej 05. Lithuania - Linas Adomaitis - Floating to you 06. Spain - Lucía Pérez - Abrázame 07. Sweden - Jenny Silver - Something in your eyes 08. Greece - Nikki Ponte - I dont wanna dance 09. Finland - Saara Aalto - Blessed with love 10. Germany - Lena - Push Forward 11. Italy - Modà feat. Emma - Arriverà 12. Denmark - Le Freak - 25

OMVF 2011: Sunrise Avenue, Mikko Pohjola, Felix Zenger, Manboy

And here are some more favourites of mine: Sunrise Avenue - Hollywood hills Mikko Pohjola - Se joka pelkää Felix Zenger ft. Kari Tapio & Asa - Pitkät päivät täällä Manboy - How it hurts Sunrise Avenue needs no presentation, once again they are responsable for the biggest Finnish hit worldwide. Mikko Pohjola is a newcomer to the scene and is slowly making himself known. Felix Zenger is a beatboxer and the sound syou hear are coming from his mouth, except the bits sung by late Kari Tapio. This is his last recorded performance and caused a delay in the release of the album due respect. Feliz also performed in the opening act of Eurovision 2007 in Helsinki. Manboy has been around since late 1990's and recently admitted regretting the choice of the band name.

Syksyn Sävel returns

Once MTV3 started showing this summer the series of the old Syksyn Sävel competitions my first thought was it's coming back and indeed it is. MTV3 will have the final, the first since 2001 on October 29, 2011. Twelve artists will be invited and this time it's linked with charity; the artist who collects most money for cancer research will win. Already the rumours of Heli Kajo , Juha Tapio and Johanna Kurkela taking part are running wild. Syksyn Sävel (Melody or Song for the autumn) started back in 1968 and run until 2001 providing countless megahits and evergreens, especially in the 1970's. It also launched or relaunched many artists careers.  If Euroviisut songs were trying to please the international audiences or just being "artistic" (or what the Finns thought were one or the other, or the juries actually) Syksyn Sävel was simply commercial and trying to please the Finnish masses and schlager and humour songs did well. Now with the revamp of Euroviisut as Uud

Rihanna in need of umbrellas

Rihanna is in town and performing tonight in Hietaniemi beach near Helsinki city center. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? It would be if she was as lucky as Madonna two summers ago when she enjoyed a marvellous weather and a beautiful hot summer night in front of some 100.000 people. Rihanna may have to do with 20.000 (if the ticket holders turn up) and in chilly rain. The temperature is around +15 now and it just keeps raining. But, if you go take your Umbrella with you and enjoy the show. I have never been a Rihanna fan but I like Unfaithful and Love the way you lie .

OMVF 2011: Teleks, Laura Närhi, FiReal, Edorf

Here are some of my favourites in the Oulu Music Video Festival: Teleks - Tyttö joka katsoo merelle Laura Närhi - Tämä on totta Fireal - Halo (Hello beautiful) Edorf - Painajainen tulesta Teleks is a duo that's been around since early 2000's and released their 4th album this year after a few year's break. Laura Närhi used to be the lead singer of Kemopetrol before going solo and released her highly succesful debut album last year including this #2 hit. Fireal has transformed from Belak to Flamer to Fireal. The band is lead by multitalented Caleb Hydra from Rovaniemi but is now based in Helsinki. Edorf comes from Lapland and won the Finnish championship in rapping back in 2003. He reöeased his debut album this year after being part in many project including Guerra Norte over the years.

OMVF 2011 - vote for the best Finnish video

Oulun juhlaviikot hosts also a competition for the best music video and you can watch dozens of Finnish music videos right here . You can also vote for your favourite (one vote x pc) and the winner will be revealed on August 27, 2011. Many familiar names amongst the nominees from Hanna Pakarinen to Antti Tuisku, from Cristal Snow to Jenni Vartiainen, Paradise Oskar and dozens and dozens of independent more or less unknown names for the big public. A real treat for video lovers...

Euroviisut diventa Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu

YLE has finally decided how the new name of Euroviisut aka Eurovision Suomen karsinta will be called and came up with Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), or Competition of new music. Sigh.... All you readers out there will surely pardon me if I keep on writing about Euroviisut, right? I give this name 2 years of living time max.... No further comment. Anyways, you can send in your demos as of today and YLE is also using alternative ways to promote the contest, like this . 

Love City Groove Vs. Love City Groove

Love City Groove that represanted United Kingdom in the 1995 Eurovision with self titled song are trying a come back and what's better than doing with the beforementioned self titled song . They scored 10th place that was concidered low for the UK back then but looking at it now was pretty good... Time will tell if the second time around will go better in the charts....

No more t.A.T.u. here comes Lena

t.A.T.u.'s ten years in business seems to be over after six studio albums and the girls are going separete ways. Lena has already her debut solo single out called Never forge t. The last significant appearance by the girls was in the Eurovision 2009 in Moscow as part of the interval act . In 2003 they represanted Russia with Ne ver', ne boysia coming third just three points short of the victory.

Nightwish Imaginarium - the movie

Nightwish is one step closer to realize Tuomas Holopainen's dream when the filming of their movie will start next month. Imaginarium is a real fantasy film and not just music videos one after another, he says. The band members will perform themselves in fantasy form and he promises many people will be surprised to see the film. The filming will take place in a place faraway from Finland but exactly where was not revealed yet. The movie tells about life and the little spark one can find in the darkness when everything seems to be lost. Stobe Harju, who also directed their music video The Islander will be the director and the music will be from their forthcoming album of the same name. The project started already three years ago. Hopefully the filming will go smoother than the recording as there has been injuries, illnesses and accidents delaying the process...

Always goes Neapoletan!

  Aysel and Arash sung Always for Azerbaijan in 2009 reaching 3rd place. Now the song gets a Neapoletan treatment by Luca De Vivo and Teresa Langella. Amami cosi here . What is rather curious - or simply Neapoletan? - that the video names as writers L.De Vivo, P.Maisto and P.De Chiara!? What happened to the original writing team? Everything's different in Naples....

Soon there will be The Voice of Finland

The highly succesful reality format Voice of (insert country here) will start also in Finland this fall. It looks very promising as the couches will be Paula Koivuniemi, Michale Monroe, Lauri Tähkä and Elastinen. Axl Smith will be the host. The show is very simple; first the coaches only hear the singer, thus The Voice, and can decide if they want that voice in their team. They each pick up eight singers and coach them to reach their best. Duels drop artists and in the end there is only one voice left.... Sounds quite promising!

Carola and Charlotte together - for the first time

The Swedish multiple Melodifestivalen winners and Eurovision winners Carola Häggkvist and Charlotte Perrelli have been national schlager queens for decades and privately have known each other for years as well but strangely they have not shared the same stage before. Between them they have five Eurovision final placings and four of them in top-5. That all changed this summer in Norway when they both sung their songs and joined forces for the final medley in Allsång på grensen - or should we say Charlotte was reduced to back up Carola? " It's quite funy actually " they told the press in unison. "Usually they book one or the other, it's difficult to have two such big names in one show maybe?" But don't except a duet with them anytime soon. " Maybe if we had known better we could have prepared something " they conclude. Sounds like "no no never"....

Ivi Adamou for Cyprus 2012? Yes!

Today's rumour is Ivi Adamou (18) of X Factor fame has been appointed the Cypriot entrant for the 2012 Eurovision. She has released one album, two eps and several singles including Agapi , Sose me , Krata ta matia sou kleista and San ertla i mera . She came 6th in the Greek X Factor, season 2009-2010 and since then has gained success in Cyprus, Greece and Portugal. The official confirmation should come tomorrow... UPDATE : It has been confirmed vy CyBC that Ivi it is for 2012. Cool.  San Erthi I Mera San Erthi I Mera

Dmitry Koldun - we want you back!

Dima Koldun worked his magic in Helsinki 2007 scoring Belarus its best result so far, sixth. He was so hot in his native Belarus after that and winning the local Star Factory the year before that various producers were fighting to produce his debut album, amongst them Philipp Kirkorov, Viktor Drobysh and Alexander Lunev that eventually got the job. That collaboration ended soon enough when Viktor refused to consider including Dima's self penned songs on the album... The album came out finally in September 2009 and I bought it in Vilnius for some 4 euros last week. It's a decent album including his original Eurovision entry Angel mechti , a new version of Work your magic in Russian, Dai me silu 2009 and a couple of pop songs in English, I surrender and Somebody's loving you . As bonus tracks two dance versions of  Nastroysya na menya and Ya lyublyu tebya . Unfortunately the album does not include his fabulous single Tsarevna ! Since then he has released excellent single

Finnish schlager heaven in Kajaani

Last weekend the big Finnish schlager event Vihreät niityt took place in Kajaani, northern Finland. Several Eurovision veterans were present from Katri Helena to Marion, Laura Voutilainen and Riki Sorsa. And the new tango king without a crown, Heikki Koskelo. Marion was singing and performing with bronchitis but no one really noticed. She's touring this summer with her 50th anniversary tour in business and she's freshly married with a man 20 years to her senior. And her latest album sold gold last year.  Katri Helena is having an easy summer gigwise as she performed only five times while she is recording her new album, the first for the new rock orientad label with songs from new writers to her. She will be back on tour only next spring. Later this autumn a musical based on her life will premiere in Helsinki. The tickets are sold out already for dozens of nights.... Laura Voutilainen is also recording a new album in Iceland and promises "ballads to listen in candleligh

USA wins in Jurmala - but Finns take the money!

Jayden Felder represanting the USA may have won the New Wave 2011 in Jurmala, Latvia but the Finns have a reason to celebrate, too. Koop Arponen's new band Flute of Shame did not only win the award by the city of Jurmala as the most sympatic band (doesn't this sound like Miss Universe or something...?) but also the matron and organizer of the contest, Eurovision veteran Alla Pugatsova awarded them the special Golden Star award of 50.000 euros! In the contest they only came 9th but were Alla's favourites. They will use the money to record an album, Koop says. "We lost our chances the first night when we had to do a cover" Koop says "but the second night we got almost full points and the third night with out own Pictures on my wall full votes from the jury. It was the first time ever! People really liked our own songs! In the end Alla gave us the award that is the same money the winner got" As we remember Koop Arponen is the Finnish Idols 2008. His band