FINLAND

The Finnish Final will be held on March 3rd at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo, hosted by Krista Siegfrids & Mikko Silvennoinen. Back in November, YLE announced they had internally selected Saara Aalto as the performer and there would be a national final to select her song. The winner was chosen by international juries & televoting. At Eurovision, Saara will be singing the song “Monsters”

At first Saara is dressed in a black cloak inside a fabric wrapped cage. Later on as the song develops her real stage outfit is revealed which is a multicoloured top with similarly pattered boots -parts of these glow in the dark. The stage is layered and has lot of steps and platforms that the performers go up and down. The lighting is full of beams and flashing neon strips. She is joined on stage by 2 female backing singers dressed in silver and 3 male dancers dressed as dark angels. There is a lot of moving and a lot of choreography

The song starts off quietly and slightly mysterious. When she starts the bridge, the 3 male dancers appear. They are dressed in a greyish colour and are all wearing similarly coloured wings. They rip off the cage's fabric and Saara exits before being joined on stage by her 2 backing singers. There is then a shorter verse and a full chorus before a short downbeat instrumental. Here the lighting dims and the fluorescent and neon strips on the outfits and set can be seen. The dancers also appear with flags but are soon got rid of. They then do another rendition of the chorus but the backing singers' mics are a little bit too loud and you can barely hear Saara doing her own thing and singing slightly differently to the tune. The ending is a little sudden but this could be made more effective with a better worked out show.

Vocally Saara was pretty much on point for this song which is always a good thing but overall I found the stage show a bit muddled and directionless. The video clip of the UMK songs had been available for a while before the live final and I think many were hoping to have a similar vibe on the stage, but it did not. I think the stage outfit could be simpler and still have the impact. I also think the backing track could be punchier and slightly more dramatic. The biggest thing she needs to do is make the stage show simpler- there is a lot of choreography and it is taking too much away from Saara’s natural charm. On the plus side she has the UK and Ireland voting in her semi so she will get some vote but I have a horrible feeling that this is the “Same Heart” of 2018 – a firm fan favourite that flops. 

ARTIST –  Saara Aalto

SONG – Monsters

MUSIC -  Saara Aalto, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Ki Fitzgerald

LYRICS - Saara Aalto, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Ki Fitzgerald