#Jennie Storbacka

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

Joel Mäkinen as the Duke of Monroth and Jennie Storbacka as Satine in Helsingin kaupunginteatteri's production of Moulin Rouge!

Photo by Otto-Ville Väätäinen.

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2005 - Number 31 - Jennie - "Kiss Me"

This is Jennie Storbacka with her first appearance at the Finnish national final as a lead artist. I believe she's been a backing singer prior to this, but now she's had the call up to perform under her own mononym. She's a professional singer and stage actress at the outset of a career that's going to include a lot of musical theatre as well as solo performances and studio work. It's unfortunate that this performance has some video break-up in the final chorus.

For what I think is the first time, Euroviisut this year has gone for multiple heats of six songs rather than two big semi-finals or just a final. The broadcaster is investing in its national final and devoting more time in the schedules for it. The production levels have been good for some time, but it another step up occurred in 2004.

Jennie is exactly what they need, a strong voice and performer who the camera naturally gravitates towards. She's the centre of attention and yes, of course she can carry a song. And in this case, that's where the problems may lie.

Kiss Me is by Janne Hyöty and Jens Smedman. The former is a well-known Finnish song-writer and producer who, like Jennie, is at the beginning of what will become a long career in the music industry. Jens is someone who used to be the lead singer and song-writer in a 1990s Finnish rock/reggae group called Mr. Bigcock. It's a conventional pop song with some interesting touches and some troubling and potential controversial lyrics.

It's a song by a woman who appears to have been cheating on someone and is asking for forgiveness, laying herself before the wronged party and asking for... ...something. From the very first words, Jennie is being submissive, putting her partner above her. She's desperate to be accepted back, with the sign of forgiveness she desires being a kiss. That though, isn't what she expects. The end of the chorus...

Kiss me, before it turns to hate. Kiss me. Lucky man. Hit me. 'Cause what the heart wants and what the heart needs, Whatever you do, don't break my heart please.

Oh my. This isn't a Britney Spears hit me baby one more time. This goes beyond S&M - even if Jennie seems to be looking forward to it. This is a woman who's willing (desiring?) to be struck to preserve her relationship. The jaunty, light pop arrangement of the song is insufficient to carry this load, even though that chorus's chord sequence starts to descend at just the right moment into the pit of darkness at the heart of the song.

It's disturbing to find this lurking in such a well written, sung and performed song that managed to not only qualify easily from its heat, but finished a close third in a big televote. I don't know whether to be alarmed or amazed to hear something like this sung about in a song aiming for Eurovision. I wish it had a line somewhere indicating it's metaphor or a fantasy or role-play or just something other than violence against women, but it doesn't. I'm troubled by it.

Despite the lyrics, this song seems to have put Jennie on the map for YLE and she was invited back to try again in 2006. Since then she's enjoyed a career full of stage performances, a range of musical performances from gigs in small clubs, to large stages, to studio work to recording her own material. She finished third on the Finnish incarnation of the Voice in 2015 and sang at the Finnish Presidential Ball in 2018, a high honour. She's also a soloist in a variety of military and police bands.

[insuranceautolawnews]

Teatteri

Espoon kaupunginteatteri: Äidinmaa. Käsikirjoitus: Annina Enckell. Musiikki: Esa Nieminen, Niklas Rosström. Ohjaus: Maria Sid. Rooleissa mm. Jennie von Storbacka, Mikael Saari, Laura Voutilainen, Pirkko Mannola, Helmi-Leena Nummela, Puntti Valtonen. ★★★★

Tärkein ensin: Äidinmaa on vaikuttava näyttö siitä, ettei Suomesta ainakaan osaamista puutu hienon musiikkiteatterin tekemiseen.

Minut riisutaan aseista viimeistään esityksen kolmannessa kappaleessa, kun vanhempi Anni (Pirkko Mannolahttp://ift.tt/2lb1ee9) tykittää ilmoille kappaleen nuorelle itselleen.

Annina Enckellinhttp://ift.tt/2knMDIa Äidinmaa on vahva draama, jossa 100-vuotiaan Suomen historia kuljetetaan neljän sukupolven naisten kautta.

Käsittelyssä ovat itsenäisen Suomen historian pahimmat kipupisteet: kaikki alkaa Vienon (Laura Voutilainenhttp://ift.tt/2laZlxM) muistosta sisällissodan kauhuista, ”rikki raastetun kankaan avuttomasta parkaisusta”.

Tarina kulkee isättömyyden, alkoholismin, sotaleskeyden, järkiavioliiton ja lapsesta luopumisen varjostamien polkujen kautta paljetinhohtoiselle 80-luvulle, jossa sukupolvitarinan nuorinta, Lauraa (Helmi-Leena Nummelahttp://ift.tt/2knHpw3), mietityttää kumpi tekee onnellisemmaksi, raha vai rakkaus.

Historiasta totuuksia kuiskii Vieno: viinaa trokaava, sisällissodan kauhut kokenut yrittäjä, jolle itsellinen toimeentulo on kunnia-asia. Myös hän on avuton elämän edessä, kuten me kaikki.

Käsiohjelmassa Äidinmaa esitellään musikaalina. Sitä tekisi mieli kutsua kuitenkin musiikkinäytelmäksi. Koreografiaa tai fyysisyyttä siinä ei juuri ole. Sävelmät eivät niinkään kuljeta tarinaa, vaan tukevat sitä.

Alussa niin näyttelijöiden kuin tilanteidenkin väliltä puuttuu intensiteettiä, vaikka se tuntuu olevan monessa näyttelijässä sisällä.

Toisella puoliajalla draaman tiivistyminen ja esimerkiksi vaikuttavasti rakennettu hääkohtaus puhaltavat kuitenkin esityksen eloon.

Pienestä jähmeydestä syntyy kuitenkin vaikutelma, etteivät kirjoittaja, ohjaaja ja visuaalisesta ilmeestä vastaava Joonas Tikkanenhttp://ift.tt/2laZn8S ole ehkä täysin jakaneet käsitystä tyylilajista. Vähän erillisiä maailmoja onneksi sitoo toisiinsa muusikkojen (Eeppi Ursinhttp://ift.tt/2knHEXU ja Elisa Järvelähttp://ift.tt/2laWIMM) sielukas panos.

Tyylien sekamelskaa hämmentää pienenä mutta häiritsevänä yksityiskohtana musiikkinäytelmän "bonusraita" – euroviisurenkutus, joka ei tunnu liittyvän mitenkään mihinkään.

Esityksen saavat kuitenkin loistamaan hienot esiintyjät: Laura Voutilaisen tyyni rauha ja Helmi-Leena Nummelan energia, Pirkko Mannolan aseistariisuva laulu sekä Jennie von Storbackan http://ift.tt/2knNgBrja Mikael Saarenhttp://ift.tt/2laYrBr kirkkaat ja surumielisten duetot riittävät ainoastaan syyksi hakeutua Espooseen.

Herkkä ja karismaattinen Peter Nyberghttp://ift.tt/2knPiBM on yksi esityksen valopilkuista. Myös Puntti Valtonen http://ift.tt/2lbdHOLtekee vaikuttavan roolin alkoholisoituneena tyrannina.

Tässä näytelmässä on miesten vuoro olla heikkoja ja epävakaita.

Perinteisen tarinankuljetuksen ja tematiikan puolesta Äidinmaa tuo mieleen samalla lavalla viime syksynä nähdyn Meidän luokka -esityksen.

Molemmat toimivat myös hyytävänä muistutuksena 1930-luvun sotaa edeltäneestä nationalistisesta paatoksesta, joka tuntuu tänään niin pelottavan läheiseltä.

Lisäys 15.2. klo 12.12.: Juttuun lisätty esityksen saamat tähdet.

[onenightintheatre-blog]

The beautiful Jennie Storbacka as Emma in the press event of the Finnish production of Jekyll & Hyde in Turku, Finland.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Espoon kaupunginteatteri’s original musical Äidinmaa, featuring Jennie Von Storbacka as Anni and Peter Pihlström as Veikko.

Photo by Andreas Janett.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

My ninth pick is this photo by Andreas Janett, depicting Jennie Von Storbacka as Anni and Peter Pihlström as Veikko in Espoon kaupunginteatteri’s original musical Äidinmaa.

I haven’t seen this production, but I feel this photo tells its own story. Their expressions and the way he is looking at her but she is lost in her own thoughts – it gets the imagination going and makes you come up with your own story of who they are and how they ended up in this situation. It’s also really beautiful to look at, with the light everything feel just a little bit unreal.

Many have seen photographer Andreas Janett’s work on newstands: he has photographed countless covers and portraits for the women’s magazine Me Naiset, among other work. Check out his online portfolio or take a look at more of his Äidinmaa photos on the blog.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Espoon kaupunginteatteri’s original musical Äidinmaa, featuring Jennie Von Storbacka as Anni and Mikael Saari as Olavi.

Photo by Andreas Janett.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

The song Pakahtuva sydän, performed by Jennie Von Storbacka and Mikael Saari, from Espoon kaupunginteatteri’s original musical Äidinmaa.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Espoon kaupunginteatteri’s original musical Äidinmaa, featuring Jennie Von Storbacka as Anni.

Photo by Andreas Janett.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A promotional photo for Espoon kaupunginteatteri’s original musical Äidinmaa, featuring Pirkko Mannola, Laura Voutilainen, Jennie Von Storbacka and Helmi-Leena Nummela.

Photo by Andreas Janett.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Espoon kaupunginteatteri’s original musical Äidinmaa, featuring Pirkko Mannola and Jennie Von Storbacka as Anni.

Photo by Andreas Janett.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A promotional photo for Espoon kaupunginteatteri’s upcoming original musical Äidinmaa (Motherland) featuring Mikael Saari, Pirkko Mannola, Jennie Storbacka and Laura Voutilainen.

Photo by Klaus Suhonen.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Turun kaupunginteatteri's 2013–14 production of Jekyll & Hyde. Jennie Storbacka as Emma, Riku Nieminen as Dr. Jekyll.

Photo by Robert Seger, from the theatre's Instagram.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

Pirjo Liiri-Majava’s costumes for Emma Carew (Jennie Storbacka).Turun kaupunginteatteri’s 2013–14 production of Jekyll & Hyde.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Wasa Teater's recently closed original musical Fighting Star.

Pictured: Sofie Lybäck, Valtteri Keinänen, Susanna Ujanen, Jennie Storbacka and Paulina Biström.

Photo by Frank A. Unger.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

Here's to hoping that Wasa Teater's production of Fighting Star will have an amazing last performance tonight!

Pictured: Jennie Storbacka.

Photo by Frank A. Unger.