Show #216

He’s the pop alchemist that turned a simple greeting into his trademark at Liverpool, and this week Luke Black is our guest bringing us new music. We head to Scandinavia for a rock themed Triple Play and your chosen fan favourite takes us to the beautiful mediterranean island of Malta. Not forgetting our weekly round up of Eurovision news too!

This Weeks Highlights

Luke Black

Special Guest

Luka Ivanović, known professionally as Luke Black, is a Serbian singer and songwriter. Born in Čačak, he became the first Serbian artist to be signed under Universal Music Group, through which he released his debut EP, Thorns, in February 2015. He represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song 'Samo mi se spava', placing 24th in the grand final.

Chiara

Fan Favourite

Chiara Siracusa, better known by her mononym Chiara, is a Maltese singer. She represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998, 2005, and 2009 and is with a second and a third place the third most successful participant who never won the contest (behind Germany's Katja Ebstein and Wind).

Finland has participated in Eurovision 56 times since its debut in 1961. Their one, and to date only, win came in 2006 with Lordi’s entry “Hard Rock Hallelujah”. The country’s best result before then was achieved by Marion Rung with the song “Tom Tom Tom” in 1973, which placed sixth. Finland has finished last in the contest eleven times, receiving nul points in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final eight times. In 2014, the country had its best result in eight years when Softengine with “Something Better” finished 11th. That result was surpassed by Blind Channel with “Dark Side”, which came sixth in 2021. Then in 2023 Käärijä won the public vote and came second overall in 2023 with “Cha Cha Cha”, Finland’s second best result to date.

The Rasmus is a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki while the band members were in upper comprehensive school. The original band members were Lauri Ylönen (founder, frontman, lead singer-songwriter), Eero Heinonen (bass), Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar) and Jarno Lahti (drums). Jarno Lahti left the year after and was replaced by Janne Heiskanen in 1995. Heiskanen quit the band in 1999 and was soon replaced by Aki Hakala. Pauli Rantasalmi left the band and was replaced by guitarist Emilia “Emppu” Suhonen in 2022.

Best known for their 2003 hit single “In the Shadows”, the band has sold 5 million albums worldwide and approximately 350,000 albums in Finland alone. They have won numerous awards, both domestic and international. The band represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song “Jezebel”.

Track List