Karaokeparatiisi / Karaoke Paradise

People sing everywhere: under the shower, in the sauna, riding a bus together. Sometimes without a hint of glamour, sometimes in a spotlight onstage. Songs about the loss of love, filled with longing and melancholy. Though the performance is not always particularly professional, it is unfailingly offered with the utmost abandon. From pop hits to heavy metal, songs are intoned by young and old, by people both unremarkable and flamboyant. For instance, there's Toni, who, even as he tries to escape the depressing banality of his everyday life, seems doomed to fail because of his stage fright. Kari, full of caustic self-deprecation, takes his first tentative steps in online dating at an advanced age, searching for a companion at a dance in the community centre. Or Laura, who is struggling to get over the death of her new-born baby. The film joyfully weaves the touching stories of its many protagonists into a colourful and sometimes bizarre panorama of Finnish society, in which music – a song sung together – promises healing, fellowship, and an end to loneliness.