| Eurovision Song Contest News - 2009 Moscow, Russia 

Erkki Kuronen

I'm a Finn living in Sweden, and I've been totally devoted to the Eurovision Song Contest since the age of seven. The first one I watched was the "Where's Harrogate?"-edition back in 1982. And München 1983 definitely got me hooked. And there I'm still...

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MY FAVOURITES - BELGRADE 2008:

Although I eventually didn't rank "Believe" in my Top 5, I was quite pleased anyway. I do like the song and I also like Dima Bilan (but his entry in 2006 was actually better than this one). So - Russia, here we come!

Top 5 (in no particular order):
Sweden - Charlotte Perrelli - "Hero"
France - Sebastién Tellier - "Divine"
Armenia - Sirusho - "Qele Qele"
Azerbajan - Elnur & Samir - "Day After Day"
Iceland - Eurobandið - "This is My Life"

6-10 (in no particular order):
Ukraine - Ani Lorak - "Shady Lady"
Bosnia & Herzegovina - Laka - "Pokušaj"
Russia - Dima Bilan - "Believe"
Czech Republic - Tereza Kerndlová - "Have Some Fun"
Belgium - Ishtar - "O julissi na jalini"

11-15 (in no particular order):
San Marino - Miodio - "Complice"
Greece - Kalomoira - "Secret Combination"
Finland - Teräsbetoni - "Missä miehet ratsastaa"
Turkey - Mor ve Otesi - "Deli"
Belarus - Ruslan Alekhno - "Hasta La Vista"


HELSINKI 2007

My favourites from the Semi:
Georgia - Sopho Khalvashi - "Visionary Dream"
Cyprus - Evridiki - "Comme Ci, Comme Ça"
Moldova - Natalia Barbu - "Fight"
Iceland - Eiríkur Hauksson - "Valentine Lost"
Serbia - Marija Šerifović - "Molitva"
Bulgaria - Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov - "Water"
Rep. of Macedonia - Karolina - "Mojot svet"

My favourites in the Final:
Sweden - The Ark - "The Worrying Kind"
Finland - Hanna Pakarinen - "Leave Me Alone"
France - Les Fatals Picards - "L'amour à la Française"
Russia - Serebro - "Song #1"
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Maria - "Rijeka bez imena"

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My favourites in 2006 (in no particular order):

Norway - Christine Guldbrandsen - "Alvedansen"
Romania - Mihai Traistariu - "Tornero"
Finland - Lordi - "Hard Rock Hallelujah"
Belgium - Kate Ryan - "Je t'adore"
Sweden - Carola - "Invincible"
Slovenia - Anžej Dežan - "Mr Nobody"
United Kingdom - Daz Sampson - "Teenage Life"
Spain - Las Ketchup - "Bloody Mary"
Russia - Dima Bilan - "Never Let You Go"
Turkey - Sibel Tüzün - "Superstar"
Iceland - Silvia Night - "Congratulations"

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It's impossible for me to try to pick ONE ultimate top favourite song of all time! I can't even make a top ten list! However, here are some songs that I especially like (in no particular order!):

Poland 1996 - Kasia Kowalska - "Chce znac swój grzech"
Romania 2003 - Nicole - "Don't Break My Heart"
Spain 1983 - Remedios Amaya - "Quién maneja mi barca"
Ireland 1984 - Linda Martin - "Terminal 3"
Italy 1997 - Jalisse - "Fiume di Parole"
Spain 1982 - Lucía - "El"
Sweden 2004 - Lena PH - "It Hurts / Det gör ont"
Finland 1994 - CatCat - "Bye Bye Baby"
Bosnia & Hercegovina 1999 - Dino & Beatrice - "Putnici"
United Kingdom 1997 - Katrina & The Waves - "Love Shine A Light"
Iceland 1997 - Páll Oskar - "Minn hinnsti dans"
Finland 1983 - Ami Aspelund - "Fantasiaa"
Luxembourg 1984 - Sophie Carle - "100\\\\% d'Amour"
Cyprus 1999 - Marlayne - "Thane erotas"
Russia 1994 - Youddiph - "Eternal Wanderer"
Poland 1994 - Edyta Gorniak - "To nié ja!"
Ireland 1996 - Eimear Quinn - "The Voice"
Spain 1995 - Anabel Conde - "Vuelve Conmigo"
United Kingdom 1998 - Imaani - "Where Are You?"
France 1990 - Joelle Ursuill - "White & Black Blues"
France 1992 - Kali - "Monté la riviè"
Estonia 1996 - Ivo Linna and Maarja-Liis Ilus - "Kaelakee Hääl"
United Kingdom 1996 - Gina G - "Ooh... Aah... Just A Little Bit"
Romania 2005 - Luminita Anghel & Sistem - "Let Me Try"
Latvia 2000 - Brainstorm - "My Star"
Iceland 1999 - Selma - "All Out Of Luck"
Norway 1993 - Silje Vige - "Alle mine tankar"
The Netherlands 1993 - Ruth Jacott - "Vrede"
Italy 1984 - Alice & Battiato - "Treni di Tozeur"
Turkey 1989 - Pan - "Bana Bana"
The Netherlands 1998 - Edsilia - "Hemel en Aarde"
Cuprys 1995 - Alex Panayi - "Sti Fotia"
Greece 1995 - Elina Konstantipoulou - "Ποια προσευχή"
Finland 1985 - Sonja Lumme - "Eläköön elämä"
Slovenia 2001 - Nuša Derenda - "Energy"
Luxembourg 1990 - Celine Carzo - "Quand je te reve"
Russia 2003 - t.A.t.U - "Не верь, не бойся, не проси"
Estonia 2000 - Ines - "Seventeen"
Spain 2003 - Beth - "Dime"
Slovakia 1998 - Katarina Hasprová - "Modlitba"
Belarus 2004 - Alexandra and Konstantin - "My Galileo"
Slovenia 2005 - Omar Naber - "Stop"
United Kingdom 1994 - Frances Ruffelle - "Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)"

Hahaha... this is just impossible. Obviously I could go on and on for a while. And apart from these, which are from the years that I have experienced "myself", of course I also have a bunch of songs that I like from the earlier years that I have discovered afterwards. Both classics and some forgotten songs. For example:

Finland 1979 - Katri Helena - "Katson sineen taivaan" (Finally, I realised that THIS is my favourite Finnish entry ever! Such a great and touching song with a dramatic and melancholic atmosphere, that I just LOVE!)
Sweden 1963 - Monica Zetterlund - "En gång i Stockholm"
Luxembourg 1967 - Vicky - "L'amour est bleu"
Sweden 1974 - ABBA - "Waterloo" - obviously
Portugal 1981 - Carlos Paião - "Playback"
Finland 1972 - Päivi Paunu ja Kim Floor - "Muistathan"
The Netherlands 1980 - Maggie McNeal - "Amsterdam"
Finland 1974 - Carita - "Keep Me Warm"
United Kingdom 1972 - The New Seekers - "Beg, Steal or Borrow"
United Kingdom 1967 - Sandie Shaw - "Puppet On A String"
Germany 1977 - Silver Convention - "Telegram"
Finland 1977 - Monica Aspelund - "Lapponia"
Belgium 1977 - Dream Express - "A million in one, two, three"
Germany 1978 - Iren Sheer - "Feuer"
Austria 1971 - Marianne Mendt - "Musik"
Monaco 1967 - Minouche Barelli - "Boum-Badaboum"
Spain 1966 - Raphael - "Yo Soy Aquel"
Ireland 1969 - Muriel Day - "Wages Of Love"
United Kingdom 1965 - Kathy Kirby - I Belong

And so on. The 1977 edition is one of those oldies that I have managed to get on VHS (very bad quality, unfortunately...) and I aim to collect even more of the earlier contests. Any clues or hints, anybody? Mail me in that case: aatox@erkki.se

Best show/production so far was the one from Stockholm in 2000! It really set the standard for the years that have followed since. Great modern graphics and intro (the soundtrack to that was SO GOOD and exciting, composed by Martin Landgren/Nåid), a nice, simple but very appropriate stage, a wonderful and warm interval act, nice atmosphere... That was a really good one, SVT! Also 1996 from Oslo (NRK - That weird but cool voting in cyberspace...), 1995 and 1997 from Dublin (RTÉ, Eurovision veterans...), 1998 from Birmingham (BBC is probably the best broadcaster in the world) and 2003 from Riga (LTV, assisted by SVT) were wonderfully produced.

Questions? aatox@erkki.se