The Finnish act and song was chosen on February 10th through their successful national final process "Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu". A winner was selected by adding a combination of a national televote score (75%) to an international juries score (25%). Going to Malmö is Windows95Man featuring Henri Piispanen with "No Rules".
Windows95Man is one of the many pseudonyms of Teemu Keisteri who is a dancer, DJ and artist with his own gallery in Kallio, Helsinki. The character of Windows95Man began in 2013. His very 90s outfit consists of a pair of short shorts, baseball cap, mullet, socks&sandals and trademark (quite literally!) Windows95 t-shirt, He performed at Helsinki’s New Year’s celebration in 2022 and has been Käärijä's support act. As well as Windows95Man, a name he usually DJs by, he is also known for the character Ukkeli, whose likeness Keisteri uses on his merchandising, The main singer on the track, Henri Piispanen, is less well known physically by the Finnish public but his voice is much more well known. His main job is as a voice actor, mainly dubbing cartoons and animations into Finnish. His voice can be heard on the Finnish versions of numerous Disney film re-dubs, Lego Ninjago, Pokemon series and films, Paw Patrol and Bluey. He is also the singer-bassist of a Finnish-language rock band called Pasa .
The song starts with Windows95Man inside a giant egg which is covered in ripped jeans but as he comes out of the egg you soon realise he is not wearing his shorts - this then becomes a narrative of the staging. Henri starts behind the egg and is wearing a rather fetching long patchwork denim jacket over his denim shirt and shorts. As the song progresses there is some rather clever camerawork and posing from Windows95Man that cover up his private area (he is however hearing illusion pants so it looks like he's nude) During verse 2, two denim clad dancers join the stage and give the two singers more to interact with. With a minute to go there is a more chilled out chorus where Window95Man's shorts come down from the rafters. Once he has put them on the attached hopes shoot fireworks out of them! The song then ends with a euphoric key change in the final chorus.
The song's title is extremely prominent in the song and, along with the infectious 90s beat, it makes the whole thing very catchy. The lyrics are also rather repetitive and predictable which again is not always a bad thing for a Eurovision song. The juxtaposition between Windows95Man's gruff chanting and Henri's light and high vocal shouldn't work, but does. I have to give Henri some kudos because being able to sing that well with so much going on around him takes a lot of skill. There can be no mistaking that this entry came last with the international juries. Maybe the joke was lost on them or the juries had lost their sense of humour. However the national televote overwhelmingly gave them their support meaning that they were able to overcome any deficit they had had. I feel like this is the kind of act that will be played over again in the 'isn't Eurovision wacky?' compilation shows. Like it or loathe it, it is memorable and there is something of a nostalgic everyman in the main character. People will vote for this which is why qualification to the final is almost guaranteed. This also means its chances in the final will almost definitely be diminished by the juries (just like in the national final!) Lastly, there has been some talk that, due to obvious conflicts, the Windows95Man name and image may well have to change. When, how, what to and if, remains to be seen.
ARTIST - Windows95Man
SONG - No Rules
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Teemu Keisteri, Henri Piispanen, Jussi Roine
No comments:
Post a Comment