SHE Uguale A Lei

Vasco de Gama bridge, the longest one in Europe this morning!

ESC2018: The big 6

Time to talk about some Eurovision! I’m bursting to talk all my favorites! And there are so many since I’m in love with almost all the entries this year! Sayonara to the years when the paying countries sent their crappiest songs ever existing because this year many of the fans favorites come indeed from:

FRANCE

One of the earliest entries this year. Even when I was watching through the national selection Madame & Monsieur stood out for me. Was super happy that the French audience saved them and brought them to victory and Mercy has been non-stop play ever since. Some say it’s too political but for me it’s simply touching…the subject, the words, her singing. Just absolutely adore her voice. There’s so much emotion in this performance. I like their sound. It’s organic. The lightness and softness. It’s French but not too much. If you’re into this take a listen their debut album which came out in 2016. Their live performance though wasn’t as good as I had hoped for which I’m eager to see if they’ll do honour for the studio cut. So here’s the official video untill..

The magnificent Madame Monsieur with “Mercy” from France.

GERMANY

I was so sad last year for Germany. There was a happy girl singing last song of the final. And she sang her heart out. I wanted to like her but the song was just bad. I admired her positivity. This is not the case clearly in Lisbon. This is not the best song of the competition but it’s a big leap from previous German entries. It is definitely speaking to me. Like France it has a touching theme which also makes it to stand out from the rest of the ballads. Some say it’s cheesy, generetic but the emotion is raw, fragile and real. I see so much potential in this!

Michael Schulte with “You won’t let me walk alone” from Germany.

ITALY

For me Italy is a treasure chest what comes to the music. They have so much talent what comes to singing, performing, songwriting… And the world doesn’t know about them cause italian artists are quite happy staying in their own country. I was spectical when I hear their victory and did not like it at first listen. But this song has grown so much. Again a bit political theme, similar to France but I don’t care! It’s amazing! Their singing is brilliant and their voices sound so good together. There’s an organic sound which makes it to stand out from the rest pop songs in the contest. The intensity makes my world stop for 3:30 minutes.

Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro with “Non mi avete fatto niente” from Italy.

PORTUGAL

I wasn’t familiar with Portugal’s Festival de Cancao before this year. But since living here what the hell. Also I was interested by the fact that Diogo Picarra was one of the songwriters and performers. He’s the only portuguese artist singing in portuguese I actually like (language learning). His song was not the best of him I think but I was sad to hear the rumors that he had copied his song from something that was released 30 years ago. I do believe in his honesty and was even more saddened to hear him dropping out from the competition. Anyhow the one act that got selected to represent Portugal. I did like her song the best. It’s not the winner song of the competition but I like the mystical sound in it which portuguese language adds to it. Nice beat. Claudia is cute and fragile while Isaura got her back. Looking forward how it’s gonna look like on big stage in Lisbon!

Cláudia Pascoal from Portugal with “O Jardim”.

SPAIN

One of the earliest entries. I loved it from the first time I saw it. The song itself isn’t that special on its own but when you see them performing it together – it’s just magic. It somewhat stands out being one of the rare simple ballads without big arrangements. I’m so happy to be back loving the Spanish entry! 

I guess they’re gonna ditch the pianos but I just prefer this original live version from Spain..

UK

It has all the qualities that a good pop song needs. It has the pretty girl, great voice and charisma. There’s the beat and catchy tune. But no. Still not reaching high enough. I’ve really tried to like this one but no. However very classic pop song, British pop and eurovision pop also. I’m still hoping that this song will do the same as the last year’s UK entry did. They developed the song and the final version Ukraine hit me.

And because there’s a limit of only 5 videos in each post cannot add UK entry here but you can check it out here: 

They say that Olaias is the most beautiful metro station in Lisbon and even one of the most outstanding ones in the world!

UMK 2023 Song review - Robin

The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Liverpool continues with another solid performance!

Robin - Girls Like You

Robin is one of the best known pop artists in Finland who’s been making hits one after another since he was 10 years old (he’s 24 now). Slowly he’s been making steps towards more international music scene and releasing more and more material in English instead of his native Finnish. 

For years the Finnish audience saw him as the dream artist to represent us in the Eurovision Song Contest. He is our Benjamin Ingrosso! Each year we hoped and were disappointed. So this is definitely a moment just having him participating UMK! 

Obviously this entry and artist probably had more expectations than anyone else from the line up of UMK23 and he’s being seen as a direct competitor for Benjamin (Hoida Mut). Stakes were high. He says the song is the best one he’s ever made and what really describes him the best musically. He wants the whole world to listen to it so participating to UMK (and perhaps ESC) makes perfectly sense. 

The song was made partly in L.A and you can hear the sunny, positive, easy breezy vibe here. This is easy listen pop funk, well produced, BTS, Maroon 5 -kind of sounding music. It’s slick and smooth, reminds me something that Melfest (Sweden) would probably have in their song selection. There’s a comfort, familiarity here which fits to Robin’s comment how this is so him at the moment. 

However, there’s a danger of all of that being too generetic too mainstream and forgettable and to me unfortunately that’s the case. The song fails to reach the hights as the other UMK23 entries, the chorus is non-existing - I listened the song 3-4 times and I missed it every time. At best this is a filler song for me and being taken from the selection with this high quality, based on the studio cut, this wouldn’t be my choice for Liverpool. And I am disappointed because the guy has better songs, or at least more memorable ones. 

Anyhow, Robin is skilled and experienced, charismatic as hell live performer. A well executed live performance might add that extra value to the song that it desperately needs. Also I cannot ignore his popularity and big fanbase in Finland who might vote him to advance to ESC (like The Rasmus last year). 

What do you think of the third UMK23 track and would you vote for Robin’s Girls Like You to go all the way to Liverpool? UMK final takes place on February 25th!

Random shots, many faces of Lisbon. 

100 years of Finland

Even though I left my country in hope to make a home for myself in somewhere else I am still inspired and fascinated by Finland’s character, history and beauty. Finland has been discussed widely this year because of our 100th anniversary of independence. Lonely Planet recently ranked Finland as the third best travel destination and the country gets credits for safety and education among others.

Below I’ve listed some destinations which I haven’t yet seen but would love to someday. Leaving out most of the capital Helsinki, charismatic and growing Tampere and snowy landscapes of Lapland (you’ll find your way there anyway), doesn’t mean I wouldn’t appreciate them but I just wanted to add here some less known attractions. They don’t come in any particular order.

YYTERI BEACH

When you think about the beach destinations or even warm travel destinations, Finland might not pop in your mind. However in the city of Pori, west coast of the country, there lays the longest beach (6km) of Finland and Nordic countries. The dune area stands out with its size in the whole of Europe.

KOLI NATIONAL PARK

There are 40 national parks in Finland situated in different parts of the country. Many of them which I’d like to visit. But to choose one I reperesent the one in North Carelia, near the city of Joensuu. Koli has a heavy cultural heritage background and despite of its beautiful landscapes its purpose is to protect the traditional agricultural heritage. This area in particular has been inspiration to famous Finnish artists such as Jean Sibelius and Eero Järnefelt.

OLD RAUMA

One of the Finnish Unesco World Heritage Sites (7 in total) Old Rauma is located in west coast of Finland. The wooden city center represents a typical nordic city with its buildings going back for 200 years. For the same atmosphere or a city scene, there’s also Old Porvoo which is somewhat smaller but still a worth a visit and probably easier to reach within one hour drive away from Helsinki.

ÅLAND

Åland islands are almost 7000 islands conisting archipelago at the Gulf of Bothnia. It’s an autonomous and the only monolingually Swedish-speaking region in the country. It has only one town, Mariehamn. This is a popular destination for cycling and boating but having been situated between Finland and Sweden it has also interesting historical sights regarding the two nations. We did a school trip here when I was twelwe years old but clearly I was too young to appreciate the oppurtunity.

OLAVINLINNA

Olaf’s Castle, built on an island, is one the several castles from Middle Ages in Finland. It’s located in the city of Savonlinna in the eastern part of the country. Today it’s the northernmost medieval stone standing being founded in the 15th century. The site is famous for hosting annually Opera Festival since 1912. The location is handy because you can add to your trip a visit in the lake Saimaa (the biggest lake in the country) and in the national parks near by. Similar destinations would be the Castle of Turku and Häme.

 PETÄJÄVESI CHURCH

Also one of the Finnish Unesco World Heritage Sites, is the old wooden church situated in Petäjävesi in the central part of the country. It’s a masterpiece of what comes to buildings made out of wood being built in the 18th century. It was forgotten for decades since the new church being built in the area but today the church is a popular site among tourists and weddings. Represents typical eastern Scandinavian but it has details containing gothic style also. We visited once here with my folks when I was a kid but the church was closed so couldn’t get inside. So still on my bucket list!

TURKU

Turku, the oldest city of Finland, founded on the 13th century on the southwest coast of the country. Once a capital during the Swedish era is a still significant center of growth in Finland. Praised as the official Christmas city and summer city with a great atmosphere and ferry connections to Stockholm and Åland islands. The former European Capital of Culture (2011) is a venue for several events for all sizes and tastes. Famous for its riverside, mediaval sites the church and the castle, also the achipelago is worth of a visit! Despite of all these merits I just haven’t got in to the Turku mode and haven’t seen its uniqueness besides the medieval attractions so Turku is definitely on my bucket list!

ISLANDS OF HELSINKI

Many tourists only see the most famous attractions such as the city center and Suomenlinna but the city has these great island destinations which I just adore! Some of them being opened pretty recently and offer get aways from the busy city life with their beaches, restaurants, charming cafes, sport facilities, nature and sea landscapes.

I find her amazing... #giannamood 

How should voting system be changed in Eurovision?

So..... Community is buzzing about the results of the Grand Final and especially the voting system. I find it unlikely EBU wouldn’t change the system in somehow considering how huge is the people’s reaction and they did drop the juries from semifinals last year so... Anyhow here are some options. 

1. JURIES ARE DROPPED FROM EUROVISION ENTIRELY 

France 2023. 

I don’t think this will happen. First of all, there are too many delegations and countries that benefit from the jurers. Second, it wouldn’t change the problem. Last year folks were crying why Juries didn’t stop Ukraine winning with sympathy televotes. People don’t always know the best and we do make decisions based on politics etc soo.. Every year we’re not happy with either side of voting system but I do believe we need both sides to continue in the contest. 

2. JURIES PERCENTAGE WILL BE DROPPED 

Currently jurers hold 50% of the votes in the final (semifinals it’s only televote). In some national finals their percentage is less and people votes have more impact. If this scenario did happen, would it be 30%? 40%? 45%? 

Ukraine 2023. 

3. JURERS WILL BE INCREASED TO ADD DIVERSITY OF THE VOTES 

Currently there are 5 jurers / country. Would adding more people bring diversity of giving the points? Because they often are surprisingly aligned on their big favourites. They should be musical professionals or media professionals experticed in music industry and they’re not allowed to talk about the acts to each other or have any connection to the delegations, artists etc. 

4. BRINGING IN 3RD VOTES (TELESCOPIC)

Georgia 2023. 

Sanremo and Benidorm Fest use Telescopic votes. I think they have 15-25% impact to the final points. This might help to smoothe the biggest differences between audience and the jurers or make the final decision in some cases perhaps. 

5. KEEPING JURERS BUT MAKING JURY SHOW PERFORMANCES PUBLIC 

Currently only the audience that bought the tickets to Jury shows and press sees the actual Jury show. Would it be better to add visibility here by publishing the performances later on Youtube? 

Armenia 2023. 

6. KEEPING JURERS AND CHANGING CRITERIA 

So the current criteria being: 

Vocal capacity of the artist(s)

Performance on stage

Composition and originality of the song

Overall impression of the act

Every year the entries outside of pop genre seem to be receiving less Jury love. Jurers should represent different genres and parts of the industry though to appreciate rock, rap entries for example. I wonder is the singing overly hyped in the criteria and should there be different guidelines for it because you can’t judge pop song singing and rock song singing in the same way. 

7. KEEPING JURERS BUT MAKING THEM VOTE ALL THE ACTS 

Croatia 2023. 

Again to make the jury votes more even and less in favour for the big favourites only, would it help if they’d judge ALL the entries? Having limitations on how many 12 points etc you can give of course. This would also solve the zero points dilemma. 

8. KEEPING JURIES BUT CHANGING TELEVOTING TO VOTE 3 ACTS WITH THE SAME PRICE 

In Junior Eurovision public must choose 3 different acts I believe. Not sure how this would work but it would help diving the points instead of people voting for their one and only favourite. In years like these when we have such a strong televote favourites like Finland and Sweden, they tend to suck all the votes and there isn’t much left to anyone else. We saw the televote scores being quite small even for songs that were loved (Austria, Moldova, Czechia etc)

Portugal 2023. 

9. KEEPING THE JURIES BUT CHANGING TELEVOTING FOR FREE

They do this in Melodiefestivalen I think. They’ve built up an app just for voting where voting is free. Again people wouldn’t just vote for the number 1 favourite but several acts and this would also perhaps prevent the unpleasent zero points situations. 

What are your thoughts on the voting system in Eurovision and how would you change it? 

I loved my mini break in Bologna! 

A month ago did a day trip to Berlengas Islands, 10-15km off Portuguese Coast and the city of Peniche (90km from Lisboa). Only one of them big enough to have a harbor is habitable. The paradise for sun bathing, scuba diving, seagulls.. There were tourists but it wasn’t covered with them which was super nice. The island has a hostel in the old fort but not so many proper restaurants. A small boat trip about the caves was super interesting. Such a paradise!  Took like 1000 photos in one day, here comes part of them.