10 Things I DON’T Wanna See In ESC 2023

Fed up with winter.. Longing for summer even if it is cloudy and rainy. Took these last year in Kuopio while I was working in Wine Festival over there... btw going again this year also! 

Visited my hometown last week with a friend and a camera. Caught the light of the evening, sunset and the autumn. These come as they are! No filters or anything else used!

Treasures of Lisbon streets! 

Last fall. Home.

UMK 2023 - review

Gone are the years when Finns were ashamed of their Eurovision selection! 

We saw signs of improvement in the attitude of Finnish artists and music industry towards UMK / Eurovision already in 2020 before the COVID-19 hit us. I would wanna say a game changing factor happened when YleX (radio channel, part of YLE broadcasting company) joined in the production team after ESC 2019. 

Robin’s song Girls like you was elevated by the fun, uplifting and may I say a bit risky staging! (UMK23)

Three years ago Erika Vikman was the moral winner with her Cicciolina even though not winning the actual trophy and ticket to Rotterdam. Her song became a major hit launching her musical career to new hights in Finland. I even dare to say that she did change the competition with her song and performance. 

In 2021 the world saw music shows differently on TV and it was much needed face lift also for UMK. The other songs had no chance against Blind Channel. These were the years when the staging improved overall tremendously even though we had a few misclick (Teflon Brothers 2021, Erika Vikman 2020). 

Lxandra’s Something to lose was one of the most beautiful moments in UMK23! I would have wanted this to reach a much higher climax at one point though..

In 2022-2023 we really saw big Finnish names participating UMK (The Rasmus, Benjamin, Robin Packalen, Kuumaa) and also having some new artists emerging (Bess, Younghearted, Käärijä) and making a name for themselves some even without the UMK trophy. 

In 2023 UMK final gathered 2,1 millions viewers (in 2022 1,9millions), the lyric videos on Youtube were viewed almost 5,5 million times and the songs were listened on Spotify over 14 million times! 

In 2023 we finally have the quality that we need and the people’s interest (abroad and home) that we want! 

Kuumaa’s Ylivoimainen live performance was simple but effective! However, when watching it for the first time it seemed a bit dull and not having enough to keep you interested. (UMK23)

Finns tend to complain about the number of UMK songs and how 6-7 is not enough but if this is the quality they deliver, personally I need no more! I’ve voted 5 UMK songs now in two years in a row and I’m content! This is also a money factor, if we had more songs would the level of quality hold? In music, music videos and in the live statings? I would be doubtful.

I also like the way things are being revealed and when. Mid Jan for artists anouncements is a perfect time just before the ESC national selection kicks off and I love that the songs are being dropped from there without any delay or waiting times. For seven days, there was always something new to look for each day! Late Feb has become a bit a pattern for UMK final but technically this could be later but would it ruin the hype then? 

Keira’s No business on the dancefloor was excellent with catchy coreography and simple stating. However, the fact that she’s a new artist came across a bit. (UM23) 

UMK has received criticism about stagings over the years which we’ve seen improving each year (this year being perfect). Also camera work, angles haven’t been on point (las year Isaac was a bit of a disaster) but last night was a big jump to the right direction! 

What still is left to improve however is the acoustics - every year we complain about the artists vocals sounding shitty when in reality they sound good at the actual venue. The venues have been changing over the years (Tampere’s Mediapolis, Turku’s Logomo etc). Even last night the sounds of the audience singing, clapping were overwhelming the artists vocals which I think damaged the reactions of the people watching the live at home. 

Benjamin’s Hoida Mut was well executed and performed except vocally... However credits for performing ALONE! 

So overall UMK was smash hit with high quality performance and not just the competing ones and with a winner (Käärijä - Cha cha cha) that is definitely taking a risk. The hype has already spread outside of Finland and Cha cha cha is predicted to become a televote winner (juries, you never know). Time will tell us in a few months.. 

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 harbour 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 the first part. 

Oriente train station and Vasco de Gama Brige in Lisbon. 

Bologna part II 

UMK25 Song Review: Sekaisin

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) is back and stronger than ever! We have seven new artists ready to compete for the trophy and the ticket to Basel in May! The third song keeps the quality strike even!

Costee - Sekaisin

Costee is man of 100 million streams and three studio albums under his belt. So a very familiar name in the Finnish music scene!

He started learning music at the age of 8 and he started his career in a band called Sima. His own record deal he signed in 2017 and it's been one hit after another since that. Now days he runs his own record company.

He is known to be an emotional man who is not afraid to be open. He tends to be into darker sounds and vision but lately there has been a more hopeful tune in his music. His UMK entry Sekaisin also fits into this description.

Sekaisin holds a strong contrast to the previous UMK25 entry Nelli's Hitaammin Hautaan. This one is dark with a good elektrobeat. The start is promising, building strongly.

1st chorus works but after that it goes downhill. It doesn't deliver the beginning's promises which is a damn shame.

A lot of people compare this to Benjamin from 2023 with his Hoida Mut but this doesn't reach the same hights and catch you in the same intensity.

Personally I'm not crazy about his voice and I think he pronounces lazily. But there is love for this one as it still holds top20 spot in Spotify Finnish charts so even if he's not winning the trophy he will be fine after UMK.

What do you think of the third UMK25 track and what are the chances of Costee to advance to ESC? Talk to me in the comments below!

Welcome to this long winter

Salut á tous! And "Cheers to a 2014 and another chance for us to get it right". 

(Celebrations at the Vieux Port of MTL, which I planned to go too..)

My first post in 2014 happens also to be the longest of my ramblings so far so make some time..

All my grand plans for my first Christmas abroad got all ruined because of the flu that ended up being the longest one of my life! From Christmas Eve untill  January 5th – 13 days!! That’s insane! Didn’t go to a doctor’s for that cause I didn’t wanna pay almost $200 up front even though I’d have got the money back from my insurance company. All the symptoms that you can have with flu - you name it I had it! Not in the same time thou. Fever, sore throat which healing took forever seriously, cough, sneezing, runny nose, even an eye infection which appears mostly on kids or something…  I also lost my voice for three days. Absolutely nothing came out.

Feels like being sick is all I’ve been doing lately.. Good thing I’m unemployed and no need to call in sick. First I had a bladder infection, then these awful muscle spasms at my neck and shoulder area and now this freaking flu… And the thing is that I’m never sick! But I’m gonna be on super-healthy-diet from now on and eat lots of fruits to prevent any future sickness’! #NewYearRevolutions

(Christmas tree decorations at Museum des Beaux Arts) 

And speaking of..had grand plans for New Year’s too but as I was sick… I did have a lovely friend visiting me though whom I wish I could have done more active stuff but.. another time. Movie watching, eating good food and relaxing isn't exactly bad thing to do on holidays either :) 

I know I kind of mentioned about the “cold” temperatures in my last post but I gotta take it back a bit. Seriously there’s a new definition for cold now. Never in my life I’ve experienced (or not that I remember of anyway) that kind of cold that the air literally HURTS you once you’ve stepped outside. And I’m from Finland after all!

(MTL in the winter time, photo from Google) 

Last week as the temperature went down to -27C ( felt like -40C thanks to wind chill) people were actually told to stay inside as much as possible! And in Toronto they actually closed highways! Totally insane! But according to what I’ve heard this isn’t exactly normal winter weather to canadians either. One of the perks of being unemployed again that I was able to stay those few days inside non-stop pretty much. The weather was another reason that changed a lot of the New Year’s plans even though it was kind of warm on December 31st only being -20C or something.

I’ve been asked a lot about if the winter here is any different from what I’m used to back home. There are a couple differences: humidity which is way higher here, the wind is a constant companion in this city – and a damn strong one too! Makes the temperatures feel immediately 10 degrees colder than what they really are.

Don’t know if this typical to Canadian/Québecois winter or not but the temperature changes are truly crazy.. I mean like last Friday it was about -25C and on Saturday it had risen almost to zero! And then a couple days later they dropped back again from +5 to -15C in one night. So those happen a lot more often than in Finland. Also Finland is slightly darker during the winter time. Even though it gets dark here too after 3pm, the sun seems to rise earlier than in back home. 

Finally made it to one of Montreal’s museums btw! Met some couchsurfers at Museum des Beaux Arts where they had this free Christmas Tree exhibition. About twenty trees decorated by local associations and cultural groups in the Montreal area. So creative! I’m definitely gonna use more imagination while decorating my tree next year! Saw some other free exhibitions and was so surprised that they had quite a lot of Finnish design there too!  

(Instead of taking pics of the art itself - they're kind of boring I think - took pics of great names of Finnish Arts and Design) 

For the last weeks I’ve been crazy about job hunting and I’m truly surprised how many Anglophone jobs there are in this city.. and especially in January when people are saving and staying in after the festivities of December. But new ones seem to come in every day. Nothing touristic I’m afraid but customer service and sales stuff mostly. Big call centers and so on. But I don’t mind. Anything that can buy me some time to stick around here longer. I’ve been invited for a few interviews too which is always positive.

(Luminotherapy, monumental animations which were all over in centre-ville and so many different kinds, from old black-and-white movie clips to cartoons like this one/ Pic from Visitez MTL)

I think I’ve mentioned the unwanted pets as being the mice in our flat. The situation was bearable as long as they stayed outside of my room but now I actually have one in my room! Saw it and heard it. The most disgusting little creature ever. I’m afraid that there’s a hole behind my closet cause that’s where I hear it most often. So I’ve been doing a lot of sleeping the lights on. I hope I'll get rid of it soon. 

(Old town/ Pic from Visitez MTL)

I’ve been thinking about a lot of going home too. Seriously, to almost to that point of booking the flights. Or planning the date when to leave. I may have been suffering some sort of winter depression with the being sick all the time or the cold preventing me to do stuff I’d like to do.. But now with being healthier and all these job opportunities, my mind is so much more positive.

Not that going home is a defeat if living here is not working out for me. Don’t wanna waste my time and I gotta admit that for school stuff it would be better to go home. I’d have more time to finish my studies cause now I’m slightly afraid that if I go back at the end of July like planned, I’m gonna have to rush things down to get them finished by the end of the year. But only a crazy person would turn down a job offer (if that will happen at all) and a chance to live in MTL only to return to Finland instead. Yeah. We’ll see. On va voir.