These Are The Hoods Where I Work Every Day! Parques Das Nacoes In Oriente.

"...Buildings with a hundred floors, swinging 'round revolvin' doors Maybe I don't know where they take me but gotta keep movin' on Movin' on, fly away, breakaway.." 

Cherry Tree

"...Yes you’ve watched these trees change 20 times

And yes, they’ll change again next may

But 12 months time, brings a lot of change

where we are right now, it won’t ever be the same..."

Took some shots of winter scenery when in home for Xmas. Finally I can appreciate the peace and quiet 

UMK25 Song Review: Hitaammin Hautaan

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 second song won't leave anyone cold!

Nelli Matula - Hitaammin Hautaan

Nelli Matula has been a recording artist since 2016 and since then released two albums, achieved Emma (Finnish Grammy) nominations and wide popularity in Finland with her gold-and platinium streaming singles. She's a name you should know!

The singer takes part in UMK25 with her deeply personal song Hitaammin Hautaan which is inspired by the health issues she suffered a few years back. The song fits her musical style and what people have grown to expect from her so for her most loyal fans the song is already a hit!

Hitaammin Hautaan is a pure pop track that doesn't play too many games with different genres. Again sounding in the beginning like a ballad it picks up a beat that is very difficult to resist. Chorus is strong and memorable and I do believe we have the next Ylivoimainen (UMK, 23) or Ram Pam Pam (UMK, 22) making here.

Her voice is very clear and fine and goes well with the melody. There's a beautiful harmony here with the visuals, the pink and grey color scene isn't too over the top but still princess enough like and she fits the role like a glove. This is probably the best UMK25 videoclip btw!

Structure like this is pretty close to perfection: builds up is just right and keeps the viewer / listener hooked. There's nothing life changing here but still enough that pleases you until the very end.

These types of songs are very popular in the national selections because now days many shows offer fame and opportunities for tracks to become big hits even without the trophy. However, that's where they'll stay as viewers rarely give their votes to these big radio hits.

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

More! 

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.. 

More yesterday’s walk...

Different genres in ESC2018

Who said that Eurovision is just a pop song contest? 

HUNGARY - AWS - Vislát Nyár (heavy metal) - Semifinal II

Hungary’s heavy metal entry is not the one I’d vote for but I’m glad they’re in this year bringing diversity to the competition. Hoping it will do well so it would encourage similar acts coming to ESC in the future. This is how the event will grow. 

THE NETHERLANDS - WAYLON - Outlaw in ‘em (country) - Semifinal II

The Netherlands’ country entry is not bad at all. The song works and he’s got a nice charisma. It’s not my top favorites but not my lowest of the low either. 

ESTONIA - ELINA NECHAYEVA - La forza (opera) - Semifinal I

The first time I heard/ saw this I was only blown away with the dress and visual performance. I was impressed by her singing of course but was unable to like it without seeing the performance as well. Now I’m warming up to the studio version and just listening to it also. This is one of my top favorites this year and what I wouldn’t do for Estonia winning the whole damn thing! But I’m super worried about the news of financial difficulties and bringing the dress to Lisbon. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed so that we’d get to see this in Lisbon as it was in Estonia! 

SLOVENIA - LEA SIRK - Hvala, ne (rap) - Semifinal II

I don’t usually like rap/hip hop but the energy of Slovenian entry just gets me every time! Fine, this is still quite “poppy” but it does stand out! I feel like it’s underrated and I hope more people would find it. She’s performed well at the pre-parties so expectations are high for her Lisbon performance. I’m really, really hoping that this would make it to Grand Final!

Another entries which I don’t find as traditional pop songs are: 

BELGIUM - SENNEK - A matter of time (art pop)

ISRAEL - NETTA - Toy (so much personality in this one) 

Also POLAND - GROMEE FEAT LUKAS MEIJER - Light me up doesn’t stand for me as a traditional upbeat pop song. It has some nice dance, elektronic sounds in it. 

+ several jazzy, soul-spirited entries from LATVIA, AUSTRIA, BULGARIA (see my previous post  about ESC. 

Lisbon! 

Finland's mesmerising landscape revealed

Finish photographer Mikko Lagerstedt's enchanting photo series highlights some of Finland's most extraordinary landscapes, by concentrating on the horizon and what comes above and below it.