Waltteri Torikka has had quite a year. First he wins MTVs talent show Tähdet tähdet, which we covered extensively on this site and now he's been named "Finland's Sexiest Man" by the readers of the women's maagazine Eeva (Eve). Since winning the show, he's been dubbed the "Ricky Martin of Finland" and finds people staring at him on the street.
Torikka beat out Finnish actor Tommi Korpela and hockey player Pekka Rinne for the title. Readers who voted for Torikka offered all kinds of interesting reasons including comments about his "supple thighs" and "regal stature."
Waltteri Torikka offered this Finnish serenade to readers who voted him Sexiest Man:
Torikka will be performing Sibelius' Kullervo at the BBC Proms in London on August 28 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Next summer, he'll appear as Don Giovanni at the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
Waltteri Torikka during the finale of Tähdet, Tähdet
Finnish barihunk Waltteri Torikka won MTV's singing competition Tähdet, Tähdet (Stars, Stars) garnering 58% of the vote and bringing the audience to its feet with his own hip swinging rendition of Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca. Sunday's finale culminated a two month journey that included performances of Whitesnake's Still of Night, a country version of "Ring of Fire," the punk rock song "Hei hei mitä kuuluu," a Finnish tango, and even an Ozzy Osbourne-esque version of Scarpia from Tosca!
Waltteri Torikka sings Livin' La Vida Loca:
Waltteri Torikka finished ahead of Laura Voutilainen. Both finalists performed three songs during the finale. Torikka was a relatively unknown opera singers to most Finns when the competition began, but quickly became a fan favorite with his energetic and often sexually charged renditions of pieces.
He now heads to the Rijeka Opera in Croatia to sing the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni from May 21-29. Fans in the UK can see him on August 29th at the Proms, where he will be performing Jean Sibelius' Kullervo.
Barihunk Waltteri Torikka is competing on a voice competition called Tähdet, Tähdet (Stars, Stars) on Finnish MTV and this week's challenge is Heavy Metal. So he took some time out with David Coverdale from White Snake to work on his rocker technique. You can watch the video HERE.
Over the weeks he's had to perform a number of different genres, including country, punk, tango, Latin pop and even some opera. He's currently one of the finalists in the competition. You can enjoy his performances below.
Country version of "Ring of Fire":
Punk rock song "Hei hei mitä kuuluu" (Hey, hey, what's up?):
The Finnish Tango "Satumaa" (Fairyland):
Singing "Livin' La Vida Loca":
He even sang an Ozzy Osbourne-esque version of Scarpia!:
You can hear Waltteri Torikka live this month on tour with the Concert Band of the Conscript Band of the Finnish Defence Forces. He's the featured soloist on their Finlandia Tour, which plays April 10th in Mikkeli, April 11th in Tampere, April 13th at the Hyvinkää Church and April 14 in Lahti.
