The one and only Eurovision Song Contest and its participants try to conquer Europe in May in Helsinki. Cultural Centre Caisa in Helsinki organises Ourvision and plans to make it an annual tradition for immigrants living in Finland. Semifinals divided by continents and a grand final the week before the real competition are planned.
Ourvision is yet another addition to ever growing number of Eurovision Song Contest related happenings going on in Helsinki and Finland. The first semifinal for Latinovision will be in Cultural Centre Caisa on January 19, second Afrovision on January 20, third Asiavision on February 2 and the fourth one Arabvision on February 3. “We want that all the other continents are represented” says the organiser Kitari Mayele.
The idea was to give the immigrant musicians living in Finland a chance to shine. The interest surprised everyone. “We had all too many applications to let everybody participate, even if we have in semifinals over one hundred artists or bands. The artists include debutants and professional musicians and everything in between. The styles range from jazz to pop and ethno”. There is a jury made of some famous professionals like Tidjan Ba from Kwan, composer Heikki Sarmanto and Pori Jazz Festival’s artistic director Jyrki Kangas, just to name a few.
