Matti Kalevi Siitonen (23 July 1942 – 23 April 2021), known professionally as Fredi, was a Finnish comedic actor, musician, singer/songwriter and television presenter. Domestically he was best known as a founding member of the comedic variety ensemble Kivikasvot. Siitonen chose his stage name, Fredi, after the cartoon character,

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintsto ...

Career

Fredi was born in

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 i ...

. In 1965 he recorded his first song, "Roskisdyykkarin Balladi" as Folk Fredi. A year later he dropped the Folk name and was simply known as Fredi. Internationally he represented his country at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1967 The Eurovision Song Contest 1967 was the 12th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Merci, Chérie" by Udo Jürgens. Organised by the European Bro ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria with the song " Varjoon - suojaan" ("Into the shadow--into shelter"), which received three points and finished 12th out of 17. Fredi returned to Eurovision in 1976 at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Netherlands, with the group Fredi & Friends. Their song " Pump-Pump" received 44 points, finishing 11th out of 18. In Finland Fredi had more than 20 Top 10 hit singles, and achieved diamond status with many studio albums like ''Avaa sydämesi mulle'' (''Open Your Heart to Me'') and ''Rakkauslauluja'' (''Lovesongs''). In 1968, he recorded Finnish cover versions of Tom Jones's "

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...

" and

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

's "

Whiter Shade of Pale "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum that was issued as their debut record on 12 May 1967. The single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, i ...

" and five years later,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's "

Starman ''StarMan'' is a 1996 fantasy novel by Australian writer Sara Douglass. It follows the second book in the series, '' Enchanter'', with Axis marching north with his army to confront a formidable enemy. Background ''StarMan'' was first published ...

" and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's "

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John, first released on 5 October 1973 as a double LP. The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John's magn ...

". In 1977, he released his first Christmas album, containing covers of "Silent Night" and "White Christmas". In 1978 he released one of his most critically acclaimed albums ''Tänään Fredi'' (''Today, Fredi''). It contained hit singles "Syntinen yö" ("The sinful night"), and Finnish covers of the Bee Gees'

Stayin' Alive "Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in 1977 as the second single from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack. The band co-produced ...

("Elää mä sain") and

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

's "

Magic Fly ''Magic Fly'' is the debut studio album by French band Space. It was released in April 1977 by Disques Vogue. The album reached No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart and included the hit single of the same name, which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Ch ...

" ("Se outoa on"). The album peaked at #5 in the Finnish Albums Chart and was certified gold. Fredi sold over 177,000

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

records, which places him among the 50 best-selling male soloists in Finland. In 2010, Fredi started presenting his own talk show, "Fredin Vieraana" ("Fredi's guests.") His shows included songs at the opening and closing of each episode, and interviews with Finnish musicians and singers such as

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 ...

and

Titta Jokinen Titta Jokinen (born 23 February 1951 in Kalanti, Finland) is a Finnish actress. Career Jokinen has appeared in both Finnish film and television since 1973. She appeared in the 1983 James Bond spoof '' Agent 000 and the Deadly Curves'' opposi ...

Personal life

Fredi was also the husband of the former mayor of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Eva-Riitta Siitonen. They were married in 1969 and on 13 November 1970, Eva-Riitta gave birth to the late Hanna-Riikka Siitonen, who was a singer and actress. Fredi was also the stepfather of Petri, Eva-Riitta's son from a previous relationship. Fredi died in April 2021, aged 78.

Discography

*1969 – ''Fredi'' (Gold) *1972 – ''Niin paljon kuuluu rakkauteen'' (Diamond) *1973 – ''Rakkauden Sinfonia'' (Gold) *1974 – ''Avaa sydämesi mulle'' (Diamond) *1975 – ''Rakkauslauluja'' (Diamond) *1976 – ''Laula Kanssain'' (Gold) *1978 – ''Tänään Fredi'' (Gold) *1980 – ''Elämä on ihanaa''

References

1942 births 2021 deaths People from Mikkeli 20th-century Finnish male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Finland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1967 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976 {{Finland-music-bio-stub