Marko Maunuksela, chairman of the tango market jury, responds to the tango rage of social media

The discussion was opened on social media by the tango king of 2015 Aki Samuli, who teased critics: “A sure sign of spring is always when Seijat and Sepot, the influencers of their own lives, start gathering on the internet to exchange a little of their thoughts.”

Criticism has strongly personified the president of the jury, the tango king of 2010 Marko to Maunusela and got ugly in places.

We reached him by phone.

Marko Maunuksela, how many times have you heard the phrase “Tangomarkkinat is ruined”?

“Heh. I’ve read it more often. We’re not talking about a thousand, but hundreds nonetheless.”

Aki Samuli listed the most typical social claims as follows: 1. Tango market has been ruined. 2. Where are the real tango sounds? 3. Reconciliations are shocking. 4. Maunuksela is fucked. 5. Referee game. 6. The best singers were dropped. 7. There’s no need to look at these any more.

“A semi-acquaintance replied to my social media post that now we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the theme ‘Tangomarkkinat went wrong’. He had dug up a very similar feedback on the internet from some chat room from 2006 that everything is ruined. At least it hasn’t changed in any way. The arrangements were already ruined when I was competing in 2009 and 2010. There was a lot of talk about it then. So they are at least the whole time was ruined. And they are ruined now. And the wrong singers are always dropped. That’s a matter of course.”

How many of those social media claims are true?

“I think that tango sound is funny. I don’t know what a tango sound is. Someone thinks it is Olavi Virtaaccording to someone Reijo Taipale or even Mika Pohjonen. And if you put all of these next to each other, they are all completely different sounds. There is no single tango sound.”

Which statement annoys you the most?

“Perhaps it annoys me that everything is personified to me. I am to blame for the fact that the poles are adjusted incorrectly. I am to blame for the competitors dropping out. It has even been claimed that I own the entire competition and decide everything. It is sometimes quite special. However, I am only the chairman of the jury, and I do not organize the event.”

Does the thought of the Tango market becoming some kind of Olavi Virta tradition party worry you?

“Yes, it’s kind of worrying. Some people think it was always better before. I asked one commenter to tell me what era you mean when you say the word before. Is it mirrored at the time when you listened to roaring records from clay disks? Or maybe the 60s or 70s? But was it better then? Hardly. Probably even then they shouted that it used to be better.”

You were even threatened with drowning last year. Why does tango evoke such huge emotions?

“Tango has always been a really big thing for Finns. And these loudest shouters are perhaps a bit more grown-up people. Perhaps their upbringing hasn’t really included talking about feelings. Then when they dance tango, you can tell the other person that I like su with a little more firmness. That’s why tango creates passions. And then when they look at the Tango market, they think about their own dancing situation. And then it’s too Argentinian or concert-like reconciliation produces unpleasant feelings. Because they are no longer the tappa-pappa-dappa dance that I am used to. I feel that my beloved sport, with which I can express my feelings, has gone to waste.”

Have there been situations in the jury where you looked at the stage and thought: ‘That favorite is going to drop now, and this is going to make the people angry’?

“Yes, we in the jury almost always know in advance where the shitstorm will come from. One year we even thought that maybe it would be better for a favorite to fall in the semifinals, that the shitstorm would come after the semifinals and not the finals. That maybe people would remember to congratulate the winners in the finals and not just bark at the wrong choices.”

It has also been proposed to divide a larger jury. What do you think about it?

“The jury has sometimes been bigger. As I recall, there were sometimes as many as eight people, and I myself have been on a jury of five people. Of course, a bigger group brings more perspectives, there are more ears and eyes. But just as many singers still drop out of the competition. I don’t think it would affect this shouting.”

Will something change in next year’s competitions?

“After the final, we always think about what went well and what went bad. And yes, there is a lot of talk about the development of the singing competition. The goal is that in the future there will be more young people involved, more newcomers and guys from different genres. The goal is for the Tango market to become a really coveted singing competition, which is of broad interest to music creators, professionals and singers. And that there will be a lot of young people involved, so that the whole thing doesn’t stagnate.”