Jari Veikko Sillanpaa (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjɑri ˈsilːɑnpæː]; born 16 August 1965) is a Sweden-Finnish singer. With over 820,000 records sold, he is the fifth-best-selling music artist and second-best-selling solo artist in Finland. 　　Sillanpaa gained fame after winning the Seinajoki Tangomarkkinat tango contest in 1995. 　　Sillanpaa's 1995 debut album Jari Sillanpaa is the best-selling album of all time in Finland, with over 270,000 copies sold. 　　In 1998, Sillanpaa was awarded the Male Soloist of the Year Emma award. 　　Sillanpaa 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. Sillanpaa participated in the Finnish National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Kirkas kipina", making it to the final show, but finishing out of the final three. Since 2006 Sillanpaa has publicly identified himself as homosexual.