ESC 2016 SWEDEN: KRISTA SIEGFRIDS AND THE OTHERS!

Now that was a surprise! A nice one! Excellent one! Readers of my blog know I'm not the biggest Melodifestivaen fan and I do find it way overrated. Great entertaining show yes, musicaally interesting and great? Not so much. Anyways, Krista Siegfrids continues her never stopping career going onwards in Meldoifestivalen. She has told she was asked to take part last year but said nej as the song didn't quite convince her. Now she has co-written her entry and follows Arja Saijonmaa's footsteps becoming only the second Finn to be in*. Arja scored a second place, with one point behind the winner back in 1986 with Högt över havet and returned in the 2000's with less success. Will Krista become the third time lucky Finn? Maybe not, but this is her a huge opportunity to sell her bubbly personality and music to the Swedes. After all, she has always been the odd happy "Swedish like" artist in Finland. If only she could spread that positivity, fun and happiness to other Finnish artists! I'm not usually very fond of foreign artists taking part in other countries' selections but this one is a very fitting one, not only the reasons I mentioned above but also her songwriting and production team is mstly Swedish and she's a Swedish speaker. Truth to be said, her Finnish is.... not so good! But that's part of her charm, that mixed talk of English, Swedish and Finnish that comes always with a laughter. Now let's see if the Swedish audiences will be falling for her come February 13 and Malmö... a stage she's already very familiar with! And oh boy, she's going to have one busy winter as she's also hosting the Finnish UMK!

*Well, we cannot forget Lili & Susie, Markoolio and Anna Järvinen, but they have lived and done their whole career in Sweden, desite being Finns. Järvinen has later done something also in Finland, while Päivärinta sisters and Markoolio nothing and they don't even speak Finnish while Järvinen does still speak quite good Finnish. So, Krista and Arja are real Finns. Arja made a succesful career also in Sweden, Noway and elsewhere, maybe now it's Krista's turn?

Semi Final 1 – Göteborg, Febaruary 6

Mimi Werner – Ain’t No Good

Samir & Viktor – Bada Nakna

Robin Bengtsson – Constellation Price

Ace Wilder – Don’t Worry

Anna Book – Himmel for tva

Pernilla Andersson – Mitt guld

Albin & Mattias Andreasson – Rik

Semi Final 2 – Malmö, February 13

Viktor & Natten – 100%

Krista Siegfrids – Faller

Molly Pettersson Hammar – Hunger

Tommy Nilsson, Patrik Isaksson & Uno Svenningsson – Hall mit hjarta hart

Isa – I Will Wait

Wiktoria – Save Me

David Lindgren – We Are Your Tomorrow

Semi Final 3 – Norrköping, February 20

Oscar Zia – Human

SaRaHa – Kizunguzungu

After Dark – Kom ut som en stjarna

Lisa Ajax – My Heart Wants Me Dead

Boris Rene – Put Your Love On Me

SMILO – Weight of the World

Swingfly feat. Helena Gutarra – You Carved My Name

Semi Final 4 – Gävle, February 27

Martin Stenmarck – Du tar mig tillbaks

Panetoz – Hall om mig hart

Frans – If I Were Sorry

Linda Bengtzing – Killer Girl

Dolly Style – Rollercoaster

Eclipse – Runaways

Molly Sanden – Youniverse

Comments

ESC 2016 WISH LIST: MARGARET FOR POLAND

Małgorzata Jamroży aka Margaret has also been tipped for Eurovision and apparently she did turn it down but she'd be perfect. She's got a look and persona you can't unnotice nor forget, she's got hit songs, she has been voted or nominated for everything from Trendy artist to the Hope of the Year, Fashion Icon and Glamour Woman of the year besides the usual best video, song, album, debut..... Oh she's also a fashion designer! She's very clever with social medias and would surely use it to her advantage if selected for Stockholm 2016. Her debut album is titled Add the blonde , do we need to say more? Except it includes mostly Swedish written pop tunes like Tell me how are ya , Wasted , Start a fire and Heartbeat . And of course her debut single and internationally noticed Thank you very much that you can enjoy below with all its anti-textil feel. I think she's Eurovision perfection, she's cheeky and fun, can we have her?

SONGS OF THE YEAR 2015: #5 KRISTA SIEGFRIDS - ON & OFF

Krista Siegfrids is delivering nice pop tunes one after another and this one is particularly catchy and soon you will be singing along..... Hopefully her Melodifestivalen entry will be equally good!

Blogilkar exclusive: PASHA PARFENI INTERVIEW

My flying reporter Robert managed to get hold on Pasha Parfeni from Moldova today who has become during this week pretty big favorite to do well. How did he end up in Eurovision, what his goals are and is his granny better than the ones from Buranovo? And will we get a cover album full of Eurovision later on? Find it out here: Why do you want to participate in Eurovision? That's a very difficult question... I want to be a star! A worldstar, ha ha! But I know it's not easy even in Eurovision, only Celine Dion and ABBA have made it. But I can make myself a bit more known, it's good for promotion. After Eurovision I will finish my album and my promo-CD already has nine songs. We will recod maybe 4-5 more and it will make a good album. With what result will you be happy here? Happy? … Top-10! Then I'll be absolutely happy! So if you don't get to the final you will be totally depressed? Yes, maybe... Yes, it would be hard. For me and my team. What are y

ESC 2016 BELARUS: NAKED WITH WOLVES?

Today's funniest Eurovision related story comes from Belarus. Some sources claim Ivan wants to perform on stage naked and with live wolf or wolves. It surely would be a first on Eurovision stage! We have seen some forgotten underwear over the years, and some cardbox animals though..... Is it time to take things a bit further? No, according the rules live animals are not allowed, and Eurovision being a family show nudity won't do either. (It seems to be ok to be half naked if you are a dancer though..... )

GOODBYE, FAREWELL...

The time has come. After all these years, 5,7 million visits, 12.000 articles I guess the time has come. As much as I love and care for Eurovision it just doesn't feel the same. The Corona years took their toll and the past two years and certain decisions have helped me to mature the idea that next year I will hear the songs for the first time in semi-final just like any so called local. The bubble has burst. Add the toxicity in social medias and fandom. The arrogant teenagers who saw their first contest somewhere 2017 or even 2021 who think they know it all and only their opinion matters. Did I mention the toxic atmosphere on social medias? I'm too old for that sh*t. It's been a long ride that took me to various Eurovision on spot as a fan and tourist, as a journalist, as a delegation member. I met some great people, made memories of lifetime. In stressful, sad periods of my life this blog has been my safe place, a place to escape and forget everything else for an hour o

FINLAND: CONGRATS HANNA PAKARINEN - BABY IS COMING!

No more leave me alones as Eurovision 2007 veteran Hanna Pakarinen has published in her Youtube channel a video unboxing the Finnish state's maternity box aka layette set thus announcing she's due to have a baby later this spring. Congratulations!

Summer songs: Samantha Fox & Sabrina - Call me

Summertime is the time for cover versions and remixes. The late 1980's war of the boombs is over when Samantha and Sabrina put their bras together and cover Blondie's Call me in peace and harmony. Amore, chiamami!

Summer songs: Kylie Minogue - On a night like this

This is one of the songs that make me think of sweaty summer nights, humid air and being slightly drunk... I wonder where that all comes from? Anyways. Kylie Minogue recorded On a night like this, maybe not first but better than Pandora or Anna Vissi . And Lord which is actually great!

GREECE: HELENA PAPARIZOU HITS AGAIN WITH HAIDE

Eurovision song contest 2005 winner Helena Paparizou has been enjoying Top-5 hits every year since 2003 with the exception of 2010 and 2014, this latest one being already her 27th! And Haide is charting also in Bulgaria and Finland, of all places. The catchiness of her hits has changed less over the years than her face.... Here's the English version , below the Greek version.

CAROLA'S BOOBS STEAL THE SHOW, SVT APOLOGIES

Update! Another thing got Swedes talking last night: Carola's boobs when she was giving away an award. This is not the first time her boombs cause headlines; her misfortunate adventures in the 80's in Japan wer explained with her boobs being too big for Japanese market. Ok.... Or was it the song ? Anyways, Carola apologies and says she thinks the dress is stylish and elegant (even her friends said so) and she's a mature woman in her 40s, not a 16-year-old girl and looks like one. The Swedish Oscars, Guldbagge awards were given out last night. Carola was there as a guest star to sing Barbra Streisand's The way we were when honoring the movie stars who passed away during 2012. However, the cameras were too much on Carola, not on the stars showed in photos in the background and that upset many viewers as that part of the show was to celebrate them, not Carola. Oh well... The producer of the show tells in Aftonbladet the part of the show was made the sam

Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Search This Blog