🎤 Sámi National Day: The Sámi acts who graced the Eurovision stage
🎤 Today is Sámi National Day, the celebration of the first International Sámi Congress in Trondheim in 1917! To mark the occasion, we took a dive into the contributions Sámi people have made to #Eurovision and its associated shows.
Today is Sámi National Day, the celebration of the first international Sámi congress in Trondheim on February 6th 1917. To mark the occasion, I’ll be highlighting some of the amazing contributions Sámi people have made to Eurovision and its associated shows.
Sverre Kjellsberg & Mattis Hætta – Sámiid ædnan (Norway 1980)
Inspired by the autonomy movement of the Sámi people of Northern Norway,…
This song deserves more attention, and it felt appropriate to salute the Sami week here in Umeå finishing with this post. This is a beautiful part of a unique culture that today is fighting to not vanish after years of discrimination and oppression. I wanted to share the translation of this beautiful song with the world because this is an ancient living language and it’s powerful and amazing.
Swedish translation from Sami by Oscar, second post in the comments of this video, and English below by me. Song by Jon Henrik Fjällgren, whose debut album Goeksegh (2014) is a gem.
Are you still walking by me, my dear friend,
Even though I no longer see you?
Are you still on this Earth,
Like you are still in my heart?
I’m laying here brooding,
It’s dreary and silent around me.
Tears come and fall,
Thinking of you.
An angel that was left behind here,
Have now gained its wings.
Where are you flying now, my angel?
Where are you flying now?
Are you flying through Heaven’s gate, say?
Or to the end of the world?
Are you flying next to me?
Or am I alone now?
Wherever you are now, my friend.
Wherever the road takes you.
Promise you are waiting there,
Until I meet you.
I hope you are happy now.
Like I was with you.
And the pain you have suffered,
I hope is forgotten.
Soar freely, my dear friend.
You are free now.
And until I meet you again,
Goodbye, my angel.
To those interested in more Sami music, I strongly recommend Katarina Barruk (especially her song Meärkká Suojgade on Spotify who she described as “the sun coming through and melting away the thickest fog” in regard to mental illness), the band ISÁK who mix Sami and English lyrics, Marja Mortensson (her song Delvieh can be found on youtube, Frode Fjellheim (who put together a Christian religious mess project in Southern Sami called Aejlies Gaaltije which is absolutely an experience and also composed the rather iconic intro-track Vuelie for Disney’s Frozen), Ulla Pirttijärvi who has amazing contemporary pieces and at one point was a part of Angeli Tytöt (please have a listen to the below video, these three show how incredible the jojk is in its more raw form with just a traditional skin-drum as accompaniment), Mari Boine is an icon and a must mention, and finally, Cantus, the assembly who actually sang Vuelie.
I had the pleasure of making it to a concert this weekend with performances by Frode, Katarina, Marja and Ulla. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced.
Let Jon Henrik win Melodifestivalen! There hasn’t been jojk* in Eurovision Song Contest since 1980!
Here’s a link to his song from 2015, which I also wanted to win Melodifestivalen!
*From Wikipedia: “A joik or yoik (also named luohti, vuolle, vuelie, leu'dd, or juoiggus in the Sámi languages), is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of the Nordic countries and Kola Peninsula of Russia. Originally, joik referred to only one of several Sami singing styles, but in English the word is often used to refer to all types of traditional Sami singing. As an art form, each joik is meant to reflect or evoke a person, animal, or place.The sound of joik is comparable to the traditional chanting of some Native American cultures.[1] There are also features shared with the shamanistic cultures of Siberia, which mimic the sounds of nature.“
During the live Final of Melodifestivalen on Saturday 14th March did the revolutionary new App voting system break down.
The Melodifestivalen App, which allows Swedish smartphone users to cast five free votes during song performances, has been used throughout this season’s edition alongside telephone and SMS votes.
During the performance of the song that eventually finished 2nd, ‘Jag är fri…
