Kirka, who represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1984 with Hengaillaan died last night. He was supposed to take part in the second season of Dancing with the stars next month as well as the Best of Euroviisut concert in Espoo on February 8.
Kirka, or Kirill Babitzin, was born on 22nd September 1950 in Helsinki. He started his career in 1962 being the solist in various bands before having his first solo hit in 1967 with Hetki iyö. In 1984 he won Euroviisut and went on to the Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg, where hegained a respectable 9th place. In 1988 he won the Syksyn sävel contest in Finland with the song Surun pyyhit silmistäni. This song is one of the biggest hits of the past 20 years in Finland. The album containing the song is the third best selling album in Finland to date with over 200.000 copies sold. Kirka has released 27 albums and he has been awarded the Emma award for best Finnish male singer twice, first in 1981 and then in 2000.
In his long career Kirka has sung everything from schlager to pop and heavy rock. He died last night at home in Helsinki, only 56 years old.
Watch Kirka at the Eurovision stage, 23 years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU5jFQpvphQ
