YLE have uploaded all 15 songs that will compete in January to represent Finland at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. There’s nothing amazing in there unfortunately, there’s not even anything very good. But there are a handful of alright ones we suppose. And it’s worth a listen anyway.
Below are our thoughts, plus links to listen to each heat.
Heat 1 – Listen here
Automatic Eye – ‘I’m Not The One Who’s Sorry’ Modern pop rock with a nice melody throughout, but largely forgettable.
Marko Maunuksela – ‘Synkän Maan Tango’ Strange take on the tango sound.
Johanna Iivanainen – ‘Luojani Mun’ Really pretty, old fashioned ballad.
Jonna – ‘Puppets’ Retro, Motown pastiche pop. Not very good. And with awful lyrics.
Cardiant – ‘Rapture In Time’ Despite the fact that this is quite ‘hard’ metal rock, we actually like it! Gothic strings and choirs aplenty. And a key change. Plus a fabulous outro!
Heat 2 – Listen here
Soma Manuchar – ‘Strong’ Odd pop song that becomes quite catchy by the final chorus.
Paradise Oskar – ‘Da Da Dam’ Absolutely horrific. Unbearable.
Jimi Constantine – ‘Party To Party’ Pumping loud electro/pop/rock. This is probably the best produced of all of the 15 songs. And it’s got a good key change. Plus, he’s hot! (pictured above)
Milana Misic – ‘Sydämeni Kaksi Maata’ Bizarre old fashioned mixture of Finnish, Balkan, and Greek music. It’s SO strange! And bad.
Father McKenzie – ‘Good Enough’ Quite charming indie-pop number. We like this, surprisingly.
Heat 3 – Listen here
Eveliina Määttä – ‘Dancing In The Dark’ A quite dull take on modern girl-pop that’s lifted from mediocrity ever so slightly by a rather fabulous key change.
Sami Hintsanen – ‘Täältä Maailmaan’ Nice in a Eurovision Song Contest 1994 kind of way. And that’s not a bad thing by the way.
Tommi Soidinmäki – ‘Seis!’ Bizarre but quite enjoyable (perhaps for the wrong reasons) cross between MOR and dance. Like if Josh Groban had recorded a rave anthem! But not as good.
Saara Aalto – ‘Blessed With Love’ Sounds like something from a musical. But lacking any kind of melody.
Stala & So. – ‘Pamela’ Ridiculous, WigWam style, eighties rock! And we find ourselves really liking it. One of our favourites without a doubt.
What the HELL is happening here?! Out of all 15 songs, the 4 rock and guitar based ones are our favourites?! Cardiant, Jimi Constantine, Father McKenzie, and Stala & So for the win please. It’s one of them that we’d like to see at Eurovision next year. Bizarrely!
