Tangomarkkinat 2012 entrants

The selection process for this year's Tango Royal has started. If you look here and go down approx one page, you will see a list of names:
http://satumaa.yle.fi/tangomarkkinat/2012-03-29/tangomarkkinat-laulukilpailun-nettiaanestykseen-valitut-kilpailijat-julki
The public will be able to hear clips and vote online from 2nd April. At least that is what it says. Whether we will be able to do this from outside Finland remains to be seen. A final selection of the top scorers in the online voting will be made at the Galax in Turku on 17th May, and these will be sent to Seinäjoki.

Familiar names in the lineup are Dmitri Sjöberg (Tango Prince 1997), Suvi Karjula (runner-up 2010), Eija Koriseva (Arja's sister) and Heidi Pakarinen. The most surprising name is Johanna Pakonen, who you will remember was Tango Queen in 2002. Presumably she has ambitions to be the first person to win the competition twice.

Eurovision 2012

The Finnish people have spoken and chosen an entry for Eurovision. No tangos were among the entries, and I must confess that I wasn't particularly keen on any of them. Neither were the producers of the New Music Competition programme, as they showed interviews while the performers were still playing. Here is the winner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y3qTSyDZAg It's in Swedish. Finland ceased to be part of Sweden in 1809. Perhaps the UK entry will be in Latin, Danish, or French.