Jari Sillanpää

Born in Ludvika, Sweden, into a Finnish–Swedish family, Jari Sillanpää grew up on the Swedish side before relocating to Finland in the mid-1990s, a move that marked the start of his public career in iskelmä — the Finnish popular-song tradition close to schlager, with a strong emphasis on the Finnish tango. Sillanpää rose to prominence in 1995 when he won the Tangomarkkinat competition in Seinäjoki, a decisive step toward variety stages and national festivals. His first album, Jari Sillanpää, was released in 1996, followed by Auringonnousu (1997), Varastetut helmet (1998), Onnenetsijä (1999) and Määränpää tuntematon (2003). His repertoire pairs highly accessible melodic lines, a direct vocal delivery and arrangements that move between tango, Nordic schlager and orchestral pop. He represented Finland at Eurovision 2004 with “Takes 2 to Tango”, for which he co-wrote the lyrics, and continued a discography that also includes Latin inflections on Al Ritmo Latino (2008) as well as albums such as Kuin elokuvissa (2009), Millainen laulu jää (2011) and Rakkaudella merkitty mies (2014). His career is firmly established in the Finnish song scene, spanning television, concerts and popular repertoire.