| Eurovision Song Contest News - 2010 Oslo, Norway 

Erkki Kuronen

I'm Finnish-born Swede, 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 M�¼nchen 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 - Eurobandi�° - "This is My Life"

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

11-15 (in no particular order):
San Marino - Miodio - "Complice"
Greece - Kalomoira - "Secret Combination"
Finland - Ter�¤sbetoni - "Miss�¤ 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 ��a"
Moldova - Natalia Barbu - "Fight"
Iceland - Eir�­kur Hauksson - "Valentine Lost"
Serbia - Marija �erifović - "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 �  la Fran�§aise"
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 - An�ej De�an - "Mr Nobody"
United Kingdom - Daz Sampson - "Teenage Life"
Spain - Las Ketchup - "Bloody Mary"
Russia - Dima Bilan - "Never Let You Go"
Turkey - Sibel T�¼z�¼n - "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 sw�³j grzech"
Romania 2003 - Nicole - "Don't Break My Heart"
Spain 1983 - Remedios Amaya - "Qui�©n maneja mi barca"
Ireland 1984 - Linda Martin - "Terminal 3"
Italy 1997 - Jalisse - "Fiume di Parole"
Spain 1982 - Luc�­a - "El"
Sweden 2004 - Lena PH - "It Hurts / Det g�¶r 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 - P�¡ll 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 ni�© 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 - "Mont�© la rivi�¨"
Estonia 1996 - Ivo Linna and Maarja-Liis Ilus - "Kaelakee H�¤�¤l"
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 - "El�¤k�¶�¶n el�¤m�¤"
Slovenia 2001 - Nu�a 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 Hasprov�¡ - "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 g�¥ng i Stockholm"
Luxembourg 1967 - Vicky - "L'amour est bleu"
Sweden 1974 - ABBA - "Waterloo" - obviously
Portugal 1981 - Carlos Pai�£o - "Playback"
Finland 1972 - P�¤ivi 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

Questions? aatox@erkki.se