Vesa-Matti Loiri

While Vesa-Matti Loiri, born January 4, 1945 in Helsinki, Finland, would become one of his country’ biggest movie stars, he also enjoyed a side career in music. He landed his first film role while still a teenager, and in 1968’s Noin seitsemän veljestä he worked for the first time with screenwriter Spede Pasanen. Pasanen would, three years later, develop a comedy program Spede Show, on which Loiri would appear as the comedy character Uuno Turhapuro. When the series ended in 1973, the two developed a string of successful movies based on the character, producing 20 movies over the next 30 years. A professional flautist and singer, Loiri began a recording career in 1971 and releasing a new album almost yearly. He eventually became one of the country’s biggest-selling artists. In 1980 he was Finland’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, though he finished last in the competition. The biggest single of his career came in 2008 when the yearning ballad "Sydämeeni joulun teen", which featured both his bass vocals and his flute skills, hit number 14, though he nearly matched it when "Hyvää puuta" climbed to number 19 one year later. His two careers came together when he voiced the part of the Genie in the Finnish version of Aladdin, and he has performed opera. "Sydämeeni joulun teen" returned to the pop charts in 2020.

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