FINLAND– LIVE BLOG of  the National Final from 2000 CET!!!

Finland– Join us today at 20:00 CET for our LIVE rolling blog of the Finnish National Final 2017( Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu) where 10 acts will compete for a place in Kiev and go on to represent their country in Eurovision 2017. The Final is being beamed live from the Espoo Metro Areena, in Espoo. The host of the show will once again be Krista Siegfrids.

You can watch the show live here at 20:00 CET. Just refresh our page here to get the views, comments and points of view from Andrew Main who you will know from previous musings  here at Eurovision Ireland and his sparkling charm and witty repartee should keep you entertained… or bored to hell, who knows!!

You can also see my review of all the songs in tonight’s Final here.

The 10 Acts tonight are :

1. Emma – Circle of Light
2. Alva – Arrows
3. Günther & D’Sanz – Love Yourself
4. Anni Saikku – Reach Out For The Sun
5. Knucklebone Oscar & The Shangri-La Rubies – Caveman
6. Norma John – Blackbird
7. Lauri Yrjölä – Helppo elämä
8. Club La Persé – My Little World
9. Zühlke – Perfect Villian
10. My First Band – Paradise

The results will be decided by a mix of public voting and the votes from international jury panels from Estonia, France, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Soon we will find out who will succeed in taking on the Finnish golden ticket from Sandhja who failed to reach the Grand Final last year.

So sit back and get ready for Andrew to give you his spin on tonight’s offerings from Finland – JUST REFRESH THE PAGE for the up to date comments – at your own risk!

ROLLING BLOG

Welcome to tonights show from Finland. Kirsta gives us a song to begin.

Krista now introduces the show in a large pink dress. Then we are off to the Green Room to see some of tonights artists up close and personal.

We now get the run through of the songs along with voting lines.

Song 1 – Emma – Circle of Light

So the big favourite is on first tonight. Emma starts the song sitting on the stage within a fire circle. This is a very folk/ethnic sounding song then jumps out at you with big ethno beats and drums. This has been seen at Eurovision before with varying degrees of success. This is vocally fine and as long as the voters remember it at the end could well be the one for Kyiv.

Song 2 – Alva – Arrows

A modern pop ballad on next from Alva. The starting vocals are a tad off key and don’t get much better. It is a shame as this is pretty decent song and would have plenty going for it in Eurovision. But vocals are killing it.

Song 3 – Günther & D’Sanz – Love Yourself

We have a heavy trance like dance track from these guys. The talking vocals are fine, The singing vocals are not too bad and this has a heavy infectious beat to it and could go down well in the voting. I like the contrast between all out dance track and slower rapping part. Might do better than expected. Oh and it has a symbolic key change.

Song 4 – Anni Saikku – Reach Out For The Sun

A gentle but modern ballad up next. This has a good build to it and a back beat once it gets going. The vocals are really good. Anni seems very confident. She stands inside a geometric shape lit up in neon. This is better than I hoped for. It may have a chance after all.

Song 5 – Knucklebone Oscar & The Shangri-La Rubies – Caveman

This is a bit of guitar oriented rock musical gone badly wrong. Knuclebone is ‘playing a guitar’ at the intro. The girls are bopping away either side of him. The vocals are quite harsh to my ear. This is so bad I would be surprised to come close because the Fins like to do that to us at Eurovision. Reminds me a bit og Guildo Horn when he heads off into the crowd then smashes his guitar at the end.

Song 6 – Norma John – Blackbird

An indie pop duo Norma John give us a very haunting ballad whose performance is simple and melancholic. Very dark staging she has a black dress on and he sits at a grand piano beside her. The vocals are indeed with the song both haunting and flawless. This is an excellent and yet simple performance which really enhances its chances of going to Kyiv.

Song 7 – Lauri Yrjölä – Helppo elämä

The only song in Finnish tonight and its a very upbeat song with good beats and great vocals. The language sounds like poetry to me which I love. He is also a good looking lad and is backed by a bunch of equally hunky male dancers. This is just the kind of song I would love to see Finland send to Kyiv but whether it gets the nod ahead of the modern songs we shall see.

Song 8 – Club La Persé – My Little World

And now for something completely different. 4 characters in the band and they are wacky and weird. This song is straight out of the club dance era in the 80’s. Think Pete Burns/Dead or Alive and you get the idea. The first vocalist lies on a turntable while singing. The female singer is in a birdcage. The pig nosed guy is on a blue rocking horse. Loved this as its my era but will the public voters like it?

Song 9  – Zühlke – Perfect Villian

This is a modern midtempo pop song. Zuhlke has a certain edge and confidence and is selling the song well. She starts among fire and has a few dancers with her on stage. The vocals are strong and edgy but not always on point. But overall a strong song which must have a chance of doing quite well.

Song 10 – My First Band – Paradise

 My First Band give us a very uplifting funky pop song. As its on last it may well stick in the minds of the voters. The band are all on lit up pedestals while the lead singer is in a red leather jacket centre stage. This is certainly a good confident performance and may well be the one for Kyiv.

 So there we have it folks all 10 songs have been performed and we are now getting a run through of all the songs again with the voting details. This  will be a combination of public and international jury votes.

If it was down to me the Norma John was the best tonight. Followed closely by Emma and Anni Saikku. But I also loved to a lesser extent Lauri Yrjola and Club Le Perse for their uniqueness.

Interval act time and we have two young looking lads on stage called Marcus and Matinus with a song called Bae. The young girlies love them anyway judging from all the screaming. Seems we are getting all their hits as they move onto a song called Girls.

 We have yet another run through of the songs for the voters. Cannot be too long now before we see some results hopefully. Back to the Green Room we go and a chat with the lead singer from My First Band.

Ok here come the results from the International Juries. France are up first.

France give 12 to Emma and 10 to Norma John.

Iceland give 12 points to Norma John and 10 to Gunther and D’Sanz

Estonia give 12 points to Norma John and 10 to My First Band.

Spain give 12 points to Norma John and 10 to Zuhlke.

Sweden give 12 points to Lauri Yrjola and 10 points to Emma

Latvia give 12 points to Norma John and 10 points to Anni Saikku

UK gives 12 points to Norma John and 10 points to Emma.

Norway gives 12 points to Zuhlke and 10 points to Norma John.

Israel gives 12 points to Anni Saikku and 10 points to Club Le Perse.

Ukraine gives 12 points to My First Band and 10 points to Zuhkle.

The public voting window is still open and we get one more run through. After all the Juries have voted we have a top three of Norma John followed by Zuhlke and then Emma.

After another interval act it is now time for the result.

The winner is NORMA JOHN.

Thanks once again for joining me and lets wish Finland lots of luck in Kyiv with a great song.

Author – Andrew James Main

Source: Eurovision Ireland, YLE