Jari Veikko Sillanpää (; born 16 August 1965) is a Finnish-

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

singer. With over 820,000 records sold, he is the fifth-best-selling music artist and second-best-selling solo artist in Finland.

Life and career

Born into a Sweden-Finnish family, Sillanpää spent his childhood in Sweden. His mother was one of the tens of thousands Finnish children who were evacuated to Sweden during World War II. Sillanpää's maternal great-grandfather, Potif Afanasief, and great-grandmother were Russians. Sillanpää moved to Finland in the mid-1990s. He gained fame after winning the

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...

Tangomarkkinat The Tangomarkkinat is the world's oldest tango festival. It is held early every July in Seinäjoki, Finland. As well as competitions to find the country's best tango singers, composers, and dancers, the festival features public dancing to live mu ...

tango contest in 1995. Sillanpää's 1996 debut album ''Jari Sillanpää'' is the best-selling album of all time in Finland, with over 270,000 copies sold. In 1998, Sillanpää was awarded the Male Soloist of the Year Emma award. Sillanpää represented Finland in

Eurovision Song Contest 2004 The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the 49th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Istanbul, Turkey, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everyway That I Can" by Sertab Erener. Organised by the European Broa ...

and his song "

Takes 2 to Tango 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 Eurovisio ...

" (which he wrote the lyrics for) received 51 points in the semi-final, taking the 14th place and not qualifying for the final. Sillanpää participated in the Finnish National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Kirkas kipinä", making it to the final show, but finishing out of the final three. A Swedish citizen by birth, Sillanpää also obtained Finnish citizenship in the early 2010s. In 2006 Sillanpää came out publicly as homosexual. In August 2018, Sillanpää received a suspended 10-month sentence for buying

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

. In early 2020, Sillanpää was on trial for having filmed a computer screen with his phone while a child sexual abuse video was playing on the computer. Sillanpää denied the charge and said someone else had used his phone. He was convicted and given a fine of more than 15,000 euros.

Discography

;Albums * ''Jari Sillanpää'' (1996) * ''Hyvää joulua'' (1996) – Christmas album * ''Auringonnousu'' (1997) * ''Varastetut helmet'' (1998) * ''Onnenetsijä'' (1999) * ''Maa on niin kaunis'' (2000) – Christmas album * ''Hän kertoo sen sävelin'' (2001) * ''Määränpää tuntematon'' (2003) * ''Albumi'' (2008) * ''Al Ritmo Latino'' (2008) * ''Kuin elokuvissa'' (2009) * ''Millainen laulu jää'' (2011) * ''Rakkaudella merkitty mies'' (2014) ;Compilation albums * ''Kuninkaan kyyneleet'' (2000) * ''Parhaat'' (2005) * ''Kaikkien aikojen parhaat'' (2013) ;Singles * "Bum bum bum" (1997) * "Valkeaa unelmaa" (1998) * "Lauluni" (1999) * "Kuuleeko Eero?" (1999) * "Lumilinna" (1999) * "Sininen & punainen" (2001) * "Takes 2 to Tango" (2004) * "Vierellesi kaipaan" (with

Katri Helena Katri Helena Kalaoja (née Koistinen, born 17 August 1945) is a Finnish singer. Career Katri Helena released her first songs in 1963 and has since sold over 630,000 certified records, which makes her the second-best-selling female soloist ...

) (2007) * "Liekeissä" (2012)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sillanpaa, Jari 1965 births Living people People from Ludvika Municipality Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Finland 20th-century Finnish male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2004 Gay musicians LGBT singers from Finland Finnish tango musicians Swedish expatriates in Finland Swedish people of Finnish descent Finnish people of Russian descent Swedish people of Russian descent Naturalized citizens of Finland LGBT singers from Sweden 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century Finnish male singers

Life and career

Discography

See also

References

External links