FINLAND 2011 - Da Da Dam

Some people don't like it that participants have been able to choose language freely for the past thirteen years - most entries are in English now, and some people feel that this takes away from the entertainment value the contest used to have, back when everyone had to sing in their own unwieldy language.

Personally I don't see it that way at all. I love the freer language rules we have now. Without them, we would never get to experience songs like this one. [Peter] likes to sit under an apple tree on his yard/and wait for an apple to fall. What's not to love??

Well, this song, possibly. Although I'm not sure I'm entirely qualified to judge, because this is totally not my style of song. Ie, whatever any song of this type was like, I probably wouldn't be a fan. I suppose that if you like this kind of thing, this song is rather sweet. It does have a nice melody. I like that the song isn't just about the usual boy meets girl kind of thing ... it has a message, the writer is actually trying to say something. So points for that. The singer has an unusual voice, I kind of like that too. Belgium did surprisingly well with a song in this vein last year - they came sixth - so Finland may turn out to be something of a dark horse this year, low key as this song is. I would be less surprised this year. :-)

This is Paradise Oskar - yeah, I know ... - performing Da Da Dum by Axel Ehnström, who will be competing for Finland on Tuesday, May 10th. Good luck, Finland!!



Widescreen here.

Lyrics here.

FINLAND 2010: Kuunkuiskaajat - Työlki ellää

Do you know what a great musician is? I guess that definition is different for everyone. Ingrid Bjørnov has a great definition of it, though: A great musician is a person who can play the accordion, but who refrains from doing so.

Anyway ...

Initial thoughts: Kudos for singing in Finnish, but I'm sure that by the time they get to Oslo, they will be working with lyrics in English. Growl, etc. But yeah, anyway ...

This entry is really hilarious, because it's basically a Finnish girly version of Fairytale. :-D I mean, seriously. V. funny. A folk music-inspired song, upbeat & catchy, an unusual instrument being played ... I thought it was good and might stand a reasonable chance, but then they brought out the violin ... !! :-D Seriously, I don't know what they're thinking. A violin entry won last year, so, alas, that drastically lowers the chances for any violin entry this year. That's just one of the ways the ESC works. :-)

But it's a good song though. Well performed, with good energy and plenty of enthusiasm. Pretty good voices, nice music, a pretty catchy song. Finland may do relatively well this year ... even though they killed their own chances for the big one. But an entry they can be proud of.

Whatever Ingrid may say, I think it'll be great to see an accordion on stage in Telenor Arena. ;-)

This is Kuunkuiskaajat performing Työlki ellää by Timo Kiiskinen, Susan Aho, Johanna Virtanen, Tom Nyman and Jetro Vaini, who will be competing for Finland in Telenor Arena on either May 25th or 27th, and, if they're lucky, on the 29th.



Lyrics with translation here. Be warned, it's pretty darn silly ... :-)

Romania, United Kingdom, Finland, Spain

Romania:
This song is so annoying ... but even if it wasn't, it'd still be ruined for me by the fact that the sylvan nymph theme of the presentation has nothing whatsoever to do with the song.
Boo, Romania!! And it's especially disappointing since Romania has sent some really great songs in the past.

United Kingdom:
Now, this is apparently the song we make use of to bring out the cake ... :-D
Another song that is just mystifying ... I can't believe that this is a favorite. That's got to be just something the betting agencies are making up. Aren't they mostly British owned? >:-)
Argh, our commentator is so stupid ... she says she thinks this song is a serious contender, and why? Because the 'musical craftsmanship and quality' of Lloyd Webber's work will stand out. Umm, yeah ... cause we all know that craftsmanship and quality is what the ESC is all about!! Duh.
I think people may be very surprised by how badly this song ends up doing.

Finland:
Meh. I've heard this song umpteen times before and I'm sure pretty much everyone in the audience has too.
Too unvaried a melody, too repetitive.
I don't get why this song is in the final.
No chance.

Spain:
And kind of the same with this. Another favorite. I don't think it has any serious chances, though, because it's not very original. It's a typical example of its genre. But it has great energy. And the singer's great, I like her a lot.
A great slot. But I don't think it'll be anywhere near enough.
A good melody, a good beat, but ... no, I don't think so.
Good way to end the show, though. :-)

FYR Macedonia, Romania, Finland

FYR Macedonia:
Yawn.
They're trying really hard, but there's just nothing to this song that we haven't all seen a hundred times before. And heard.
Boring.
I don't have high hopes for this.

Romania:
Has anyone seen the movie Mean Girls ... ? Just asking, since the term 'army of skanks' came floating into my mind now ...
What they're doing with the stage is pretty. But the presentation is totally fucked up. It has nothing to do with the song.
OMG, folk dance Riverdance ripoff. Sad.
Overall very unimpressive. I wonder if this girl understands enough English to know what she's actually singing in her sylvan paradise ... ?
I hope we won't see this song again - but Romania has a lot of fans in the ESC, so it's hard to say.

Finland:
Hm. A catchy song, but maybe overly catchy. It kind of gets repetitive after a while. At least IMO - this isn't really my type of music.
Four singers, and not one that can really sing ... o_O
This song may do well, I wouldn't be surprised. If there are a lot of young people watching, it may go down like a house on fire. :-)

FINLAND 2006: Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah

Rock 'n' roll angels, bring that hard rock hallelujah
Demons and angels all in one have arrived
Rock 'n' roll angels, bring that hard rock hallelujah
In God's creation, supernatural high

After writing all that endless trivia about this song on Sunday, I could hardly avoid posting the thing itself now. :-) And I hardly have anything to write in this post since I already said pretty much everything. :-D This is Lordi performing the highest scoring ESC entry ever, the winner in Athens in 2006 with a record-breaking 292 points ... the song was written and composed by the band's lead singer Mr Lordi who competed for Finland with his very entertaining Hard Rock Hallelujah.

The first time I ever heard this song I didn't have high hopes for it ... I saw the official video, which IMO isn't all that. Not very original. You can see it here if you want. To be honest, at that time I didn't think they'd make it through the semi. But when I saw them on stage ... wow. That was a whole other story. This is a very professional band and they give their audiences a hell of a show. As soon as I saw them in the semi on May 18th I had no doubt whatsoever that they'd make it. I think I even voted for them. I know I did in the final. Go monsters!! :-D

Lyrics here.

FINLAND 2009: Waldo’s People – Lose Control

Finland will be represented in Moscow by a group that is actually an actual band, although IMO they don't necessarily sound like one ... Waldo's People, with the dancey pop song Lose Control. The entry was chosen on January 31st (I know, I am soo behind ... but there's still a while to go till May :-) and it will be competing against 18 other songs in the first semifinal on May 12th.

Finland doesn't have a very illustrious ESC history ... in fact they have mostly wandered in the desert and have never seemed to really 'get' the formula. They competed for the first time in 1961, so no one can say they haven't tried. :-) They have a collection of four seventh places, but the last of those was in 1989 ... and from then till a couple of years ago they muddled about at the bottom and sent entry after entry that were variations on the same topic - depressing power ballads all too efficiently depicting the human condition in the Land of a Thousand Lakes ... darkness and cold and rampant alcoholism and all. In 2004 and 2005 they failed entirely to qualify for the final. As 2006 dawned cold and bright the best ESC results the Finns could present to the world was a 6th place in 1973. :-( But in Kyiv the contest had, somehow, really opened up. The variety of music presented was greater than ever before ... and some genres were represented that only a few short years previously no one would have believed they'd ever see on an ESC stage. Examples: The host country submitted a surprisingly political rap song (political statements are not allowed by ESC rules); Moldova, competing for the first time, sent an oddball rock entry, a standout for its huge drum played by one of the band members' grandmother (and they did very well); and Norway, memorably, had chosen glam rock as our genre and ended up in the top ten with a band whose lead singer wore black lipstick and pants so tight that you'll be able to tell what he had for breakfast (Terry Wogan). This latter entry proved a great inspiration for ... well, see for yourselves.

Yes, this is a serious band. Monsters can rock too.

For some reason, Tomi Putaansuu thinks that it's more fun to play music if you're dressed up to look completely hideous ... and look, his friends think so too. Their band Lordi has been going strong since 1996, and they have been getting up to all sorts of mischief, not least selling lots of records. They generally don't give interviews, because monsters can't talk (duh), and do their best to hide their, ahem, civilian identities. When they submitted an entry to the national ESC selections, they did a great and wonderful thing both for their country and for their careers.

Their victory in the national contest was hotly contested by a number of religious groups who decried the band as Satanic (although they failed, predictably, to refute Putaansuu/Mr Lordi's counterargument that a bunch of Satanists would probably be unlikely to release songs with titles such as The Devil is a Loser) and alleged that Finland would be disgraced before the entire civilized world if this entry was allowed on stage in Athens. (Certain Greek busibodies agreed with them.) Believe it or not, but some nutcases actually went so far as to demand that President Tarja Halonen use her presidential veto to stop the band's participation in the international final!! Which of course wasn't done, and would have been a blatant misuse of Ms Halonen's executive powers if it had been. >:-(

Anyway ... when the monsters did take the stage in Athens, Greece was among the countries that gave them its coveted twelve-pointer. (Norway did too, I'm happy to report. :-) Lordi completely crushed the competition, defeating Russia in second place with as much as 44 points, setting records in the process - their entry is to date the highest scoring ESC entry ever. It was also the first to win both the semifinal and the final ... to the extent that anyone can win the semifinal, but you know what I mean. :-) The Finnish song became, and I can only beg your pardon most humbly for the following awful pun, a monster hit practically all over Europe. My friends KAS and trilltrall went to Finland on their vacation the next summer, and they saw Lordi Coke in the stores there ... o_O

But, what am I doing, this entry isn't supposed to be about Lordi!! It's supposed to be about this year's entry! Which you can see below, sorry. :-D I don't like it much ... I thought I did a bit, at first, but it's very repetitive and has few or no surprising elements. It's relatively catchy but IMO gets annoying pretty soon since it's just the same thing over and over and over. I also am not impressed with their performance - it's almost surprising that they're a real professional band (and had some real hits some years ago) because they sound rather amateurish. The presentation also seems to have very little to do with the subject matter of the song. The official video's better ... but that's neither here nor there. I thought at first the Finns might do OK this year, but the more I think about it, and the more I hear the song, the more I doubt that conclusion. Kudos, though, for trying something completely different. :-)

This is Waldo's People performing Lose Control by ... meh, some of the band members and some other people (check the Diggiloo Thrush link at the bottom of the post). Who will be competing for Finland ... on May 12th, at least. >:-)



You can see the official video here, if you want to compare.

Lyrics here.

Finland, Croatia, Poland

Finland:
I like this song ... and serious kudos for singing in Finnish. Finnish is a good language for this type of music. ;-)
I was really surprised when this song made it through from the final, but it is really pretty good.
Their performance is better tonight than it was on Tuesday.

Croatia:
Awww ... !!
This song is just so lovely. Absolutely beautiful. I love it. :-)
That old guy is really just too adorable. The dancer is beautiful and dances very well (I love it that she's barefoot!).
I love this song, I think it's actually my favorite. I'll have to vote for this as well as for Russia. ;-)
12 points for charm ... !!

Poland:
OMG, look at her teeth ... !! I think I need sunglasses. :-o
V. unbecoming dress. Her hips are just too wide for that type of dress.
It's an OK ballad, but IMO it's pretty boring. I don't see the charm in this. Especially coming right after Croatia, I really don't see it.

Finland, Romania, Russia, Greece

Finland:
I like this song, but come on! This is exactly what they did two years ago, just without the masks. I don't think we'll be seeing this on Saturday. I don't think audiences want this now. And the presentation is boring. Raise your hand anyone who has not seen this dozens of times before ... ?
It's great that they're singing in Finnish, I really appreciate that. But I don't think this will get anywhere.

Romania:
A pretty ballad, but what else is new?
They both have good voices, I'll give them that, but ...
I kept waiting for something to happen to make this song special. It's a good song, a strong ballad, but again, I don't see where the hook is that will make this stand out above the rest.
Romania's one of the ESC greats in recent years. They're favorites this year too, but I'm really not sure.
Maybe.

Russia:
Yees ... !! My favorite this year. :-) Go Russia ... !!!
They will get a shitload of votes because Dima Bilan is Dima Bilan.
And he certainly does believe. :-D Psycho intensity, much?
Oh look, he's doing a Sandie Shaw ... !! LOL!
Yes, nothing says 'I have faith' better than a tame Olympic ice skating champion ... :-D
This is another song that's really growing on me. I dig it. I believe!! :-D
No question about it, Russia's in the final.

Greece:
Hey, it's Britney Spears five years ago ... ;-)
Now that is odd - I remember her voice as being better in the video ... ;-)
It's working pretty well anyway. An insanely catchy song will get you far. And here comes the ethnic vibe ... :-D
Personally I don't dig the presentation, but that's me. Many will no doubt like it.
I'm sure that Greece will be part of the show on Saturday too.

A great ending to the show so far. :-)

FINLAND: Teräsbetoni - Missä miehet ratsastaa

This sounds like a ripoff. The basic melody sounds just like some other song that escapes me right now.

Anyway: WTF? Finland, get real! The same song doesn't win twice in a row! When one type of song wins one year, then it will be several years before it has any kind of chance again. I like this song, but hello. Lordi did this two years ago. Been there, done that, so now Europe's looking for something else. There were Lordi clones in the contest last year too - Czech? - and they did so badly, and a totally different song won. This won't do well, I don't think, regardless of what the song is like. It's kind of embarrassing that they're trying this again, literally three years in a row.

I kind of like this song - I think :-) - and I love that they're singing in Finnish. That rocks. But I think the ship has sailed for this one.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqzybde4Yg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1EELK7KLlE