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Janne
Mäkinen Wins Golden Accordion Award
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 21
year old Janne Mäkinen from Rauma won the prized Golden Accordion
Award from five other fellow contestants: Elisa Inkinen, Tomi Karttunen,
Henna-Maija Kuki, Satu Sarkoranta and Jonna Pirttijoki on a live TV show
filmed and broadcast as part of the 31st Sata-Häme Soi Accordion
Festival in Ikaalinen.
A student at the Music College in Helsinki, Janne studies with Heidi Velamon.
He has just returned from his mandatory Army service and is eager to study
more accordion both pop and jazz.
Janne was very impressed with the backing orchestra and he said the ease
with which he could work with them made him forget it was a competition
he was playing in.
A former winner of the Silver Accordion award, he looks forward to work
as an entertainer as he finds his niche in the music world.
Preliminary rounds were held onboard the Silja Europa cruise from Finland
to Sweden and back that was held in March. During this competition, eliminations
were held to select the finalists that performed live to a sold out audience.
Each of the contestants were filmed as part of the live Television Show
where Janne played a dazzling performance of 'Minka' by Victor Gridjin
accompanied by the backing band.
After each contestant presented their first performance, each of the candidates
was invited back to the stage. While the judges were working, each of
the contestants was invited to perform a well-known Finnish piece, once
again with the backing orchestra.
When the judges presented their scores, 3 finalists were selected and
then asked to present one more round, where they were judged again. In
this round, Mika played Bullet Train by Earnie Watts. |
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 The
TV Show was opened by hosts Lilja Liianpää and Kimmo Mattila
(pictured above) who welcomed viewers and capacity studio audience to
the annual Golden and Silver Accordion Awards Show.
Kimmo is the Musical Director of the Sata-Häme Soi - Accordion Festival
and in addition is President of the Finnish Accordion Association and
the Finnish Accordion Institute.
Lilja served as the host for the Silver Accordion Award which was the
first half of the show which was the Silver Accordion Award and Kimmo
for the Golden Accordion Award with both joining the stage for the final
rounds and awards.
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Meet
the Golden Accordion Award Contestants:
Elisa
Inkinen and Henna-Maija Kuki
Elisa celebrated her 18th birthday today which made the competition
quite special. Henna is 16 years old and currently in High School. |
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Tomi Karttunen and Jonna
Pirttijoki
Tomi also practices
Thai Kick Boxing and works with computsers. Jonna is 16 years old. |
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Satu Sarkoranta and Janne
Mäkinen
Satu
is 18 years old, and was trying to repeat her sisters accomplishment of
winning the Gold Accordion Award, however it wasn't to be so this year
as Janne took the coveted prize of the 2003 Golden Accordion.
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Final
Results from the Golden Accordion Award
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| Place |
Name |
From |
Total
Points |
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| Golden
Accordion Final Round |
| 1. |
Janne
Mäkinen |
Rauma |
58
points |
| 2. |
Jonna
Pirttijoki |
Kauhajoki |
57
points |
| 3. |
Henna-Maija
Kuki |
Nivala |
54
points |
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| Golden
Accordion First Round |
| 1. |
Janne
Mäkinen |
Rauma |
59
points |
| 2. |
Jonna
Pirttijoki |
Kauhajoki |
58
points |
| 3. |
Henna-Maija
Kuki |
Nivala |
56
points |
| 4. |
Tomi
Karttunen |
Pori |
54
points |
| 5. |
Satu
Sarkoranta |
Kalanni |
48
points |
| 6. |
Elisa
Inkinen |
Noormarkku |
48
points |
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Vilma
Avikainen Wins the Silver Accordion Award
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 Nine
year old accordionist Vilma Avikainen (pictured above) from Mikkeli won
the Silver Accordion Award for children under 10 years of age, competing
against Taneli Järvenpää, Hermanni Morander, Meeri Koskinen,
Aino Kivikallio, Liisa Niinistö and Saara Wasama at the sold out
live TV show finals.
Vilma played Mikki-Hiiri Merihadassa (Micky Mouse) by George Malmsten
(arr. Arto Kivekäs. Vilma is a student of Arto Kivekäs.
She has a little Mickey Mouse on her accordion and seemed to be quite
relaxed during the entire affair. She was happy playing and talking with
the other contestants during the pre-show build up and also during the
breaks between performances.
Among the panel of adjudicators was popular childrens TV character
- Eno Elmeri, who came with his accordion for this special event.
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| Contestants Taneli Järvenpää
(8 yrs) and Saara Wasama (10 yrs) |
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| Hermanni
Morander
(8 yrs) and Aino
Kivikallio (7 yrs) |
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| Liisa Niinistö (6
yrs) and Meeri Koskinen (10 yrs) |
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| Thank you to Minna Plihtari
for pictures of Vilma, Liisa, Meeri, Hermanni and Saara. |
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