Johanna Juhola, 29, master of the tango Nuevo opened the Eurovision song contest 2007 semi final playing accordion, wearing a reindeer horn mask and sporting a dress that lift her up to the roof of the Arena. �It was an amazing moment when I heard the Eurovision theme playing, saw the flag waving crowds and was lifted up!� she says now.

Johanna had composed the tango she performed herself. “It was playback. It would have been too difficult to play in that dress and the accordion I had wasn’t mine. Mine is so much bigger and heavier I would have come down from the heights nose down with it” she laughs.

She may be young but she has already a lot of experience. She has played with in different bands but now she has been working the longest with pianist Milla Viljamaa, fellow student from Sibelius Akademia’s folk music department. They are known for their covers of Argentinean Astor Piazzolla, master and creator of tango nuevo, but their just released second album Mi retorno is mostly written by her unlike the debut Piazzolla Passage two years ago. Only two covers on this new one, one by Piazzolla and another one by Unto Mononen, a Finnish legend of tango.

They have created new arrangements to these two classics. Piazzolla’s Coral is played by claviola, accordion and violin played by Pekka Kuusisto. “Claviola is an instrument that looks a little like melodica and not very well known. It was fun. We are not too serious even if do take our music seriously” Johanna tells. “I even play mini grandpiano and accordina. I like instruments that look like toys” More information on the reindeer masked tango master can be found here.