"...Buildings With A Hundred Floors, Swinging 'round Revolvin' Doors Maybe I Don't Know Where They Take

UMK 2018

CHOOSING SAARA AALTO in the fall 2017

For Eurovision 2018 Finland did things differently than expected. Instead of having the competition UMK (Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu) of 10 artists and their songs YLE, the local proadcaster chose one artist to represent the country in Lisbon in May. She would produce the songs where the ultimate track to Lisbon would be chosen by audience and jury votes in March 2018. And she was no one else but Saara Aalto, known to Eurovision audience already from UMK 2011 and 2016 (coming second). She also took part in X-Factor UK in 2016 coming second but this time making record deals with Sony Music and Warner. Therefore she has become quite a popular character in UK as in Finland gaining somewhat existing fan base in Europe but especially among Eurovision fans. 

The Eurovision dream of hers has never been a secret. Her attempts during previous years however haven’t been good enough in my opinion. She knows how to sing, perform and write songs but there has always been something missing. X-Factor gave her the much needed push and tools to create Finland’s Eurovision entry 2018. There has been a lot of criticism about choosing her without the public vote but to be honest this kind of buzz that is happening around her won’t wait. Finland has rarely these kind of artists as willing and skillful to perform at ESC so I’m definitely standing behind this. 

I will not review the videos cause in they don’t play much role in the final show of UMK or at Eurovision shows. 

MONSTERS Feb 9th 2018

The song offers a big start for Saara’s Eurovision 2018 journey. I was super afraid that the songs for Lisbon wouldn’t be good enough because earlier when Saara performed in UMK the songs weren’t good! But clearly this isn’t the case here! Monsters is an upbeat track with a catchy sound. Uplifting theme about leaving your demons behind you. Suits Saara and her story in life as in Eurovision. Her voice is soaring. This is such a motivating track and works outside of contest! Some say Sweden is all over this and but I’d say it’s high quality and attention to detail more like. No more that feeling that something is missing like in previous Saara’s attempt. I was impressed by the song when I first heard it but the more I listen to it the more it grows on me. This is gonna be big.

Domino Feb 16th 2018

The ballad. To be honest I was expecting bigger power ballad and this kind falls into the mid tempo range. But it has a nice sound. This can be memorable. Strong chorus and beat. Her voice is slightly over produced I think but still good singing here also. I like especially the bridge here by the way. First impressions were not as good as with Monsters but this song has grown for me and I’m really thinking this might work better when performed live!

Queens Feb 23rd 2018

Another uptempo track but with a theatrical twist. Knew to expect this. Goes with the same theme as Monsters but does not have the same catchy sound as the two previous songs did. It has some memorable notes and lines but it doesn’t reach same level as Monsters so therefore is the weakest link out of these three. Again I have to save some space for the live performance which in Eurovision can change things dramatically.

Nevertheless which of these songs will be selected I feel super positive about this! It will be the best pop we’ve have ever sent to Eurovision. I’m feeling also confident about Saara’s performance. She knows how to pull a ESC performance whether I’ll like it - that’s just the question of taste. 

The final track to Lisbon will be selected by jury and audience votes on March 3rd! 

Xmas at home was so white, quiet and cold but in a good way. 

These are the last photos of my Berlengas trip two months ago. Will be going through new photos :) 

It's not good-bye..

So I left Finland a week ago. (sorry about the delay btw.) And to be honest I thought that the leaving part would all be a routine thing by now since this is my third time I’m leaving for abroad to do more than just a holiday trip. I thought wrong. Yeah everybody cried and I cried – mainly because you lot did! But not for a moment I did regret of going.

I’ve never seen my parents so sad and worried though. And I did feel especially sad about leaving them behind.

In the middle of all the packing and leaving I was extremely grateful for the friends and family I have, who support me with this emotionally and financially.. after all. They may not understand why but they’re still standing by my side when I decide to do these grazy things of mine.

(Iceland)

About the trip itself. I guess everyone’s heard a bit of a bump on the road I had in Boston.

First of all I missed my connection flight to Toronto cause it took me forever to get through the customs (not with the actual authority thing but the standing in the lines thing) and I had only two hours for changing the terminal and the flight. And then I lost my other suitcase which I’m really sad about cause it had all my normal, everyday clothes. You cannot believe how difficult it is to force yourself to shopping!

And my Finnish flag was there! My Laura Pausini t-shirts were there! So much stuff I would have needed now. And also the bag itself! It was so good, ”Eastpak” it was and it was so practical, lighter and everything. And besides the the wheels in my pink luggage stopped working and…I do have to admit that at one point, I did think that I must be a madwoman for doing this Canada project of mine. But oh well, shit happens.. next time I definetely know better!!  This is all part of the fun eh?

(My grey and lost luggage and with that also my carrot body cream, my canadian guides and my last supper at work - french fries and goat cheese with devil's jam) 

Everything else went just fine no problems whatsoever, all the security thingies, dealing with the immigration office in Canada. And financially I didn’t loose a penny with all of this mess, the airline(s) paid the accommodation at the Hilton Hotel in Boston (I only slept there three hours but gotta brag right) and the new flight to Toronto. And everybody in Boston and in Toronto were really helpful and friendly all the time so can’t complain about that.  At least I’m safe and sound in Canada :) 

(The first time I saw Canada!) 

"Why does it feel like it's gonna hurt the same? You gotta live untill you die. Lost in the silence of a long delay. You laugh 'til you cry. Flowers fade. The spaces over our lives. They remind us to forget the pain... We gotta lift our eyes to the dawn through the forest of forgotten tears. Let it all out, let your guard down, let it all fall down and rearrange again..."

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. 

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: 

Getting to know my new home city vol2. 

Random Helsinki.

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 the first part