Put down your phones and slip on your dancing shoes! With her new single X Factor alumna and Eurovision diva Saara Aalto commands us to take to the dancefloor and thoroughly let go – or, in her own words, “release the freak”. Rest assured, Saara: after hearing this banger Eurovision fans are sure to unleash their inner Monster.
The enthusiastically entitled “DANCE!!!” (exclamation points included) will be the fourth single from Saara’s album Wild Wild Wonderland. Saara wrote the poppy song herself, alongside a crack team including Swedish songwriter Linnea Deb (who wrote Måns Zelmerlöw’s 2015 Eurovision winner “Heroes”), and Finnish ace Matias Keskiruokanen.
Released today to Spotify and iTunes, the tune is undeniably catchy and upbeat. Featuring synth drums and keytars, a simple hook and bright cover art, it’s as 80s as you can get without actually stepping into a time machine. It’s also got the potential to be a real crowd pleaser – a performance of the song way back in April shows the audience joyfully singing, dancing and clapping along.
Those of you who want to experience this for yourselves won’t have long to wait, thankfully. Saara has already embarked on a tour of the UK supporting Steps, the iconic noughties cheese band who have recently reformed. Saara and Steps are also joined by Blue – another classic British boy band who, like Saara, had their time in the Eurovision spotlight. If you’re quick, you’ll be able to catch them all in Cheshire, Coventry and London over the next month.
Like any self-respecting Eurovision star, Saara will of course be performing at Pride. Today she announced she’d be at the Helsinki Pride Parade, complete with her own DANCE!! themed float, as well as at the city’s closing party.
Saara has the honour of taking the stage just before Eurovision queen Dana International, a transgender woman whose song “Diva” won hearts (and votes) way back in 1998. The track has resonated with LGBTQ+ people ever since, and is fitting to blast out during Pride.
As for the “DANCE!!!” music video, Saara has only given us the tiniest of hints. We could be seeing the Finnish singer performing in a colourful, well-lit doorway, dolled up in a red dress with a giant bow. If her live performances are anything to go by, there’ll be male dancers in a variety of outlandish costumes, too. What we do know is that Saara’s about to bring the dance party to Pride – and it’s going to be awesome.
Are you loving Saara’s latest single? Are you hitting up Helsinki Pride? Let us know down below!
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“Like any self-respecting Eurovision star, Saara will of course be performing at Pride.” so those who don’t appear at Pride events (like AWS as a random example, as probably you’ll never see a metal band invited to pride lmao), aren’t proper Eurovision stars, or they don’t respect themselves in the author’s opinion? Hmm..
The problem with “Monsters” is that it was written only for streaming and not for live performing. It is one of those songs that simply cannot impress when performed live, no matter what! And besides, Saara treated Eurovision with an “X-Factor attitude”, totally forgetting that there were 210 professional juries from all over Europe and not just Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh. I am still shocked that she even qualified!
I said it all along. Monsters were the wrong song for her. She barely made it to the final. One of the other two songs in the NF would have been better
Honestly, her song and performance might have been kitsch and mainstream but she didn’t deserve to come second to last. I would have put Netherlands or Serbia below Finland and Portugal, who were definitely screwed by televoting.
I am so ambivalent about Sarra… sometimes I love her and sometimes she puts me off, coming across so very fake with her eagerness to be liked… Its funny how I feel the same about her look… sometimes She looks gorgeous to me and sometimes she creeps me out.
She’s also touring across Finland in October and November to promote her album.
This should’ve been her ESC-entry. It’s a banger!!