Ari Koivunen (born June 7, 1984, Kouvola) is the winner of the 2007 Finnish Idols competition.^[1] Prior to entering Idols, Koivunen won the Finnish Karaoke Championships in 2005, and placed third in the Karaoke World Championships the same year.^[2] June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kouvola is a small town in southeastern Finland. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Idols is a Finnish television show based on the British Pop Idol format. ... A Karaoke machine Karaoke 空 kara, empty or void, and オーケストラ ōkesutora, orchestra) pronounced [kärÄ•-ōkÄ•];   is a form of entertainment in which an amateur singer or singers sing along with recorded music on microphone. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Originating in Finland in 2003 with 7 countries, the Karaoke World Championships are an international karaoke competition, featuring nearly 30 countries worldwide in 2007. ...

A resident of Lahti, Koivunen breezed into the finals after winning 86% of the public vote for his rendition of Billy Joel's Piano Man.^[3] On the first of March, 2007, Koivunen reserved himself a place in the second round of competition with his version of Deep Purple's Perfect Strangers.^[4] Location within Finland Lahti (Lahtis in Swedish) is a Finnish city of 100,049 inhabitants (2006), bordering the Vesijärvi lake. ... William Martin Billy Joel (born May 9, 1949, in Bronx, New York, USA) an American singer, pianist, and songwriter . ... Piano Man was Billy Joels first major hit, and is considered Joels signature song. ... This article is about the rock band. ... Perfect Strangers is the fifth song on a Deep Purple album by the same name. ...

Koivunen moved into the third round of competition on March 8th with his performance of the Iron Maiden classic The Evil That Men Do.^[5] March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). ... Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from east London. ... The Evil That Men Do was released in 1988 by Iron Maiden. ...

On the 15th of March, Koivunen made it into the fourth round of competition, singing the Whitesnake hit, Here I Go Again. Despite some criticism from the judges for singing only heavy metal songs in the finals, Koivunen was unperturbed. "I don't see any reason to consider what people might like, since it seems they like the same thing I do," said Koivunen.^[6] At the end of the evening, Koivunen, the six other Idols finalists, and three of the semifinalists were presented with gold records for their album Idols 2007, which sold over 15,000 copies in the two days after its release.^[1] This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Here I Go Again is a song recorded by Whitesnake . ...

The fourth Idols final was held on March 22, and Koivunen chose to sing, in keeping with the week's theme, two songs by his own idols, the Led Zeppelin hit Rock and Roll and Hunting High and Low by the Finnish metal band Stratovarius.¹ The judges, however, were not pleased with Koivunen's continuance of the heavy metal line, and gave him an unprecedented four negative reviews. The voting public was of a different opinion, as Koivunen again made it into the next round without being in danger of elimination.^[1] March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (82nd in leap years). ... For the bands 1969 self-titled debut album, see Led Zeppelin (album). ... Rock and Roll is a song by British rock band Led Zeppelin, which was first released as the second track of their untitled fourth album in 1971. ... Stratovarius is a Finnish Neoclassical/power metal band, known for its melodic approach to the genre. ...

The fifth Idols final was held on March 29, and Koivunen won over the judges completely with his version of the Broadcast ballad You Break My Heart. For his second song, Koivunen sang the Finnish hit Sielut iskee tulta by the heavy metal band Kilpi.¹. With these performances, Koivunen made it to the Idols final which was held on April 6, 2007 in the Helsinki Ice Arena, where he defeated his fellow competitor Anna Abreu by gaining 57% of the public vote. Koivunen sang the Sonata Arctica song Full Moon (which he also sang in the auditions), the Soundgarden hit Black Hole Sun (chosen by the judges), the Scorpions ballad Still Loving You and the song On the Top of the World which was composed for the Idols winner. March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (89th in leap years). ... Kilpi is a Finnish hard rock band, singing in Finnish. ... April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... Helsingin jäähalli Helsingin Jäähalli is an indoor arena located in Helsinki, Finland. ... Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1996. ... Soundgarden was an influential Seattle rock band who helped to define the sound that came to be called grunge. ... Black Hole Sun is a song by 1990s grunge band Soundgarden. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Still Loving You is a Scorpions hard rock ballad. ...

As his reward for winning Idols 2007, Koivunen received a recording contract with Sony BMG, and an advance payment of 30,000 Euros. His first single will be "On Top Of the World", the song composed for the Idols winner.^[1]

Facts

-Nicknamed "Iso A"
-Good friends with Anna Abreu-Idols Finalist
-Lost sister during competition, and its rumoured "Still Loving You" was sang in memory of her.
-Worked as a bartender before auditioning for Idols.

References

External links

• Ari Koivunen's official site.
• Ari Koivunen support site.
• Unofficial myspace-supportpage for Ari Koivunen.