Kari Tapio (born Kari Tapani Jalkanen, November 22, 1945 in Suonenjoki, Finland – December 7, 2010 in Espoo, Finland) was a Finnish schlager-singer. He has been one of the most popular singers in Finland for decades. In the 1960s Kari Tapio performed in his current home city Pieksämäki with the local bands ER-Quartet and Jami & The Noisemakers. In 1966 he got some singing teaching from Ture Ara. After his first single "Tuuli kääntyköön"/"Niskavuoren nuorimmainen" in 1972 Kari Tapio performed in Ilkka "Danny" Lipsanen's show. In the beginning his role was to take care of the snake that was used in the show. Before the time music became his main work Kari Tapio worked as a typesetter in a printing house. In 1976 Kari Tapio finally break trough with his single "Laula kanssain" ("Sing With Me") which was followed by "Viisitoista kesää" ("Fifteen Summers") and "Kaipuu" ("Desire"). In the later years "Olen suomalainen" ("I am Finnish"), "Myrskyn jälkeen" ("After the Storm"), "En pyydä paljon" ("I Don't Demand Much") and the newest "Paalupaikka" ("Pole Position") have been few of his most popular songs. In 2003 the Iskelmä-Finlandia trophy was awarded to him. Many of Kari Tapio's songs are influences by country music. He has done lots of Finnish versions from the songs of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristoffersson. Kari Tapio was one of the candidates to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Valaise yö". In the final, he was placed second, and Teräsbetoni was chosen to represent Finland. Kari Tapio died on 7th December 2010. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.