16 August 1965: Jari Sillanpää born


Jari Veikko Sillanpää was born on 16 August 1965. With over 820,000 records sold, he is the fifth-best-selling music artist and second-best-selling solo artist in Finland. Sillanpää gained fame after winning the Seinäjoki Tangomarkkinat tango contest in 1995. Sillanpää's 1995 self-titled debut album is the best-selling album of all time in Finland, with over 270,000 copies sold.

Sillanpää represented Finland in Eurovision Song Contest 2004 and his song "Takes 2 to Tango" (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.

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