Eurovision Chat

Give me a reason to watch the Finnish national selection for the 2008 Eurovision, and I’ll give you twelve of them. Not that all twelve participants in the Finnish concert are outstanding artists, but the combination of musical styles and rhythms is amazing!

So, here it is, the list of Finnish artists, who will fight like Vikings for the ticket to Belgrade.

1. Kari Tapio – Valaise Yö – Mr. Tapio is known for performing the Finnish music, popular in the 70s.
2. Hanna Marsh – Broken Flower – Ms. Marsh is famous for her tender compositions dominated by rock style. Her lyrical ballads are usually in English. Hanna is known for Chameleon Girl and Silence, More of her here
3. Movetron – Cupido – you can say the style is techno disco, what we used to listen to back in the 90s in night clubs. Movetron are best known for their tracks Romeo and Juliet and VoodooMan but don’t be deceived by the similarity to Prodigy’s Voodoo People. They sing now in Finnish now and English.
4. Crumbland – Pleasure – typical American-inspired rock, very melodic and a bit garage-like. I managed to find their In Your Head, which impressed me with nice balance and vocal performance.
5. Mikael Konttinen – Milloin – very much smacks of the 80s, very much for my mum and dad’s generation rather than for young people, but it’s up to the people, who’ll be up all night to watch the show.
6. Jippu – Kanna Minut – ahh, that’s music for special moments! Melancholic, guitar-dominated, very pleasant ambient music, which I’d like to enjoy alone. Eurovision fans might estimate it highly, no doubt.
7. Ninja – Battlefield Of Love
8. Kristian Meurman with the song Jos En Sua Saa participated in the 2007 Finnish Music Idol. His harsh voice seems to be made for singing rock ballads. Very delightful music, and if he stands no chance on Eurovision, he can definitely rely on good looks among teenagers.
9. Jenna – Sinua Varten
10. Vuokko Hovatta – Virginia – What more can we say!
11. Cristal Snow – Can’t save me – worth noting if only for the number of hits on the Internet. They are a duet with modern sound; not too aggressive though; Dance Electro Pop Punk and Rock can easily be ticked off against their name.
12. Teräsbetoni – Missä Miehet Ratsastaa – they are representatives of Finnish heavy metal wave, with a martial air to it. I don’t think that Lordi’s success will ever be repeated, but why not have a go?

The national Final will take place on 1 March, after three rounds of competition. It’ll be shown on TV and streamed on the Internet. You can find previous credits of most of the participants on various websites, but for the time being this-year’s Finnish entries are veiled in mist for the general audience.