Finland Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Lucie Donlan and Luke Mabbott have shared some “exciting news” as the couple embark on their latest project together. The pair, who recently celebrated a wholesome weekend celebrating Lucie’s parents’ wedding, took to Instagram to share the announcement where they revealed that they were starting their own YouTube account together. During their time together, Lucie, 26, and 28 year old Luke have been busy transforming their stunning cottage home though embarked on a new chapter in January 2024 when they purchased a chapel in Newquay.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Tom Felton, best-known for his role as Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” franchise, is to star in the $15 million action/sci-fi film “Altered,” alongside Richard Brake (“Game of Thrones,” “Barbarian,” “Mayor of Kingstown”), Igor Jijikine (“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), Aggy Adams (“The Witcher”) and Liza Bugulova. The film is set in an alternate present, where most of the human population have undergone genetic enhancements.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has closed a slew of international territory sales on its resistance epic “William Tell,” Nick Hamm’s adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s play. WME Independent represents domestic rights.

Alex Ritman Paris-based sales house Charades has sold the Argentinian Western-inspired documentary “Gaucho Gaucho” across much of Europe. The film — which won a Sundance Jury Prize in January and recently played at CPH:DOX — has landed deals with Tandem (France), Filmin (Spain), Selmer Media (Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark), M2 (Romania, Poland, Hungary. Ex-Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria), Praesens (Switzerland) and Bantam Films (Benelux).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alex Garland’s critically-acclaimed “Civil War” has confirmed a theatrical release in mainland China. Marking the first A24 production to be released in China, it will arrive in cinemas from June 7. Huahua Media took rights to the film for China. Tech and entertainment giant Alibaba will also be partnering with Huahua throughout the release. Depicting a dystopian future America, the film’s story follows a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach Washington DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

Eurovision entrant Windows95Man quickly drew comparisons to a famous Bart Simpson moment when the singer took to the stage this weekend.Windows95man – real name Teemu Keisteri – performed at the song contest’s grand final at Malmö Arena, Sweden on Saturday (May 11), where Switzerland’s Nemo ultimately won.Dressed in a Windows 95 cap and T-shirt for his song ‘No Rules!’, Windows95man was seemingly naked from the bottom half down and kept up the illusion with some help from the cameramen and his dancers.He even faked a NSFW ‘reveal’ to the live crowd before his denim shorts were lowered down for the outfit chance.While behind-the-scenes pictures reveal that the singer was wearing a pair of skin-coloured modesty underwear, the stunt reminded viewers of the famous moment in The Simpsons Movie where Bart is skateboarding naked through town – and also protected by a series of objects before a brief reveal.“In case you have missed Finland’s performance at the Eurovision song contest tonight, it was pretty much a butt naked inspired Simpson episode and people loved it,” one X user wrote.“This is basically every Simpsons episode that involves nudity,” another wrote.BBC commentator Graham Norton also gave his take on the gag, telling the audience (via Yahoo!): “I would normally find a song like this quite resistible, but I have to say when I was in the arena for the semi-final the other night, I really liked the silly, I just really embraced the silly and it was joyful and lovely… and distracting and great.“You’ve seen quite a lot of male nudity tonight… well, stand by for some more!” he added.

Annika Pham Rome-based Intramovies has clinched further key sales on the Swedish pic “Paradise is Burning” for which rising talent Mika Gustafson won best director and writer at the 2023 Venice Orizzonti. The coming-of-age drama was sold to Conic in the U.K. and Ireland, HBO Max for Eastern Europe (TV and VOD rights), Leopardo Filmes in Portugal, Providence/Belas Artes Grupo Brazil, and Mongsang in South Korea.

John Oliver took the first part of Last Week Tonight to talk about the Eurovision Song Contest and highlighted the act from Finland, known as Windows95man.

Eurovision ratings have apparently plunged amidst several controversies and boycott calls for this year’s edition.This year, the contest has faced criticism for its inclusion of Israel due to their role in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Due to this political neutrality clause, the EBU announced they reserved the right to remove Palestinian flags and symbols, and would go on to censor Irish contestant Bambie Thug for wearing the word ‘ceasefire’ and ‘freedom for Palestine’ as a hidden message on their costume.Israel’s inclusion prompted boycott calls from the LGBT+ community towards UK entry Olly Alexander, reasoning that the competition was “providing cultural cover and endorsement for the catastrophic violence that Israel has unleashed on Palestinians.”Over 1,000 Swedish artists called for Israel to be banned this year – including Robyn, Fever Ray, and First Aid Kit – and more than 1,400 Finnish music industry professionals have signed a petition to ban the country from taking part in the contest as well.

The Eurovision Song Contest was certainly dramatic with calls for the competition to be boycotted and one act disqualified the day of the Grand Final. But despite the drama, the Contest went ahead on Saturday night in Malmo and reigning champion Loreen handed over the trophy to a new winner. Let's take a look at the final result.

Eurovision entrant Käärijä has announced he will not participate as the spokesperson for the Finnish jury hours before the finale is due to start.Käärijä, who was the runner-up to Eurovision last year with his song ‘Cha Cha Cha’, took to social media to announce that he was pulling out of announcing the Finnish jury’s points for tonight’s competition.On Instagram Stories, Käärijä wrote: “I have decided not to participate as the spokesperson for the Finnish jury in tonight’s Eurovision finale. Giving out the points does not feel right”.

We gather around the telly, we eat European country-themed snacks and we shout "nul points". But do any of us remember the previous year's Eurovision Song Contest winner after the end credits roll?

It's nearly that time again for the Eurovision grand finale to appear on our small screens.

Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday evening, as thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in the host city of Malmo, Sweden, to protest against the country’s participation in the competition. 

Naman Ramachandran The European Film Academy has added a record 709 new members in its 2024 annual intake. New members include Cate Blanchett (Australia/U.K.), Jovan Marjanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Maria Bakalova (Bulgaria), Juraj Lerotić (Croatia), Anna Hints (Estonia), Ariane Toscan du Plantier (France), Stéphan Castang (France), David Thion (France), Marie-Ange Luciani (France), Latifa Saïd (France), Rebecca Houzel (France), Thomas Hakim (France), Sami Mustafa (France/Kosovo), Mohamed Siam (France), Hanna Bergholm (Finland), Hamze Bytyçi (Germany) and Christian M.

Eurovision entry has been booed by the audience during a dress rehearsal, but vowed to continue with the performance.The moment took place at the dress rehearsal for the second wave of semi-finals yesterday (May 8), with the live performance set to take place tonight.In footage captured of the performance, Israel contestant Eden Golan is seen performing her entry song ‘Hurricane’ on the stage in Sweden, while numerous members of the crowd start to boo.The backlash to the performance comes amid controversy about Israel being allowed to compete in the 2024 edition of the song contest in light of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, and the footage also shows an audience member shouting “Free Palestine”. Because of the inclusion, there have been a number of calls to boycott the competition from various countries.Over 1,000 Swedish artists, for instance, called for Israel to be banned this year, including Robyn, Fever Ray, and First Aid Kit.

The Chromatica Ball special is coming, after all!

Rylan Clark had a three-word response as he was filmed watching Olly Alexander's first big Eurovision Song Contest performance on Tuesday night. The run-up to this year's Eurovision Song Contest began on Tuesday night (May 7) with the first semi-final broadcasted by the BBC.

10 countries have triumphed in the first semi-final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, when 16 countries competed to get through to Saturday’s Grand Final.

Eurovision organisers have defended their decision not to boycott Israel over the war in Gaza.It comes ahead of the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden this Saturday (May 11).There have been several calls to boycott the competition from various countries. Over 1,000 Swedish artists called for Israel to be banned this year, such as Robyn, Fever Ray, and First Aid Kit, whilst over 1,400 Finnish music industry professionals recently signed a petition to ban the country from taking part in the contest as well.In the buildup to the 2024 edition, individual artists such as Olly Alexander also faced calls to boycott the event.

Kings of Leon‘s Caleb Followill has revealed why he didn’t want ‘Sex On Fire’ to be on ‘Only By The Night’.The frontman previously decried the ‘Only By The Night’ anthem upon release, telling NME that he initially doubted the song’s quality but was persuaded by his bandmates to finish writing it.“I just had this melody and I didn’t know what to say,” he said. “Then one day I just sang “This sex is on fire” and I laughed.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Olivia Colman and John Lithgow head the cast of “Jimpa,” a multi-generational family tale involving a nonbinary teenager and her mother who take a trip to see their gay grandfather. The Australia- and Europe-set film is directed by Sophie Hyde, whose most recent film was the breakout “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.” The film is now in its third week of production in Amsterdam and will later shoot in Adelaide, Australia and Helsinki, Finland. Rights to the film are being handled by Protagonist Pictures in much of the world and by CAA Media Finance in North America, with sales kicking off at the Cannes Market next week.

Ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Sweden this weekend, a huge two-time winner from the country has announced they’ll be touring Europe and the UK next year.

Eurovision organisers have confirmed that they reserve the right to remove Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian symbols during the contest in Malmö, Sweden next week.The contest’s communications head has said that ticket buyers will only be allowed to display the flags of competing countries – including Israel – and the Pride flag. In a message to the Associated Press, they also said that “clothes, items or posters that can be used as instruments to be shown on television screens” featuring pro-Palestinian symbols may also be banned.Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are expected to take place in protest of Israel’s controversial participation in the contest following the current tensions with Hamas that have been ongoing since October.

Naman Ramachandran Some of the Sony Music Group‘s top European artists are backing a voter participation campaign. Sony has launched what it describes as a “non-partisan campaign,” titled Your Voice, Your Power, Your Vote, to encourage voting in the June European Union elections, with a focus on young people and underrepresented groups.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter A24‘s political thriller “Civil War” is resonating not just in red states and blue but overseas, too. Alex Garland’s film, starring Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist who traverses a violently divided United States, has grossed $45.7 million in North America and $20 million internationally. Global ticket sales stand at $67.3 million through Monday, and it’s projected to cross $70 million on Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE: Picture Tree International (PTI) has acquired world sales rights for A Quiet Resilience, the debut feature of rising Swedish, fraternal directorial duo Gustav and David Bengtsson.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based Picture Tree Intl. has acquired the international sales rights, excluding the Nordic countries, for the Finnish daughter-father comedy “Butterflies” (Perhoset). “Butterflies” is directed by Jenni Toivoniemi, based on a screenplay by Anna Brotkin.

Nathan Patterson will find out this weekend if his Euro 2024 dream is over.