The Finnish representative in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, Vesa-Matti Loiri, released his album Ivalo a few weeks ago. Now it turns out that the CD, recorded in a small portable studio in Lapland, is a big commercial succes: It entered at second position of the album charts is is currently even on top!
Vesa-Matti Loiri sings in Finnish, mainly rock classics in a quite minimalist acoustic way. The a cappella group Rajaton joined their forces with the singer also on CD after a sold out tour in Finland and several gigs in the Untited States where they have performed ABBA hits. The album Ivalo is planned to be released in other countries too.
In 1980, Vesa-Matti Loiri performed his song Huilumies (A flute man), only finishing 19th – last -in the contest.
