Signmark

Last updated
Signmark
Signmark.jpg
Signmark performing at the Night of the Arts festival 2009 in Helsinki.
Background information
Birth nameMarko Vuoriheimo
Born (1978-06-26) 26 June 1978 (age 45)
Origin Helsinki, Finland
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer
Instrument(s)rapping
Years active2004–
Labels Warner
Website www.signmark.biz

Marko Vilhelm Vuoriheimo (born 26 June 1978 in Helsinki), [1] professionally known as Signmark, is a deaf Finnish hip hop recording artist. He describes his music as being party hip hop that takes a stand. [2] Born into a signing family, Vuoriheimo feels that society should not treat the deaf as disabled people but as a linguistic minority with their own culture and history. [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

Although it was only in 2004 that Vuoriheimo started creating his own music, [4] he has signed poetry and music since he was a child. Christmas carols were some of the first music he learned to sign. When performing, he rhymes signs by ensuring that they have the same types of hand forms and signs. The bass line is important for him, as it helps him follow the music and time his rhymes. His facial expressions reinforce the signs, while improvisation is an essential part of the overall package. [2]

His debut album, Signmark was released on 29 November 2006. The album included the soundtrack on CD and signed music videos on DVD. [5] The album had eight songs on it, many of which dealt with the history, culture and rights of the Finnish signing community. His songs are freeform signing, even though the vocal versions rhyme. His goal is to incorporate more rhyming signed lyrics on his next album.

Signmark was one of the artists competing in Finland's national qualifications to represent it in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. [6] Signmark won his qualifying round on 23 January 2009, with Speakerbox, which he performed with Osmo Ikonen, as he received 46.5% of the votes. [7] At the finals on 31 January Signmark placed second behind Waldo's People with 41.2% of the votes. [8]

The original Signmark group split up in May 2009, after which Signmark signed a record deal with Warner Music as a solo artist. He became the first deaf person to sign a recording contract with an international record company.

Filmography

Discography

Related Research Articles

The music of Finland can be roughly divided into folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katri Helena</span> Finnish singer (born 1945)

Katri Helena Kalaoja is a Finnish singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teräsbetoni</span> Finnish heavy metal band

Teräsbetoni is a Finnish heavy/power metal band. Their first album, Metallitotuus, was released in 2005 and has so far sold more than 32,000 copies. Teräsbetoni has been strongly influenced by bands such as Manowar. The direct translation of the band's name is "steel concrete", Finnish for "reinforced concrete".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jari Sillanpää</span> Finnish-Swedish singer (born 1965)

Jari Veikko Sillanpää is a Finnish-Swedish singer. With over 820,000 records sold, he is the fifth-best-selling music artist and second-best-selling solo artist in Finland.

Finland participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" written by Mr Lordi. The song was performed by the band Lordi. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Euroviisut 2006 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. 12 artists with two songs each were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of four semi-finals and a final, taking place in February and March 2006. Twelve entries ultimately competed in the final on 10 March where votes from the public selected "Hard Rock Hallelujah" performed by Lordi as the winner.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Why?" written by Mika Toivanen and Steven Stewart. The song was performed by Geir Rönning. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Euroviisut 2005 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. 24 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of four semi-finals and a final, taking place in January and February 2005. Six entries competed in each semi-final and the top three from each semi-final, as selected solely by a public vote, advanced to the final. Twelve entries competed in the final on 19 February where votes from six regional juries first selected the top six to advance to a second round. In the second round, votes from the public selected "Why?" performed by Geir Rönning as the winner with 30,648 votes.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Leave Me Alone" written by Martti Vuorinen and Miikka Huttunen. The song was performed by Hanna Pakarinen. In addition to participating in the contest, the Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2006 with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" performed by Lordi. Yle organised the national final Euroviisut 2007 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2007 contest in Helsinki. 12 artists with two songs each were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of four semi-finals and a final, taking place in January and February 2007. Twelve entries ultimately competed in the final on 17 February where votes from the public selected "Leave Me Alone" performed by Hanna Pakarinen as the winner.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Takes 2 to Tango" written by Mika Toivanen and Jari Sillanpää. The song was performed by Jari Sillanpää. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their relegation from 2003 as one of the bottom five countries in the 2002 contest. Yle organised the national final Euroviisut 2004 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey. 20 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of two semi-finals and a final, taking place in January 2004. Ten entries competed in each semi-final and the top six from each semi-final, as selected solely by a public vote, advanced to the final. Twelve entries competed in the final on 24 January where votes from six regional juries first selected the top six to advance to a second round. In the second round, votes from the public selected "Takes 2 to Tango" performed by Jari Sillanpää as the winner with 98,987 votes.

Finland participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Lose Control" written by Waldo, Karima, Ari Lehtonen and Annie Kratz-Gutå. The song was performed by the band Waldo's People. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Euroviisut 2009 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. 12 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three semi-finals, a Second Chance round and a final, taking place in January 2009. Eight entries ultimately competed in the final on 30 January where votes from the public selected "Lose Control" performed by Waldo's People as the winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waldo (musician)</span> Finnish Eurodance musician (born 1967)

Waldo is a Finnish Eurodance musician. His solo hits, sang in Jamaican accent, are "It's About Time" and "Feel So Good" in 1995. The number of sales of the album "It's About Time" was certified as gold record in Finland in 1996. Waldo has also written songs for different artists such as Christian Forss.

Finland participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Työlki ellää" written by Timo Kiiskinen. The song was performed by the duo Kuunkuiskaajat. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Euroviisut 2010 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. 15 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three semi-finals and a final, taking place in January 2010. Ten entries ultimately competed in the final on 30 January where votes from the public selected "Työlki ellää" performed by Kuunkuiskaajat as the winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vexi Salmi</span> Finnish lyricist (1942–2020)

Veikko Olavi "Vexi" Salmi was a Finnish lyricist. He wrote the lyrics to numerous popular songs for several prominent artists, including Irwin Goodman, Jari Sillanpää, and Katri Helena. His career as a lyricist began in the 1960s, and continued until his death. During his prolific career, he wrote the lyrics for over 4,000 songs, more than 2,400 of which have been recorded. In addition to song lyrics, he authored several novels and one collection of poetry. Salmi's latest work also included collaborating with Ilkka Lipsanen on a 60th anniversary album, and he also acted as a judge on a television program on music lyrics, Biisikärpänen

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Da Da Dam" written by Axel Ehnström. The song was performed by Paradise Oskar, which is the artistic name of singer Axel Ehnström. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Euroviisut 2011 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. 15 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three semi-finals and a final, taking place in January and February 2011. Ten entries ultimately competed in the final on 12 February where votes from the public selected "Da Da Dam" performed by Paradise Oskar as the winner.

Vain elämää is the Finnish version of The Best Singers series broadcast on Finnish Nelonen commercial television channel fashioned on the successful Dutch series De beste zangers van Nederland. Each day, one artist would be chosen, and the remaining artists would perform covers of her or his songs and would be assessed by the original artist. The last day would be dedicated to duets of the most popular performances.

Teflon Brothers is a Finnish hip hop group originally from Helsinki, Finland. The band consists of Pyhimys, Heikki Kuula and Voli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krista Siegfrids</span> Finnish singer

Kristin "Krista" Siegfrids is a Finnish pop singer. She represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with her entry "Marry Me". Siegfrids' debut album, named Ding Dong!, was released in May 2013. As a television presenter, she hosted Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu from 2016 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät</span> Finnish punk band

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät was a Finnish punk rock band, formed in 2009 in a charity workshop for adults with developmental disabilities. They are the main focus of the 2012 Finnish documentary film The Punk Syndrome. In 2015, they qualified for the finals of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, which they later won; they represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 but got knocked out in the semi-final. The group disbanded in December 2016 when guitarist Pertti Kurikka turned 60 years old and retired from playing punk rock.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Sing It Away" written by Sandhja Kuivalainen, Milos Rosas, Heikki Korhonen, Petri Matara and Markus Savijoki. The song was performed by Sandhja. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2016 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. 18 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three semi-finals and a final, taking place in February 2016. Six entries competed in each semi-final and the top three from each semi-final, as selected solely by a public vote, advanced to the final. Nine entries competed in the final on 27 February where the 50/50 combination of votes from ten jury groups representing different factions of Finnish society and votes from the public selected "Sing It Away" performed by Sandhja as the winner.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Look Away" written and performed by Ville Virtanen under the stage name Darude and Sebastian Rejman. Darude and Sebastian Rejman were internally selected by the Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) in January 2019 to represent the nation at the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. The national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu2019 was organised in order to select the song that Darude and Rejman would perform. Three songs were selected to compete in the national final on 2 March 2019 where the 50/50 combination of votes from eight international jury groups and votes from the public selected "Look Away" as the winning song.

References

  1. ↑ Stenros, Nuppu (2008). Signmark (in Finnish). Otava. ISBN   978-951-1-22930-8.
  2. 1 2 3 "Maailma kylässä: Signmark" [World Village Festival: Signmark] (in Finnish). 2006. Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Bio" (in Finnish). Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Signmark feat. Osmo Ikonen" (in Finnish). YLE. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Other News: Signmark". European Union of the Deaf. February 2007. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Suomen karsinnan kutsuartistit valittu" [Invited artists selected for Finland's Eurovision semi-finals] (in Finnish). YLE. September 25, 2008. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Signmark feat. Osmo Ikonen ja Jari Sillanpää veivät viimeiset suorat finaalipaikat" [Signmark feat. Osmo Ikonen and Jari Sillanpää win the last direct spots in the finals] (in Finnish). YLE. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Suomen euroviisuedustaja on Waldo's people" [Waldo's people to represent Finland] (in Finnish). YLE. January 31, 2009. Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved January 31, 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.