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FINLAND: ARTISTS WE SHOULD HAVE IN #UMK18 - IF ONLY.... Vol.2: PETE PARKKONEN, ANNA ABREU, ALMA, MIKKO HARJU


It's September and the Eurovision 2018 season is officially on. I will feature in coming days names that could be in UMK18, if only...... I say if only, as most likely we won't see any of them in there for UMK is profilied as a newcomers contest instead of being our own Sanremo or Melodifestivalen. In short: a major contest all the big names want to take part not only to win but to boost their record sales and score hits. But one can dream, right? I have thrown in some not so known names for variety. Let's go.... Vol.2 (Check out Vol.1 here)

Pete Parkkonen made himself known in Idols finishing 3rd. After two albums in English and one in Finnish - and not really going anywhere - he went on to do some television and won both Dancing with stars in 2014 and Tähdet, tähdet in 2016 and a new sex symbol was born. His latest releases have been in Finnish and Kohta sataa (below) video caused quite a stir. No doubt he's also a talented singer. Could this be a winning combination for Eurovision? Check out also Mitä mä teen, Mun, Etenee, Doupein, Mitä minä sanoin and Girl in uniform
Anna Abreu could the right card to play in Lisbon, as she's half Portuguese and has sung in Portuguese, Spanish, English and Finnish. Over the past ten years she's the most succesful female singer from Idols in Finland and has a string of hits that goes on and on: Vinegar, Bandana, Stereo, Right in front of you, End of love, HysteriaContigo corazon, and below her debut album's Solta-se o beijo.
Alma aka Alma-Sofia Miettinen (21) from suburns of Helsinki is the latest Finnish pop sensation having more success abroad than in Finland it seems. Also she made herself first known in Idols even if she didn't get that far. A few years later she's back and beating up everyone else: Karma, Dye my hair, Bonfire, Don't you feel it, All stars and Chasing highs (below) are all enterring charts and radio play lists all over the globe. And she's got personality and looks to match. If she entered UMK18 it would be game over for everyone else though....
Mikko Harju (25) on the other hand is quite possibly a very possible UMK18 name. This electrician was found from Spotify where he released some of his songs and got major labels after him, eventually finishing in Warner. Mä olen tässä, Laulu raikaa and especially Sinä riität with its positive message have been (below) have been well accpeted and played in radios.

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