UMK 2024 Song Review - Vox Poppuli

Praia da Ursa Bear’s beach is famous for its distinguish rocks. Next to Capo da Roca (most western point of EU) you can hike there within 45min-1h. The route is often described as easy but if you’re not used to make an exception from the paths going down might be difficult. 

It’s surprisingly popular and the traffic on the path is heavy. There are entire families with food, tents etc with them. 

Please note that this beach is also known as a nudist beach and as it is located right on the Atlantic coast, the waves are big and cold. I recommend going here when the summer heat wave reaches its peak. 

I’ve visited the Belém, the famous and historical district of Lisbon plenty of times but never entered the monuments which the tourists line up for hours. Here are some shots from the Monument of Discovery and the Jerónimos Monastery. 

Every day is a Monday

As much as I’d love to tell you that so much has happened since my last post and this huge number of events is the reason why I haven’t updated this blog I’m afraid the situation is quite the opposite. I have been just really tired and unmotivated to write anything. So not much has evolved since my last post but I thought an update wouldn’t hurt anyone. 

I have started studing portuguese, probably the biggest change so far! And I’ve decided to take the local approach while doing it. SLOWLY. So far had only a few classes and I’m not being nearly as active during my free time as I would want to but I am building an idea in my head of how this language works. Many things are similar from other Latin languages since I’ve studied Spanish, Italian and French and then there are other things that are completely new and bizarre. And it is surprisingly hard to let go of the things that have become familiar to me in other languages. But in time.. #patience

I found my teacher Carla on Facebook. She’s a local, 30-somewhat-year-old kindergarden teacher who teaches portuguese for foreigners also. Many TP (teleperformance) employees as well. My employer does offer free language courses but since almost all employees come from somewhere else the classes are quite popular and waiting lists long (6 months in fact). So I thought I’d ”speed” things up.

Discovering music in portuguese...even though they’re from Brazil I think. 

This way of studying gives me also flexibility which I couldn’t have had while studying in a group even though it might have been cheaper. I usually have 1,5h lesson once a week so I’ll have time to do something else also during the week. Carla lives on top of many hills of Lisboa, somewhat in the old part of the town, at least compared to the area where I live. I just love to go to her house cause the streets are filled with tons of details, doors, walls, ghost house, local life without too many tourists.

To support my language learning I try to read the news in portuguese at least once a day and I’m also in search of PORTUGUESE pop music. Because music has been a huge help every time I’ve studied a foreign language. All I find is Brazilian artists, nothing wrong with them but I’m very picky about the pronunciation as I am at quite early stage of learning. Don’t wanna learn the wrong thing here. If you have any suggestions please don’t hesitate to tell me!

About differences between portuguese spoken in EU and overseas..

My weekly routine is a mixture of on-off routines… gym, yoga, tinder dates, couchsurfing events.. I’ve come to a habit of spending my Saturday evenings with a bunch of couchsurfers. Dinner and drinks – always having a good time. Besides of travelers there is quite an impressive number of locals being active also.

Tinder I use even less for a romantic purpose but I do use it. And I’ve had some pretty good friend dates. Even though you wouldn’t meet the person again it’s educating to hear different life stories and opinions. Especially when you’re a foreigner living in a new country. Great new areas, bars, cafes etc discovered through these! Have an open mind!

Pink street. Pretty touristic but a good selection of bars, live venues etc. I often end up here with couchsurfers..

I found a nice gym about 15min away from my place. Monthly fee is 30€ unless you sign a contract for a year when you pay 10€ less monthly. There’s also a female section separately which is not big but it’s calm and works for me. It’s cheap and you can notice it sometimes in the machines but like I said I manage. And it’s open 24h/7 so I don’t need to check the opening hours.

Banks and phones don’t still work the way I’d like them to but I have my Finnish ones so what the hell.. I try not to stress about things. Let them go on their pace and ignore the things I can’t control.

Flat stuff! Our laundry machine was broken for three weeks and when we finally got a guy to fix it – it took like 3min! So portuguese slow. Anyhow it works now which is amazing! Meanwhile I went to this self service laundry place around the block.

I’m starting to know Lisboa. The historical capital with obviously strong artistic vibe. Now and as in the past and probably in the future too. Almost every street, statue, square is named after a poet, writer, musician or an artist of some sort. Reading the history of the city opens up to me differently now when I can walk on the same streets and pass the buildings where this country was built, shaped and later on changed numerous times.

Financially I’m better here. I make pretty much the same money (after taxes and rent) as I did in Finland but with things being cheaper here - I’m more free here financially. My employer clearly has some sort of reputation here and the company is widely known but I don’t care what other people say. My experiences have only been positive so far. At least to compared to Finnish companies in a similar field there are many things to be grateful for. 

Work is allright. I still go there. Training has been over for quite some weeks now and officially I should be on some sort of pro-level. Mornings ain’t my favorites especially when they start so damn early. I wake up 4:30am to catch the local train at 5:44 and be at work 6:30am. There’s a lot spare time there but at that time of the day there aren’t much connections to choose from. But location-like I’m super lucky cause the train to work is the best and fastest option in the city. And my body has adjusted quite easily to the new rhythm and I’m pretty ready for the bed after 8:30pm. And it’s nice to skip the rush hours when coming and going though social life is hard to plan when you’re starting to get sleepy at dinner time (portuguese eat late).

EUROVISION IS APPROACHING!!! Anyhow here you can see my local train station, the shopping mall where I have my lunch sometimes, do my shopping and see the area in general where I go to work to every day..

Days vary and are colorful because of the people who call. Got some pretty legendary stuff already in good and bad. Some calls take a lifetime and others not. I get calls about 20-40 every day. Even though my job is to listen people complaining I still like it! I like to work with the hotels stuff, flight stuff and tourism stuff in general so it makes everything nicer. There are a lot of RULES because we work in a customer service, because we handle payments and refunds, because we work on the phones. I know they exist for a reason so I don’t mind.

Even though things don’t work always as I’d like them to or even understand why they are as they are, I am super grateful for the helpful co-workers around me though who have the patience to give me a hand every time I need it. Apparently I’ve done some sales also cause I won a competition on the other Monday. But still it’s gonna take a long time before I’m gonna feel being good at what I do.

Weather like..it’s still very summery here at least during the days almost reaching +30C every day. But mornings especially at the hour I wake up, are chilly sometimes even cold. My room is freezing with the +15 temperatures  during the nights and I was also sick on the other weekend. Not much rain thouh. Yet. 

I’m actually looking forward to the cooler weather, less tourists and scenery changing. For the next post I’ll promise to get cracking – to make some progress with the Lisboa/Portugal to do list of mine.

Visited my hometown last week with a friend and a camera. Caught the light of the evening, sunset and the autumn. These come as they are! No filters or anything else used!

ESC19 songs that I don’t love but which will probably do great

AUSTRALIA / Kate Miller-Heidke / Zero

The song has improved along the with the staging and even I have to admit that this is pretty cool. I'm pretty sure this goes to the final. 

CYPRUS / Tamta / Replay

As there was much hype around Cyprus last year Tamta's entry was highly appreciated. However I was disappointed with the song because I find it a bit overproduced and lacking personality. But I don't hate it and I have an open mind what comes to the live performance. 

PORTUGAL Conan Osiris / Telemóveis

I wasn't a fan. And still isn't but I give credit for uniqueness and individuality. These kinds of performances bring diversity and develop the contest which is why I hope Portugal will be in the final.  

CZECH REPUBLIC / Lake Malawi / Friend of a friend

I seem to have a problem with Czech entries since I didn't like last year's entry but everyoneo else did. However I see why people do love this. It's a perky, modern, colourful performance which is why this probably will go to the final. 

BELGIUM / Eliot / Wake up

This is such a great song but with a weak chorus. I'm not the only who thinks so however this entry also gets a lot of love. 

RUSSIA / Sergey Lazarev / Scream

Russia. Do I have to say anything else? Russian entries usually enjoy great popularity year after year and they do have massive production. There's nothing wrong with this song but for me something is lacking. VERY IMPRESSIVE staging! This will go far - no doubt. 

North Macedonia / Tamara Todevska / Proud

The song has grown for me but still this isn't the top 10 track for me. I'm interested to see this live though cause the staging looks cool! 

Spain / Miki / La venda

Everybody loves this. However I don't. It's too cheerful for my finnish taste. Fun track though. 

Slovenia / Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl / Sebi 

Another one everybody loves except me. I get it why. The atmosphere, the stars, the couple. However it's too repetitive and too bland what comes to the singing and her facial expressions (there's none). I'm not into the staring each other's face thing either. I'd like to see them interact with the audience but this can still happen.

One of the most intagrammable place in Portugal, Costa Nova can be reached by bus from Aveiro. I believe these houses are air bnb use but not many locals live in these. 

This is definitely one time visit thing. The houses were cute and it was more than just a couple houses (surprised by the amount) but they didn’t feel real and everything screamed for touristic in my opinion. 

Been taking this small tours every weekend around Lisbon. This was the first at Azenhas do Mar, super cloudy day but scenery was gorgeous nonetheless! First part of the many to come btw! 

Random Helsinki.

SHE uguale a lei

SO I’m breaking the silence by dedicating this entire post to an artist whom I could almost talk about like an old friend. And in a way she is. One of her songs became the title of this blog and I'm naming every post by a sentence from the lyrics of her songs, translated in English of course. It might be foolish and sometimes it's difficult too but..call me crazy pausiniana. Her 20 – Greatest Hits-release is the album I’ve been looking forward to this entire fall.

Most of the true fans of any artist usually hate these kinds of releases cause they usually include only a little of unreleased material if any. But Laura Pausini is different. Instead of just getting all her hits together and releasing the whole thing out just as it is, she made the effort of re-working to the old songs, updating their sounds and making new collaborations. For me it wasn’t the new tracks I was waiting for but the old ones. There are some songs which may not be her best-known work but they tell a story about the woman behind the artist and which in my opinion represent also the best of her career. She has included some very personal stuff for example her very first recording as a two-year-old and her daughter saying “mamma” for the very first time. They won’t increase the sales but it’s touching how she wanted to share such personal memories with us.

She isn’t just an artist whose songs entertain me in various moments. The songs which I used to adore already at a very young age but without being able to truly indetifying the lyrics on an emotional level, I’ve found them again in all kinds of situations of my life as I grew up. They’ve accompanied me when I’ve made big decisions, lost people, lived life-changing experiences or simply in the dullest moments of my everyday life.  

Resta in Ascolto live in 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbX7UyL-8SM

Listening to the new compilation album.. for me it was a journey through years, memories and songs. It does tell a story, hers and maybe a bit of mine as well. 2014 is my 20th anniversary with her. I still remember the times spent listening to her music from her album “Laura” as a 7-year-old, without knowing where she was from or what language she was singing in. I remember being fascinated by her voice, language which I didn’t know at a time and her beauty shown in the booklet. I remember how I didn’t know anyone else who’ve liked her music too and how no one seemed to understand (and some still don’t) why she touched me so deeply and still continues to do so.

(My very first Laura Pausini album: her 2nd one in Italian "Laura" 1994 and autograph from 2012 which I got in London)

It wasn’t until 2006 that I became a member of the official fan club. It was the best money I ever paid. I may have joined in for Laura but the reason why I am still a member is the people I’ve met and friends I’ve made over the years. Everything else is an extra. From the very first moment entering the Laura4u website and the forum I loved the the feeling of being a part of a community. I remember spending hours and hours in the forum, writing posts, sharing opinions about Laura but also about life in general. Making some of the best friends of my life.

Finally I had found people who resembled and understood me. There are people who I’ve never met in person but who know me inside and out.  Being a Laura Pausini-fan is so much more than just listening to her music and going to her concerts. I’ve done great things in great places with the greatest people in the world. She is also the reason why I discovered the beauty of Italian and Spanish languages.

Prendo te (2004) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PFqU08zL4I

On the DVD “My story” available in deluxe version of GH (which I highly recommend for everyone) she goes down the memory lane by visiting her old school and the house where she grew up, introducing friends and people who’ve been essential part of “her community” over the years.

She shares the memories along the way with the same enthusiasm as they had happened yesterday; how she came to collaborate and make friends with Phil Collins, how Jim Carrey was so sure of her success in US market that he even jokingly offered to marry her himself just to get her the Green Card. After all the millions of records being sold I admire her honesty, even about the things that might not be the most positive ones. She openly tells how she’s always been afraid of ending up alone, how she struggled to make a change in her musical style for her fourth album La mia risposta/ Mi respuesta in 1998 after her record company wasn’t happy with the sales of her previous release (whaaat?!? #shocked) and how she admits making mistakes with her English language album “From the inside” released back in 2002. In the liner notes of the booklet, there’s a story shared of each and every 38 songs on the album. And the first thing you see when you open the cover is this:

It’s so easy to love her, isn’t it?

When asked which song or album or even a live album I’d play for one, who’s never heard of Laura’s music before. It’s an impossible task. Even writing this post was full of tough choices.. which stuff to bring up and which ones to leave out. My favourites are mostly from the last decade but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love the music she’s released before that. And no studio recording can do her justice compared to what she’s like while performing live. Every release brings up different sides of her and has its songs and stories I’d love people to discover about her.

I hope with this post, pics and vids shared I've managed to show you even a little bit of her beauty as an artist and as a person but also to open up a bit what it means to be a "pausiniana" to me.

Con la musica alla radio (2013 version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PHfcaoDQFU

More information: http://www.laurapausini.com/eng/