Finnish broadcaster YLE has today announced the names of the 12 artists that are going to take part in the national final in 2008. The biggest name on the list is veteran crooner Kari Tapio. 90s eurodance band Movetron make a surprise return and other candidates include metal, drag electro and grunge. A couple of female singer-songwriters in the beginning of their careers, return of a singer from a cult band, a supermodel and just one Idols finalist round up the list that also includes the reigning tango queen of 2007 and a performer of "big band schlager". No megastars or immediate fan favourites can be found within the dozen, but it promises a varied and interesting cross section of Finnish music for the semi-finals, culminating on the final of March 1, hosted by Jaana Pelkonen, host of 2007 ESC with a new male host, who will make his debut on the Eurovision stage.
Cristal Snow
Photo by Viivi Huuska/cristalsnow.fi
Cristal has been performing from a young age. At the age of 20 she moved to New York to study in the theatre program at City College of New York. In New York she added performing in drag as an extension to her acting. In 2003 she had to return to Finland and eventually entered and won the annual Miss Drag Queen competition in 2006. She has released two singles "Cristal Clear" and "Pump It Up" which have been hugely successful in clubs and online. Her musical style is Electro pop.
Crumbland
Photo: © Crumbland 2007
Crumbland has existed as a band for several years. Band members are Jontte Genberg (vocals, guitar), Antti Pylkkänen (bass), Pexi Parviainen (drums) and Teemu Seppälä (guitar, b.vocals) In autumn 2005 Crumbland was signed to a small indie label called Terra Recordings, and their debut album was released in June 2007. The fourpiece make grungy indie rock.
Hanna Marsh
Photo: www.hannamarsh.com
Hanna Marsh is a 27-year old singer-songwriter from Helsinki. She has studied music extensively and in August 2006, Hanna Marsh released her debut album "Chameleon Girl - Sleeping Under The Rising Sun" on EMI Finland, which consists entirely of her own songs. She wants to tell stories with her Tori Amos-esque songs, and she also states Kate Bush as one of her influences.
Jenna Bågeberg
Photo: Miia Saastamoinen/www.auraviihde.fi
Jenna Bågeberg was crowned the Tango Queen 2007 on the hugely popular annual televised Tango Festival in Seinäjoki. A year prior she had already been the tango princess. She was born in Kontiolahti in 1988. Her debut album "Aamukuuteen" is released by Edel Finland in November. Her style could be described as schlager pop.
www.auraviihde.fi/index.php?page=artist&id=42&show=default
Jippu
Photo: www.jippu.com
Jippu is a 21-year old singer from Helsinki. She has already won an Emma for her debut album. She was the first ever signing for the record company Helsinki Music Company. Her musical style is ethereal ballads.
Two of her music videos on the record company website
Kari Tapio
Photo: Polarartistit
Kari is a veteran artist on the Finnish schlager scene. He was born in November 1945 in Suonenjoki. He started performing in the 1960s and joined the Finnish superstar Danny on his legendary tours in the 1970s. His breakthrough came with a few cover hits in the 1970s, beginning with "Laula kanssain" (Sing My Love Song by Jackpot) and "Viisitoista kesää" (Living Next Door To Alice by Smokie). His version of Italian Eurovision winner Toto Cutugno's "L'italiano vero" (Olen suomalainen) has almost become an unofficial national anthem. Kari won the Iskelmä Finlandia Award in 2003 and an Emma-award in 2005. His recent music is influenced by country music. He has previously taken part in the Finnish national final in 1988 with the song "Tää kaipuu". Kari has also recorded a few Finnish Eurovision covers during his career. He records for Edel Records Finland.
Video from Finnish national final 1988 YLE Elävä arkisto
Kristian Meurman
Photo: www.meurman.com
Kristian was born in 1979 in Espoo. He became fourth in the Finnish "Idols" in 2007. He is also a musician and songwriter. He released his debut album "Ensiaskeleet" on SonyBMG in 2007. For audio samples go to SonyBMG Website
fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristian_Meurman
irc-galleria.net/view.php?nick=KristianM
Kristian also has a rock band called Agathon's Legacy www.myspace.com/agathonslegacy
Mikael Konttinen
Photo: www.extraviihde.fi
Mikael is 23 years old and was born in Stockholm, Sweden and lives now in Helsinki. He shot to fame by performing with the military big band in the annual president's Independence Day Ball in 2006, and was promptly signed for Universal Records Finland. His style is traditional Finnish schlager with 60s influence. He will release his first album in the spring.
www.mikaelkonttinen.com/index.htm
www.myspace.com/mikaelkonttinen
Movetron
Movetron was a hugely popular eurodance outfit in the 1990s and have only recently made a comeback. The band consists of lead singer Päivi Lepistö and Jukka Tanttari and Timo Löyvä. Their first smash hit "Romeo ja Julia" from 1995 was followed by a gold selling number one album by the same title and three follow-up albums. They released their comeback single "Ei kenenkään maa" in 2007 receiving respectable airplay.
www.suomidance.com/wiki/index.php?title=Movetron
Romeo and Juliet English version YouTube
Ninja
photo: Okko Oinonen/ www.popyhtio.fi
Ninja Sarasalo is a singer and a supermodel from Helsinki, born in 1983. She has worked for Jean-Paul Gaultier and Garnier and her photos have been published in magazines like ELLE, Vogue and GQ. Sarasalo has also modelled on catwalks in Milan, New York, Paris and Tokyo. She released her first single "Fashion" in 2006 on Warner Music Finland and first album "I Don't Play Guitar" in 2007. Her second single "Hush, hush" was also released in Sweden.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Sarasalo
Teräsbetoni
Teräsbetoni is a heavy metal act and was signed to Warner Music Finland in 2004. The Viking rockers' 2005 debut album "Metallitotuus" was a sales success and was followed by "Vaadimme betonia" in 2006. The band also won an Emma Award in 2005.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ter%C3%A4sbetoni
Vuokko Hovatta
Photo: www.hkt.fi
Vuokko Hovatta was born in Espoo in 1972. She is a singer and actress and became famous as a member of the hugely popular band Ultra Bra. It is anticipated that her entry will be written by another former Ultra Bra member, Kerkko Koskinen who wrote the fan favourite "Shanghain valot" for Annika Eklund in the Finnish national final of 2006. Vuokko has recently starred in the Finnish adaptation of the musical Evita YouTube
Vuokko took part in the Finnish national finals with Ultra Bra in 1998 with "Tyttöjen välisestä ystävyydestä" and again in 2000 with "Kaikki on hetken tässä"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Bra
Music video of Finnish national finals entry of 1998 YouTube
The song titles will be revealed on 11 January 2008, but the songs can't be made public before the February semifinals. There will also be a new visual look for the show.
The semi-finals will start on 8 February, and run for three consecutive Fridays. They will be televised on YLE TV2. Two artists from each semifinal will go through to the final. The remaining six will get a second chance at the beginning of the live final, so all twelve will be seen also on the 1 March. The venue of the final will be announced in December as well as information of how to buy tickets.