Tähdet tähdet (S08E02)

 Forgot to watch the episode from tv last Sunday, so I'm watching it online rn. And hopefully remember to watch third episode later today.

This time the theme was suomirock, or Finnish rock. They were pondering in the beginning of the episode what does that term actually encompass. Is it enough that a band is Finnish and does rock, does it matter if the lyrics are in Finnish, or do only songs with a certain style of rock music count as suomirock.
I think that more than it's own separate subgenre, it's a certain style of rock music, and a band can present that to varying degrees. Technically, any rock music made by Finnish musicians is suomirock. But I wouldn't necessarily describe them as such if their lyrics are in English and by their musical style they sound foreign. If the lyrics are in Finnish, that's a step towards being more "suomirock". And then there's the musical elements that make them sound more or less suomirock (literally). It's hard to describe the style, but one thing I've noticed is that in Finland, music genres overlap a lot. A band/artist might be pop, rock, metal, rap, iskelmä, whatever, but because the country is so small, all of them hear and listen to all of the genres and get influences from all over. And this gives all Finnish music a certain sound that has influences from all over. Sometimes it can be hard to describe what genre someone belongs in, especially to foreigners, because the influences are so varied.

Tidjân Ba performed Tehosekoitin's Valonkantaja. A pretty good song choice, even though I like Maailma on sun and Hetken tie on kevyt more. It's interesting how Tidjàn has an accent, I don't know if he's lived abroad since Kwan broke up? His performance was ok, it's clear he likes the song.

Riku Nieminen performed J. Karjalainen's Mä käännyn hiljaa pois. I haven't heard it before. He said Kajaani is a small place, lol :'D It's not that small, it's an actual town! The most I've heard J. Karjalainen was on the Nyt kolisee album, which is a hiphop mixtape of a J. Karjalainen album. I listened to it sometime early last year and translated all the lyrics to my other blog. Riku has a very nice voice, very pleasant to listen to. And he got that same calmness into his presence that J. Karjalainen has, like one of the judges said.

Noora Karma performed Dingo's Nahkatakkinen tyttö. One of the most suomirock songs I can think of. I'm not sure if I like her voice for this song, though. It's too airy, lacks a punch. With a different song choice she could have utilized her sounds better. She has great stage presence! Makes up for the voice, she's believable!

Malla Malmivaara performed Risto's Rakkauden rock. I remember this being a short lived hit song back in the day and apparently it's a classic now. And Malla matched the crazy energy of this song, I LOVED THIS! She's still my favorite on this season, she was my favorite in the 1st episode as well. During the earlier performances, I typed the commentary WHILE watching the performance. Malla stole my attention so good that I only started typing when the judges were talking and now I'm typing during the commercials. 10/10, perfection. I felt very energized after seeing this.

Kake Randelin performed Kuumaa's Ylivoimainen. Never heard the band name, but I've heard this song on the radio. I don't like Kake Randelin, but I like that he chose such a new song and made it sound like it was his own rock song. He made a cover. I agree with the judges, it's questionable if the original is rock...

Paleface performed Pelle Miljoona's Juokse villi lapsi. Odd choice, since it's a punk song... His performance was believable, though. I had a punk phase at one point in my teens, I used to listen to Pelle Miljoona among others a lot. One of the judges plays on the original track 42 years ago, which is crazy. And he said Paleface sings the song better than Pelle Miljoona. :D

Teemu Roivainen performed Don Huonot's Hyvää yötä ja huomenta. Great band, not my favorite song by them, though. Boring in comparison to their discography as a whole. Teemu is a tango singer, but he already looks like a rock star and he looked like a real rock star when he was up there.

Sara Chafak performed Stella's Piste. Good choice, I think it will suite her voice well. Not sure if I'd call it rock, though. I liked her performance. It had a sort of 90s / early 2000s vibe to it. Sara was born 1990 and the song came out in 2004, so it makes sense. I haven't noticed before how Y2K that song actually is.

Helena Lindgren performed Maija Vilkkumaa's Ingalsin Laura. Her son recommended it to her and she loved it immediately. I got chills, she meant every single fucking word of that song. I'm speechless.

Jennika Vikman performed Irina's Hiljaisuus. I'm not sure if it's a rock song... Maybe pop rock. She sings it well, but I don't feel anything. It's like a good karaoke performance. Quite boring, my mind kept drifting away. I don't really care for Jennika or her sister Erika, I feel like media tries to push them for the audience for some reason, but everyone is just annoyed to see them everywhere...

Hanna Kinnunen performed Popeda's Lihaa ja perunaa. Haven't heard this song, but I feel like Popeda might suit her well. -- Yup, the Popeda "dude energy" suits her, I was right. I'm not a huge Popeda fan, but this really suits her.