Paradise Oskar

Paradise Oskar (2011)

Paradise Oskar (born October 23, 1990 in Kirkkonummi ; actually Axel Ehnström ) is a Finnish singer-songwriter . He represented his home country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf , where he came in 21st place.

Career

Beginning as a musician

Paradise Oskar was born in 1990 in the Helsinki region as Axel Ehnström . When choosing his stage name, he was inspired by Astrid Lindgren 's children's book Rasmus und der Landstreicher (1956), in which an orphan boy befriends the good-natured, accordion- playing tramp Paradies-Oskar. "I thought he [Paradise Oskar] had a great life, just wandering around and making music for people," said Ehnström.

Without any professional musical training, Ehnström began to put his first own melodies and texts on paper at the age of ten. Most of the time Ehnström wrote and played for himself, but used "Paradise Oskar" as a project name to publish his music on the Internet. Ehnström was mainly influenced by singer-songwriters such as Jimmy Webb , Tom Waits , Brian Wilson or Bruce Springsteen . He describes his style of music as modern folk music with a little bit of pop , "sometimes more, sometimes less" . Since he mostly listened to English music, he writes his lyrics almost exclusively in English.

In the summer of 2010, an improvisation resulted in the English-language guitar ballad Da Da Dam , which Ehnström provided with his own text within two hours. According to their own statements, Da Da Dam means nothing, but is a symbol of the apathy prevailing worldwide . With the song, which is about a little boy who moves out to protect the world from environmental problems, he applied for the Euroviisut , the Finnish preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). Originally Ehnström had only hoped for feedback for his music by sending in his self-produced demo recording. Da Da Dam was, to his own surprise, selected for the open ESC preliminary decision. He then revised the piece together with the Finnish songwriter and producer Leri Leskinen and Da Da Dam was first presented to the public at the end of November 2010.

Victory in the Finnish ESC preliminary round 2011

On January 21, 2011, Ehnström took part in the Euroviisut as Paradise Oskar in the second of three semifinals, which was broadcast by the public television broadcaster Yleisradio (YLE). With Da Da Dam he sat down u. a. against Stala & SO. by and placed under the three most popular titles, which qualified him for the finals on February 12th in Turku . There, Paradise Oskar again reached the so-called "Superfinals" of the three most popular candidates, which he won ahead of the singer Saara Aalto ( Blessed with Love ). After winning the Finnish ESC preliminary round, Paradise Oskar received a record deal with Warner Music Finland . In mid-March the music video for Da Da Dam , which was made in the Helsinki Botanical Garden , was released. His first album Sunday Songs , for which he composed and wrote all the songs himself, was released on May 4, 2011. According to Finnish criticism, the songs are in the style of Ehnström's ESC contribution and tell stories about relationships and dreams with a pinch of sarcasm . Comparisons were made to Anna Puu , even if the album sounded a little more muted than the work of the Finnish pop singer.

According to his own statements, after the success at Euroviisut, he was invited by the Swedish People's Party in Finland (sfp / rkp) to represent it in the 2011 parliamentary elections , which he refused.

ESC semifinals and finals 2011

With his victory at Euroviisut , Paradise Oskar represented Finland at the 56th Eurovision Song Contest on May 10, 2011 in Düsseldorf in the first semifinals, where he made it into the final four days later that he opened. There he finished 21st with 57 points. In his performances of Da Da Dam he stood alone on stage against the background of a huge, spinning globe and played on a special Landola guitar, which was made in 1964. During his appearance he also wears a shirt made from recycled materials such as old clothes and parachute silk.

In addition, shortly before the final, Paradise Oskar was awarded the journalism prize of the Marcel Bezençon Prize , which has been awarded since 2002 on the occasion of the Eurovision Song Contest .

Private

Axel Ehnström lives in Helsinki, where he has been studying at the Pop & Jazz Conservatory there since autumn 2010.

Discography

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Sunday songs   FI 4th 19/2011 (6 weeks)

Singles

Da Da Dam   FI 6th 20/2011 (2 weeks)   DE 46 05/27/2011 (1 week)   AT 64 05/27/2011 (1 week)

Albums

• Sunday Songs (2011)

Singles

• Da Da Dam (2011)
• All or Nothing ( Lost Frequencies feat. Axel Ehnström, 2017)

Author participation

• Madeline Juno - No Words (on the album Salvation , 2016)
• Madeline Juno - Please Don't Have Somebody Else (on the album Salvation , 2016)
• Madeline Juno - Safe Kind of Sadness (on the album Salvation , 2016)
• Madeline Juno - Yellow Car (on the album Salvation , 2016)
• Madeline Juno - You Know What? (on the album Salvation , 2016)

Web links

• Official website (English)
• Profile at myspace.com
• Profile at eurovision.tv (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} cf. Interview ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at escdaily.com, January 13, 2011 (accessed March 18, 2011). 
2. ↑ cf. Interview ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at eurofire.blog.de, February 14, 2011 (accessed on March 18, 2011). 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} cf. Schacht, Andreas: Finland: does Paradise Oskar want to charm the masses? at eurovision.tv, April 1, 2011 (accessed April 1, 2011)
4. ↑ cf. Paradise Oskar: Voittokappale syntyi parissa tunnissa at hs.fi, February 12, 2011 (accessed on March 18, 2011).
5. ↑ cf. STT : Paradise Oskar: Da Da Dam ei tarkoita mitään at hs.fi, May 5, 2011 (accessed May 7, 2011).
6. ↑ cf. Portrait at eurovision.de (accessed on March 18, 2011).
7. ↑ cf. Katso Suomen euroviisun esikatseluvideo ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at satumaa.yle.fi, March 14, 2011 (accessed March 19, 2011). 
8. ↑ cf. Paradise Oskarin viisuvideo Euroopan televisioihin ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at iltalehti.fi, March 13, 2011 (accessed March 19, 2011). 
9. ↑ cf. Mattila, Ilkka: Paradise Oskar: Sunday Songs at hs.fi, May 5, 2011 (Finnish; accessed May 7, 2011).
10. ↑ cf. Paradise Oskar Ylelle: Rkp pyysi ehdokkaaksi at hs.fi, February 22, 2011 (accessed on March 18, 2011).
11. ↑ ^{a b} cf. Finland sets the pace with tenderness on eurovision.tv, May 5, 2011 (accessed May 7, 2011).
12. ↑ cf. Euroviisu-Oskar tavoittelee rikkautta ja onnea Euroviisu-Oskar tavoittelee rikkautta ja onnea ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at satumaa.yle.fi, March 14, 2011 (accessed March 18, 2011). 
13. ↑ cf. Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards on eurovision.tv, May 15, 2011 (accessed May 24, 2011).
14. ↑ cf. Paradise Oskarin vaatimaton arki at iltalehti.fi, February 15, 2011 (accessed March 19, 2011).
15. ↑ cf. Portrait ( Memento of the original from December 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at satumaa.yle.fi (Finnish; accessed March 18, 2011). 
16. ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts FI