As Finland is the promised land of Eurovision cruises, the year 2016 also ended with a fabulous cruise. Viking Line has arranged Eurovision-themed cruises from Helsinki to Tallinn for many, many years, and on the 10th December 2016 the tradition continued as M/S Viking Xprs was ready to offer a real show onboard. The evening kicked off in the Viking’s Inn pub with a Eurovision karaoke and a quiz, before the artists took the stage in the ship’s Dance Pavilion.
Susann Sonntag’s – great pop and Eurovision tunes
Susann Sonntag has participated in the Finnish Eurovision preselections four times, the latest being “Eleventh hour” in 2004. She is a sympathetic singer, who was happy to entertain us twice during the cruise with her live band Susann Sonntag’s. There is no doubt that Susann is a real Eurovision fan, performing great versions of many Swedish Eurovision hits as well as more pop classics from 70’s and 80’s.
Xprs Singers were flying the flag high with their Eurovision Show!
One of the most anticipated moments of the cruise was The Eurovision Show by the ship’s very own group Xprs Singers, consisting of Thommy Fagerlund, Jaana Hiltunen, Janina Soinranta and Hannu Okkonen. The group first appeared dressed as stuerts and stewardesses, offering us “coffee and tea” and sweets. We knew what to wait for – not surprisingly, the show started with “Flying the flag”, the 2007 UK entry by Scootch. The fabulous show was packed with Eurovision hits and humorous moments – at one moment, when “Carola” was to perform, her famous wind machine did not work after all!
Dinah Nah – star of Melodifestivalen
The star artist of the evening was Dinah Nah from Sweden, well-known by Eurovision fans for her participation in Melodifestivalen 2016 with “Make me (La la la)”. Dinah first made her way to Andra chansen and then qualified to the final. In 2017, exciting times are ahead as she will compete in Melodifestivalen again with the song “One more night” written by Thomas G:son, Jimmy Jansson, Dr. Alban and herself.
Dinah performed her own hit “Taste of love” and a completely new, still unreleased song called “Bugs me”, which she has written for her ex boyfriend. She also covered songs by Sia and Rihanna in an excellent way.
The night was still not yet over – as the whole night was dedicated to Eurovision music only, we had the talented DJ Sam Zimon on stage playing the best-known, best loved and funniest Eurovision hits to dance to.
We can already look forward to the next Eurovision cruise on Viking Xprs, which takes place on the 8th April 2017!
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