UMK 2014: Semifinal - The Results

Here are the videos and the results from the UMK Semifinal:

UMK 2014: Heat 2

Hello! Welcome to the UMK 2nd heat post! Here are my comments about all the performances:

1.MAKEA - Painovoima

This is one of my favorite songs of UMK14 and i really like them! The performance could have been a bit stronger but it was good, i think they are very talented and this song didnt deserve to be eliminated :( #WellDoneMakea

2.Lauri Mikkola - Going Down

Lauri is not only a fantastic singer but he also has something that i have no idea what it is but i like it. Love the song and he did a good performance! #IHeartLauri

3.Clarissa feat. Josh Standing - Top of The World

I love them but i really think this was the weakest performance of the night, i like the song a lot but there is part of me that thinks that the song is too "eurovision" and not in a good way, still as i said before i love them and im sure their next performance is going to be much better than this one. #WorkHarder

4.Mikko Pohjola - Sängyn reunalla

This is really good! Beautiful performance, well done Mikko (BTW he looked HOT) #ComeToMyBed

5.MadCraft - Shining Bright

I knew they were going to rock the stage! I love love love their energy, they are amazing! you can see in their eyes that they love what they do! The performance was good, the vocal performance wasnt great but i hope it will improve next week! Good luck boys! GO MADCRAFT! #TeamMadCraft 

6.Hanna Sky - Hope

She is such a talented and sweet girl! Im very happy for her! I think she was very nervous in the performance so im sure her vocal performance will be better in the final cause we all know that she is a great singer!. If there is something i could change about the performance i think it would be the dancer or at least his choreography but it was a very good perf overall. Congratulations Hanna! Good luck in the final! #LovelyGirl

Here are the performances and the results:

New Video: Shining Bright - MadCraft

I love their energy! They are a great band and i cant wait to see them rocking the stage on the live shows! #TeamMadCraft

Check out the MadCraft interview here: http://eurovision-addict.blogspot.com/2013/12/madcraft-superpowered-pop-punk-band-on.html

MadCraft: A Superpowered Pop Punk band on UMK14

Its time for a UMK 2014 interview! They are a band from Finland that is ready to rock the UMK stage with their amazing energy and their sing-along catchy song "Shining bright"! Here are the answers of Tom from MADCRAFT:

Name: Tom Nuorivaara
Age: 26
Birthday: January 30th
Zodiac sign: Aquarius
Height: 175cm
Favorite Color: Green
Favourite food: Anything vegetarian that's good
Shoe Size: Around 43
Eye colour: Brown
What do you do in the band: Vocals and guitar. I also do most of the recording, mixing and producing of the songs.
Where are you right now? At home.
3 things that makes you happy: Music - My family and my dog - Video games
What’s your strangest talent? Dunno… Probably hand farts?
Do you have any nicknames? I do! Tompori, Tomporilli, Timo, Timorilli, Tomppis, Storb
Home alone and you are bored. What do you do? Turn on a game console.
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? The fact that there is a lot of stuff lying around.
What are you really good at? Making music.
What are you really bad at? Saying no.
Childhood idol: Toni Wirtanen
Childhood memory: Climbing trees.
Tell me something no one knows about you: I like angry birds.
What would you do if you were invisible? Pull off some great pranks.
Craziest thing you've ever done: Putting all this time and effort into this band without instant gratification.
Favorite movie: Aladdin (the Disney one).
Tell me a super power you wish you had: To be able to shoot and swing webs like Spider-Man.
What's your favorite part of your body? Hmm… My hands maybe? They're important when you're playing the guitar.
Tell me one of your insecurities: I can be kind of awkward in many situations even if I don't show it.
What is your guilty pleasure? Listening to cheesy 90's pop hits.
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: At the moment there are two Simple Plan - The Rest Of Us and A Day To Remember - Right Back At It Again.
Tell me some of your bad habits: I have a soft spot for chocolate.
If you were a product, how would you sell yourself? I'm super nice and useful. There's nothing I can do!
Can you teach me some interesting words in finnish? Sure thing! Finnish is a real easy language to learn! (maybe not?)
Kukka = flower
Kakku = cake
Kakka = poop
Kukko = rooster
Kokki = chef
If you were the journalist what would you ask to MadCraft? and tell me your answer.
What is the secret to your good music?
Hard work and pouring your heart into it.

Hello Tom! How do you feel?
Busy but good! Feeling excited for UMK14.

What can you tell me about the band? when did you start playing together? 
We are a Pop Punk band from Helsinki, Finland. We started the band in 2010. We have played something like 130 gigs in Finland and five other countries (UK, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Russia) in the past few years. We do almost everything related to this band ourselves, including music, music videos, cover art + graphic design, web design, photographs etc.

How would you describe the band?
We are energetic and play music that makes you feel good!

Tell me about the name of the band:
It was a fun word game between Matlock and Lovecraft. Somehow it stuck.

The band is one of finalists of UMK 2014. How did it all begin?
Jesse, our bass player, threw the idea that we should attend to UMK. We thought about it but didn't do anything at first. When there was only 2 weeks left to submit the demo, we decided to record a demo of Shining Bright. It was a song idea we had had for some time but we hadn't recorded it yet. We made the demo quickly and submitted. We we're positively surprised to hear we got into the top 12.

"Shining bright" is the title of your song. What can you tell me about it? What is the song about?
The song is about the insecurities we all have of ourselves. It's about how you might feel strongly about someone but you just don't have the guts to say it. You want to tell someone they're really beautiful even if they don't see it. Everyone is beautiful to someone.

Describe the song with 4 words:
Upbeat, catchy, sing-alongy, drummy

Did you start preparing the performance for the shows? What can we expect to see on stage?
We have. You can expect the same energy you'll find on all of our shows with some extra twist.

Did you watch Eurovision 2013? Any favorite? what do you think about Krista's performance?
I watched some of it. My favourite was Winny Puhh's performance in Eesti Laul 2013. Krista's performance was good too!

Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word:
Clones: Mario 3D World.
Ding dong: Marry me babyyyy
Blink-182: Dumpweed
Eurovision: Copenhagen
Fangirling: Essential
Pizza: Nom nom
Punk: Mohawk
UMK juries: Scary at first but nowadays nice 

What are your plans for 2014?
We plan to win UMK of course! After that releasing new songs and music videos and touring actively.

Is there anything you want to say to close the interview?
Follow us on Social Media and join #teamMadCraft. Let's do this thing!
http://www.facebook.com/MadCraftOfficial
https://twitter.com/worldofmadcraft
http://instagram.com/madcraftofficial
https://plus.google.com/+MadCraftOfficial/posts
http://www.youtube.com/user/MadCraftOfficial

Thanks to Tom for the awesome answers! If you want more from MadCraft go and follow them on social media! Go #teamMadCraft

Here is the demo version of their UMK song "Shining bright":

UMK 2014: The Songs - Part 1

The UMK 2014 has started and on this post we are going know the first 6 acts in the competition, they all performed the demo version of their songs in front of the juries. Here they are:

MadCraft - Shining Bright

This is very nice track, the chorus and the oh oh ohs are very catchy, their energy on stage is great and the vocal performance could've been better but it was ok. I think this act is going to be great when they have to perform to an audience cause thats what they like to do and im sure they will do a great job on the live shows!

Clarissa feat. Josh - Top of The World

To be honest i wasnt a fan of this song when we got the 30secs cause i was expecting a cheap MF reject but now i really like it, i think this song is good, i prefer the verses over the chorus but i think the whole act is strong, they have a nice stage presence and they only need to work on their vocals when they are singing together cause they sound ok on their solo parts. The choreo was a bit weird but a kinda nice weird, cant wait to see what are they going to do in the next performance.

Lauri Mikkola - Going Down

This song is so GOOD! I love it! What a strong performance! There is nothing else to say, he is a great singer and i can see him doing very well in Eurovision. Well done Lauri!

Jasmin Michaela - Kertakäyttösydän

This is so fun, i dont know what is the song about but i love how it sounds, im not sure about her chances on the competition but i like this!

Hanna Sky - Hope

This one is good and i like it but im not a fan of it yet, i cant wait to listen to the final version. Hanna has a lovely stage presence and her vocals were really good!

MAKEA - Painovoima

WOW! I LOVE THIS SONG! I fell in love with it when i heard the 1st second of the song! I just cant stop listening to it! Beautiful melody, great vocal performance on stage and that pop urban music style is very interesting and it sounds amazing. So yeah, this entry is fantastic and their performance was mesmerizing! Good job MAKEA!

UMK 2014: The Finalists

Here are the 12 acts that are going to participate in the UMK 2014:

Mikko Pohjola - Sängyn reunalla

Säv., san. Mikko Pohjola Sov. Jukka Immonen ja Mikko Pohjola

MadCraft - Shining Bright

Säv., sov. Tom Nuorivaara, Juho Rinne, Jesse Mäläskä, Otto Uotila San. Tom Nuorivaara

Clarissa feat. Josh - Top of The World

Säv., sov. Paul Oxley, David Neisser, Christian Rabb, Annette Lundell, Joshua Standing San. Paul Oxley

Lauri Mikkola - Going Down

Säv., san. Lauri Mikkola Sov. Lauri Mikkola, Tuomas Viiliäinen

Jasmin Michaela - Kertakäyttösydän

Säv. Mikko Kierikki, Jasmin Michaela, Jutta Annala San. Johanna Viksten Sov. Mikko Kierikki, Jasmin Michaela, Jonas Olsson, Jani Lagerström

Hukka ja Mama - Selja

Säv., san. Lasse Hukka Sov. Lasse Hukka, Martina Myllylä, Simo Saukkola

Hanna Sky - Hope

Säv., san. Hanna Sky Sov. Hanna Sky, Kalle Marttila, Rolf Pilve

MAKEA - Painovoima

Säv., san. ja sov. Makea

Dennis Fagerström - My Little Honey Bee

Säv. Dennis Fagerström, Michael James Down, Niklas Hast, Andreas Anastasiou, Primoz Poglajen San. Dennis Fagerström, Michael James Down Sov. Niklas Hast

Softengine - Something Better

Säv. Topi Latukka San. Henri Oskár, Topi Latukka Sov. Softengine, Jyrki Tuovinen

Lili Lambert - Let Me Take You There

Säv., sov. Lili Lambert, Joonas Kaikko, Lasse Piirainen San. Lili Lambert

MIAU - God/Drug

Säv. Anu Kaukola San. Anu Kaukola, Henna Juvonen Sov. MIAU, Erno Laitinen

You can listen to a preview demo of all the songs in the official website http://yle.fi/aihe/umk2014

Official Photos: Tom Hakala / Anatom Pictures

Instagram photos: http://instagram.com/uudenmusiikinkilpailu

I've heard all the snippets and i kinda liked 3 or 4 of them but im not so impressed with the rest but yeah they are just snippets so lets hope the full versions are great. Good luck to all the artists!