Category: FINLAND

🇫🇮 Saara Aalto signs up for Dancing On Ice

UNITED KINGDOM – X Factor star Saara Aalto has signed up for Dancing On Ice, The Sun’s Bizarre TV column can reveal.

The singer, who also represented her native Finland at Eurovision, will compete on the ITV show next year.

A source said: “After Jake Quickenden won the show last year bosses were keen to sign up another X Factor star.

“They’re sure Saara’s showmanship and bubbly personality will translate to the rink and are delighted she said yes.”

Saara joins a stellar line-up on the rebooted series’ second instalment, hosted by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

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🇫🇮 Saara Aalto proposes that she and Steps can bring the trophy back to the UK!

UNITED KINGDOM – Today the EBU has confirmed that next year’s competition will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel; after Netta’s Toy stormed to victory in Lisbon back in May. Saara represented Finland with her song Monsters; taken from her debut album Wild Wild Wonderland – which hit No2 in her homeland. She then came over to the UK to tour with Steps; building on the popularity she earned when she competed on our version of The X Factor in 2016, finishing second.

Now, she has just the idea for how the UK can finally triumph after more than two decades of Eurovision Song Contest disappointment.

“I was touring with Steps in June in the UK on their Stadium Tour and it was so great,” she told Express.co.uk. “I know people really want them to do Eurovision for the UK – I’m like, ‘hmm, maybe I should join them!’”

Steps featuring Saara Aalto would certainly be a camp, poptastic extravaganza that Europe would be powerless to resist.

“I love Faye [Tozer] doing Strictly Come Dancing, she’s so lovely, and I really want to work with them. So maybe we should do Eurovision for the UK. I would love that.”

On her experience at the contest this year, she reflected: “I definitely got what I wanted. I loved my performance, I did it with Brian Friedman – who I worked with on X Factor. I loved the whole event. I would love to do it again.”

Next year’s contest final will be on May 18, with semi-finals on May 14 and May 16.

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Finland 2019 🇫🇮 YLE announce UMK date

FINLAND – New Music Competition, aka UMK, will take place soon March 2nd as Finnish national broadcaster announced today. Next week Finland will announce the artist who will represent the country in Eurovision 2019 and the song search will kick off.

Then on March 2nd, there will be a song selection where public and jury will decide the song with which the country will participate in Tel Aviv’s Eurovision edition.

Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 52 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordi’s “Hard Rock Hallelujah”. Previously, its best result was Marion Rung with the song “Tom Tom Tom” in 1973, which placed 6th.

Finland has finished last in the contest ten times, receiving “nul points” in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final seven times. In 2014, the country had its best result in eight years when Softengine finished 11th.

In 2015 Finland finished last in Semi Final One with the shortest ever Eurovision entry “Aina mun pitää” that only lasts 1 minute and 27 seconds by PKN (Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät).

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The entry was selected in the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2018 on 3 March 2018, where all three entries were performed by the singer Saara Aalto who was internally selected by the Finnish broadcaster YLE on 7 November 2017 to perform the nation’s entry at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

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Finland 2019 🇫🇮 Tarja Turunen & Alma speculated for UMK

FINLAND – Anssi Autio, producer of the UMK, spoke to local press for the upcoming announcements for the Finnish representation in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Within thfe first weeks of September it seems that YLE will make the announcements as almost all negotiations come to conclusion. Finnish website (hosting the interview) also speculated two names for UMK 2019.

Alma-Sofia Miettinen, known professionally as Alma, is a Finnish singer and songwriter. Beginning her career in 2013, she placed fifth in the seventh season of the Finnish version of Idol. Her breakthrough came in 2015 when she was featured on the single “Muuta ku mä” by Sini Sabotage, and was subsequently signed to Universal Music Group.

The following year she released the singles “Karma” and “Dye My Hair”, both of which became top ten hits in Finland. Her 2017 single “Chasing Highs” repeated this success, and also reached the top twenty in Germany and the United Kingdom. Her debut mixtape Heavy Rules Mixtape was released in 2018 and reached the top ten in Finland. She has collaborated frequently with English singer Charli XCX and Swedish singer Tove Lo.

Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli, known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish singer-songwriter. She is a lyric soprano and has a vocal range of three octaves.

Turunen studied singing at Sibelius Academy and Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. She is a professional classical lied singer, and the former lead vocalist of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, which she founded with Tuomas Holopainen and Emppu Vuorinen in 1996. Their combination of hard and fast guitar riffs with Turunen’s dramatic, “operatic” lead vocals quickly achieved critical and commercial popularity. Their symphonic metal style, soon dubbed “opera metal”, inspired many other metal bands and performers.

Will the Finn representative will be one of them or a surprise name? Anticipation rises after the disaster ranking of Finn sweetheart Saara Aalto last May in Lisbon

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🇫🇮 Watch Dana International and Saara Aalto performing at the Helsinki Pride 2018

FINLAND – Some 100,000 people flocked to the Senate Square in Helsinki on Saturday for Helsinki Pride, an annual march promoting LGBTQ rights and community spirit. That many people have never before taken part in Helsinki’s version of the march.

Organised by human rights organisation Heseta, the march began at 1 pm and made its way through the city centre to Kaivopuisto park some two kilometres away by the sea. Police say the whole event featured no incidents, although changes to traffic were imposed in certain areas until 4 pm.

“Clearly more marchers this year than before,” Helsinki police tweeted on Saturday. In fact attendance figures nearly tripled from the estimated 35,000 people that police say has remained a fairly steady number in recent years, until now.

SAARA AALTO

The march concluded in the traditional outdoor Party in the Park in Kaivopuisto, which featured many speakers, DJs, performers and sponsors. Numerous politicians across party lines also tweeted and published photos of the march.

This year particularly many sports associations – from horse riding and badminton to judo and boxing – gave their support to Helsinki Pride, which lasts from 25 June to 1 July.

Singer Saara Aalto has participated in many Pride events worldwide, and told Yle she wants to continue working for people’s right to love.

“I’m so grateful to all the people in my life who have given me the opportunity to become who I am,” said Aalto, who showed up in a large truck fitted with a dance stage. “Love is the most important thing!”

The final event of Pride week is Saturday’s party at Hernesaarenranta, headlined by trans pop icon Dana International, pop star Zühlke, indie rock band Fresh Tides, YouTuber and singer Tuure Boelius and Jytää ja Iskelmää DJ.

DANA INTERNATIONAL

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Finland 2018 🇫🇮 everyone to the rescue as Finnish (and LGBT) sweetheart is most likely not going back home with the trophy

FINLAND 🇫🇮 It was first the British commentator who thought that Saara Aalto could win the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. Saara arrived in Lisbon with high hopes to finally get what she deserves. And that is nothing in compare with the runner up position in UMK and X-Fctor UK. She wants the trophy and the polls / betting odds thought she might do it. But after the first rehearsal it was clear that Saara is indeed a good singer, a show woman but she cannot be that strong to bring the trophy back home.

She has been given few interviews to the media focusing on specific sites and big broadcasters. But it seems that she has started to socialise the past few days as she and the Finnish delegation see her odds for the victory soar and iff act big time. Today they had a surprise meeting at the press centre with Mr Lordi, the lead singer of the band who won for Finland in thee 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Monster-styled himself what a better date with the woman who sings “Monsters”.

Dozens of media attended and capture the moment but still it was impossible to organise this thing and have a proper question asked. Although in a few hours we will see again Saara’s effort in the Grand Final and she might actually score well, at the moment she features low in Europrediction 2018 and 14th in the odds for the trophy.

Saara Sofia Aalto is a Finnish singer, songwriter, and voice actress. She placed second in the first season of The Voice of Finland in 2012. Aalto also competed in the Finnish national selection to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, with self-penned songs; first in 2011 with “Blessed with Love” and then in 2016 with “No Fear”, placing second both times. She has taken part in musicals on stage and has done a great number of dubbings for feature films and foreign television series. Saara Aalto is the voice of Princess Anna in the Finnish version of Disney’s animated movie Frozen. She has dueted with Adam Lambert, and had concerts together with Andrea Bocelli, José Carreras and pianist Robert Wells. She has released 5 albums on her own record label Yume Records.

In 2016, Aalto came runner-up in the thirteenth series of The X Factor UK, which gained her international recognition. Every fourth Finn watched The X Factor final. Aalto was the most googled person in Finland in 2016. Tabloid newspaper Iltalehti readers voted Saara Aalto as Finnish person of the year 2016.[10] Following the show, she was signed to both Sony Music UK and Finland. In June 2017, Aalto announced via social media that she will be a judge on season two of X Factor Suomi. Four months later, Aalto announced she had left Sony Music for Warner Music Group, citing that her previous deal did not feel like the “right team”.

On 7 November 2017, it was announced that Aalto would represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. In February 2018, the Finnish broadcaster held a national final to select a song for Aalto. The Finnish public chose the song “Monsters”.

Doesn’t seem that her LGBT exposed love life and her big fat contract with Sony Music will save her.

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Finland 2018 🇫🇮 a spice girl guest star in UMK final!

FINLAND – It’s all gearing up for the Finnish song selection, at the Espoo Arena in Helsinki and Saara Aalto is more than excited. Not only because she considers her three bidding songs as masterpieces (after all she worked very hard for them) but because she had the pleasure to announce the special guest star of the night.

Thee big guest star of the evening is going to be former Spice Girls member. She is one of the five members of the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice and with whom she sold over 85 million records worldwide. Chisholm (as her real name is) began her solo career in late 1998 by singing with Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams on the worldwide hit “When You’re Gone”. Her solo debut album Northern Star was released in 1999, reaching number 1 in Sweden and number 4 on the UK Albums Chart. It was certified internationally with seven platinum and three gold certifications, including triple-Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry, selling over 4 million copies worldwide, and becoming the best selling solo album of any Spice Girls member. It produced four top 5s and a top 20 single, two of which reached the number 1 spot in the UK. The album was certified multi-platinum worldwide.

Saara Aalto though has made an equally big steps on her way to stardom. Aalto auditioned for the thirteenth UK series of The X Factor in 2016, singing a cover of Sia’s “Chandelier”, which earned her three yeses from the attending judges. At the boot camp, she performed “On the Radio” by Donna Summer and was sent through as part of the over-25s category with Sharon Osbourne as her mentor. At the six-chair challenge, she performed “I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran and was sent home by Osbourne who stated a lack of connection. However, after the crowd chanted to bring her back, Aalto was given a chance to perform Serge Lama’s “Je Suis Malade”, which caused the crowd to turn on her, while Nicole Scherzinger criticized her song choice stating “we ain’t in France”. Aalto was therefore asked to leave by Osbourne.

Aalto was brought back as Scherzinger’s wildcard pick for the over-25s category and therefore went to judges’ houses. She managed to proceed until the final. In the Final on 11 December, she performed “It’s Oh So Quiet” and “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength”. In the ensuing public vote, she placed as the runner-up to eventual winner Matt Terry with 40.4% of the votes.

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