"Every day, things happen in the world that our little human minds cannot explain or understand. There are wars, acts of terror, natural disasters and other tragedies that occur regardless of religion, nationality, colour of skin or gender. Many of them involve totally innocent people and often children. Every one of those things leaves its traces on us, making every one of us often ask “why?”

"My name is Geir Rönning and I am a professional singer and songwriter. I was born in Ålesund, Norway November 05 1962, but I have not been living there for a long time. I moved to Oslo at the end of the 80s, but I didn't like that town that much. However that may have been because I went trough a tough time in my life. I do love Oslo now, I always have a great time there when I do gigs downtown."
"I later moved to Stockholm and that's when my music life got the big kick! Stockholm is and will always have a big piece of my heart. The first couple of friends I got in Stockholm was Bernt Söderberg and Raymond Borgfeldt. We started recording the songs that Bernt and I wrote. The project was called Miracle, and at the end we ended up in Buffalo New York and Los Angeles."
Raymond is the reason why I meat Rory Kapland which was the keyboard player of Michael Jackson and Janet at the time. Raymond did some studio work for Rory, and he asked him to try to work with me some time. We had a great time and it ended up with Rory fixing me some tickets to a Toto gig at the Globe in Stockholm the year after .
 
That's when I met one of my best friends in life, John "JJ" Jessel, the magic "right hand" of another dear friend, David Paich. I will never forget that night, cause it ended up with me singing Georgia together with my favorite band in the world Toto, and with Jeff Porcaro on the magical drums. The gig was an after party gig at Cafe Opera down town in Stockholm. I started working in different studios in Stockholm, and my dear friend "Gurra" Gustafsson asked me: "Why don't you pick up a guitar and start to do live gigs, there's a lot of places you can play". It sounds easy, and it was. It has been my living since then
 
As a songwriter I didn't get started until I got a song in the Norwegian final of "Eurovision song contest" in 1994. Jahn Teigen, who is a big star in Norway, sang the song although I have to admit that I wanted to sing it myself. But NRK (the Norwegian TV Company) wouldn't allow me to do it. However Jahn did a great job and my passion for that festival was born. During the beginning of 2000 I put my own band together in Finland with Vesa Kääpä from Leningrad Cowboys on guitar, Harri Seppälä Drums, Ako Sinivalo on bas and Tuomo Borman on guitar. What a great Rock'n Roll band! We did a few gigs around in Finland but unfortunately it all died out mostly because I had to go on tour in other countries. This was a shame because we were great friends and had a lot of fun. I've had a blast in Finland, there is a lot of very good players in this beautiful country
 
In 2002 and 2003 I met the guys who still are in my band. I have given my heart to these guys, Dennis and Rolli. We started as a trio up in Jakobstad in northern Finland during the summer of 2002. And it has been a lot of fun since then. It doesn't matter what the occasion is, together with my band I can put together any kind of cool night for you with my band. We play rock' n roll, reggae, dance music etc., everything we're asked to. It has taken me a lot of years to grow up as an artist, but now I feel like all the work is paying off and I am getting closer to my goals!

The Singer

Geir was born in Norway and is therefore yet another person representing a foreign country this year. Mr Ronning is a throaty voiced lounger singer, a bit like a cross between Zucchero and Michel Ball. His website biography is the largest load of name-dropping lovvy-darling bollocks since Barbara Streisand's acceptance speech at the annual "Hollywood acceptance speech awards".
Reading between the lines Eurovision will be Geir's big chance to shine, who as a pay-and-play cabaret singer, is looking to break into that lucrative pan-Scandinavian market.

The Past

In nine attempts since 1990, Finland have been pants. Their highest placing during this time was 15th. The economic miracle in the country was not reflected in terms of pan-European crap-pop.
Their Eurovision entrants have always been (as our fellow Australian EBU-members like to say) "full-on". Typically, a Finnish singer is aggressive, belts out their tune, and distresses the viewers to such an extent that they can't bring themselves to look at them come voting time. Mind you, in 1982 no-one could bring themselves to look at Kojo, before or after the contest.
Which is a shame, because with their 38th go this year, Finland deserve to be hosting the contest soon. Especially since they've dropped tax on alcohol, I'm all for the Finns.

The Song
A tub-thumping, wallowing peace song, which reveals the singer to be one of the first on the conscientious objection bus right out of the country.
In actual fact it's one of the better ballards this year, although the backing singers will have a large part to play in this song. Geir's voice is atypical. Backing singers have been more of a hindrance than a blessing during recent Eurovision's, and are used freely in this song, which could spell the end of Geir's international breakthrough.

Gestures - 25A professional amount of emotional gesturing, appealing even to be most hardened of pro-western oil-territory conquering advocates. I added a couple on for his continual use of furrowed brow pleading.
"Wanna" Count - 0

Overall
As always, I wish Finland all the best. I think it must have something to do with my support of Grimsby Town Football Club. They, like Finland, put in the occasionally good show, but are doomed to failure by a lack of interest and decent resource.
That's probably why I think that Geir won't make through to a final, as the Mariners never will either.

In a Nutshell
"Ronning on Empty"

"The Shrink Says"

Geir exhibits clear signs of Dysphoria (a psychological state causing someone to experience feelings of anxiety of restlessness, and depression). He clearly is deeply concerned over the onoging macro-political climate, and seems to blame Mr G W Bush and Mr T Blair for his mental concerns. Perhaps Mr Ronning should lighten up a bit by listening to Austria's entrant of this year.

So I'm asking
Why? Why?
Will we ever find the answers?
Why? Why?

Let's hope he finds his answers, but not at the bottom of a beer glass in a smoky late-nite Helsinki lounge bar. That's not the answer.

Why? 

In the night, there's a candle burning
Little light full of ache and yearning
For the child who won't be returning
And all the loved ones left behind

Morning breaks with the news of violence
Nothing moves in the haze of silence
Deep inside it feels like a riot
Oh, where can I find peace of mind?

(And they say that our trouble's just begun)
Tell me how
(Tell me how much we'll lose before we've won)
These tears won't dry

So I'm asking
Why? Why?
Will we ever find the answers?
Why? Why?
Why can't love be all that matters?
Why? Why?
While we try to understand
Faith and hope are slipping through our hands
Can you tell me why?

What's the secret to make things better?
Where's the thread holding us together?
How do we find the key that lets us
Open up our hearts and minds?

Winds of faith blow us past our limits
Spend our lives searching for forgiveness
Can one voice really make a difference?
Still I know we've got to try

(And they say that our trouble's just begun)
Tell me how
(Tell me how much we'll lose before we've won)
These tears won't dry

So I'm asking
Why? Why?
Will we ever find the answers?
Why? Why?
Why can't love be all that matters?
Why? Why?
While we try to understand
Faith and hope are slipping through our hands
(Tell me why)

Tears are falling down like rain
A flood of questions come
Where's the healing for this pain?
Is really love so hard to find?

So I'm asking
Why? Why?
Will we ever find the answers?
Why? Why?
Why can't love be all that matters?
Why? Why?
While we pray to understand
Faith and hope are slipping through our hands
Tell me why
Prediction Semi Final 11th
Final Don't Make It