Humppa – The New Punk?

Again, it is time for European countries (and some non-European ones, too) to choose a representative to Eurovision Song Contest. I saw two of the three shows that introduced Finland’s candidates. The last round, which I saw, was mostly surprisingly good stuff. I also finally heard Hulluna humpasta by Eläkeläiset, a song that now seems to be really popular. The performance was indeed great fun. A song about humppa, sauna and booze is something quite Finnish, definitely original and even controversial.

Eläkeläiset (meaning 'the Retired') have been around for 17 years but during most of that time they have been sort of an indie favourite of young people. Eläkeläiset play humppa music in humorous style and make humppa versions of popular songs. Humppa is considered to be a Finnish dance music form and it is mostly popular among middle-aged and elderly people. I believe humppa originates from somewhere else than Finland but I am really not much of an expert. A description for humppa might be a fast-paced version of polka.

Another strong candidate for ESC has been Kuunkuiskaajat ('Moonwhispers'), a duo formed by of Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen both of whom are also members of Värttinä, a very famous Finnish ethno music group. Aho and Virtanen’s song is quite catchy and resembles last year’s winner Alexander Rybak’s style, although it is more Finno-Ugric than Slavic.

Which one would you choose?

Eläkeläiset: Hulluna humpasta
Kuunkuiskaajat: Työlki ellää

The Winner Is… Norway!

The Eurovision Song Contest is over. Norway, represented by young Alexander Rybak took the first price and highest ESC score ever (387 points) with the song Fairytale. The song is really good, folk-influenced (I'd say it also sounds Slavic), melancholic, melodic, and soundwise dominated by violins and Rybak’s fairly sweet voice. What makes this victory special is that the winning song is actually good from beginning to end – something that is, in my opinion, nowadays not very common in this contest. Rybak is now getting really famous also outside Norway with his song topping download charts. In his home country, Rybak has already made Fairytale a hit with massive sales. The song is written by him, so you gotta give him a couple of extra points for that.

Finland made its way to the finals but Waldo’s People’s placement was 25th – the last. I think the placement was pretty justified. The song definitely wasn’t the best our country could provide but, on the other hand, this wasn’t the first time when Finns have been very wrong about what Europe might like to hear. Finland has so far collected several placements as the last – and only one victory. What did we hopefully learn this year? You don’t win with 90s Eurodance anymore and rapping will definitely not help. How could you make an impression with rhythmic talking instead of introducing a gorgeous melody that will sweetly caress your eardrums with melodic variation? (Something that I’ve been wondering ever since hip hop became very popular.) And, after all, I didn’t want Waldo’s People to represent Finland. My favourite was Vink!

After all, I am happy, and I hope all other Finns are as well, that a neighbouring country won. See and hear Norway’s winning song at YouTube. Rybak probably would have liked to play his violin for real, but in this contest all instrument except for vocals are playback. Also, these days there are hardly any Eurovision contestants without a proper dance choreography!

Rybak's winning song at YouTube