Divas, monsters and music!

The time of the year is getting closer... Yeah, yeah, yeah! All the countries in Europe are digging into their national talents to find the perfect, unheard, cheesiest euro-trashpop song to bring home gold in the annual Eurovision Song Contest!

Finland has made its choice and goes to Malmö, Sweden this year equipped with Krista Siegfrids, who is desperate for you to marry her. Check out the video below... Can you spot influence from Katy Perry, 80's Madonna, maybe a dash of Carly Rae Jepsen? I actually quite like it!

Finland has won the Eurovision Song Contest just once since joining in 1961. It happened in 2006 in Athens, when don't-ask-me-where-they-came-from Lordi won the contest with back then records points. Hard Rock Hallelujah rocked Europe and found its way to my iPod, too. I remember that night well when I was in a nightclub and towards the end of the contest, the DJ stopped playing, people stopped dancing, someone turned up the TVs, people gathered around the screens to stare in awe and amazement - is this really happening? It did - and needless to say Hard Rock Hallelujah was played non-stop for the remainder of the night. Never ever had Finland received douze points from so many countries!

Israel has been a bit more successful that Finland in this musical battlefield. They joined the contest in 1973, and have won a total of three times. The most memorable one of the winners is by far Dana International with his her Diva performance in 1998. The 70's were Israel's golden era though when they won twice in a row.

Finland has many years been very confident about succeeding in the contest, but more often than that we've come in last place, sometimes missing qualification and next year's contest even. Those with the money are always in (the UK, Spain, Germany and France) and those with good neighbors are guaranteed with success. Yes, certain blocks for voting have been formed - and Finland is highly discriminated in its own block. The other Nordic countries rarely vote for us, even though we quite diligently always remember to grant at least Sweden some points. For example, Greece and Cyprus can rely on each other, Ireland and the UK favor one another and the Warsaw pact (Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Armenia) always pull through for each other.

Despite the contest being called Eurovision, many non-European countries participate. Israel is a good example of this. I have not noticed Israel belonging to any voting block, so, maybe Israel and Finland should establish one? The Edge Countries Axis? :-)