Let's listen to a second Shuky & Aviva cover in a row. Tuulikki Eloranta (see earlier entry) recorded "Leikin tein" (I made it to a play) in 1978 for her album "Niin lähellä". The lyrics were made by veteran wordsmith Sauvo Puhtila. The original Shuky & Aviva song was titled "L'amour c'est la musique de la vie" (Love is the music of the life), and it was co-written by Shuky Levy. The duo made also an english version called "Love Is Like", but it went nowhere. They also tried to be big in Japan and made a Japanese´version (You can hear it here).
Monica Aspelund recorded "Vain rakkaus sen aikaan saa" (Only love can do it) in 1973. It was released as a single (and single only), but it gained no greater attention. Even if it should have been a hit! Monica wrote the Finnish lyrics herself. The original song "Signorina Concertina" was an euro-hit for Israeli duo Shuky & Aviva (Shuki Levy and Aviva Paz). It was their flagship song and sold more than two million copies across Europe. But the two artists experienced the most success in France. The song was written by hitmakers and our old friends Peter Yellowstone(under pseudonym Peter Papini) and Roberto Danova. You can see Shuky and Aviva perform the song, here.
This is the last day of the this year . It's time to ponder of what's coming in the next year. And this song fits in well. Marion Rung recorded "Ensi vuonna" (Next year) in 1981. It was on the album "Rakkaimmat lauluni" and released as a single, but didn't fare well chartwise. Marion has versioned several songs of Hebrew origin, and this was one of those. The song was written by famous Israeli conductor and composer Nurit Hirsh. Internationally she's perhaps best rememberd by conducting in the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest the Israeli entry A-Ba-Ni-Bi, which won first prize. This "Bashana haba'ah" (Next year) -song was first made popular by Israeli vocal duo Ilanit (finnpicked before, see here) & Ilan. You can see them perform the song, here. In Usa it was a minor hit for Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. You can hear their version, here.
So, what we are doing next year in Finnpicks. Well, we are presenting the remaining (third week) of Chinnichap covers, continuing the "Finnpicks for Kids" and "Finnpicks Goes To Movies" -series, and of course presenting again some Eurovision Song Contest covers in the spring, and last by not least, we're taking a "Finnpicks Tour Across USA" at some point. Of course we'll be delivering the usual bunch of more or less obscure Finnish covers of hit songs from all over the world.
Marion has represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 with "Tipi-tii" and in 1973 with "Tom tom". In 1973 she also recorded an Euro-cover, "Sain muiston", which was the Israeli entry in that year. This was Israel's first time in ESC, and the performer was famous Israeli singing star Ilanit (b. Hanna Drezner-Tzakh). The success was great for a first-timer. Israel placed 4th with this song called "Ey Sham" (Somewhere). The second participation by Ilanit was in London in 1977 with a song entitled "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim".
Markku Suominen (see earlier entry) recorded "Muuta tehdä en voi" (I can't do anything else) in 1969. It was released as a single, but didn't do much chartwise. But it's a good song, and the little extra curiosity in this case is that the lyrics are done by Kari Kuuva, another famous Finnish singer. The original song was a considerable hit for the Israeli duo Esther and Abi Ofarim (see earlier entry). This was the 1968 follow-up single for their smash hit "Cinderella Rockafella". It wasn't nearly as successful, but still worth to remember. You can see the couple singing the song live here.
Tonight is the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Final. We end the Finnpicks ESC week with "Halayla" (Tonight), which was the Israeli entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 in Dublin. It was performed in Hebrew by group called Hakol Over Habibi. The song is a dramatic ballad, with the singer describing what will happen between herself and a lover "tonight". It received 56 points, placing 7th. Finland's Riki Sorsa with "Reggae OK" placed 16th, Hakol Over Habibi had originally been offered the song "Hallelujah" as a potential Eurovision entry in 1978 but turned it down. The song went on to represent Israel in 1979 and won (!) but was performed by Gali Atari & Milk & Honey. The Finnish version of was done by Eini (see previous entry), who recorded it as "Liian pian ilta päättyy" (The night ends too soon). This song is more or less forgotten, which is sad becouse it is a very good song (one of my ESC favourtites) and one of Eini's better peformances.
Jarkko & Laura (see previous entry) released "Rakkain Rokkefeller" (Rokkefeller dearest) as a single in 1968. The success of this and other singles helped the duo to win Finnish preliminaries for Eurovision Song Contest in 1969. The original song was worldwide hit for another female-male duo - Esther and Abi Ofarim. Esther Ofarim (b. Esther Zaied) is an Israeli female vocalist, who met Abi Ofarim (b. Abraham Reichstadt), a guitarist and dancer, in 1959 and subsequently married him. With her husband and without him she began to sing Hebrew and international folk songs. In 1963 Esther placed in the 2nd place at the Eurovision Song Contest with "T'en vas pas", representing Switzerland. From then on, her duo with Abi began take off. And in 1968 the Ofarims had their international breakthrough with this "Cinderella Rockefella", which hit the top of the charts in several countries.
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