Finland

Finland (ⁱ/ˈfɪnlənd/; Finnish: Suomi [suomi]; Swedish: Finland [ˈfɪnland]), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, a peninsula with Gulf of Finland to the south and Gulf of Bothnia to the west. It has land borders with Sweden and Norway to the north and Russia to the east. Finland is part of the geographic region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia and parts of Russia.

Finland's population is 5.5 million (2014), staying roughly on the same level with only about 9% increase in 24 years since the last economic depression in 1990. The majority live in the southern regions. The single largest group of foreigners living in Finland are Russians and Estonians, 36% of all of the foreigners (2014). In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 317 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which produces a third of the country's GDP. Other large cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti, and Kuopio.

Adam Lambert

Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and stage actor. Since 2009, he has sold over 2.5 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide.

Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after finishing as runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol. Later that year, he released his debut album, For Your Entertainment, which debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album spawned several hit singles, including "Whataya Want from Me", for which he received a Grammy nomination for "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance."

In 2012, Lambert released his second studio album, Trespassing. The album premiered at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making him the first openly gay artist to top the album charts. In 2015, Lambert released his third album, The Original High, which debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200.

Alongside his solo career, Lambert has collaborated with rock band Queen as lead vocalist since 2011, culminating in a successful world-wide tour from 2014 to 2016.

Ville Valo

Ville Hermanni Valo (born 22 November 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter, artist, and multi instrumentalist. He is the frontman of the Finnish rock band HIM. Valo has a baritone voice type and has maintained a wide vocal range throughout his career.

He has received the "Golden God" award in 2004 from the heavy metal magazine Metal Hammer. Valo was ranked number 80 in Hit Parader's 'Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time'.

Early life and influences

Ville Hermanni Valo was born in the Vallila district of Helsinki. His father, Kari, is Finnish and his mother, Anita, is of Hungarian descent. Soon after his birth, the family moved to the riverside community of Oulunkylä where they lived throughout his teenage years. In 1984 his younger brother and only sibling Jesse was born. In his late teens, he worked at his father's sex shop and later moved out on his own when he was 18.

As a child, Valo was exposed to the songs of popular Finnish performers such as Tapio Rautavaara and Rauli Badding Somerjoki. In various interviews he has cited his favorite artists include King Diamond, Elvis Presley, Neil Young, as well as bands such as Fields of the Nephilim,The Sisters of Mercy, Black Sabbath,Type O Negative,Depeche Mode, Iron Maiden, Kiss, Jim Morrison and The Doors, and The Stooges. Valo is frontman of the Finnish rock band HIM. They became the first and only Finnish rock band to achieve a gold record (more than 500,000 copies) in the United States. Valo was also the drummer for the Daniel Lioneye project which featured HIM's guitarist Linde Lindström on vocals/lead guitar and Migé Amour on bass. In May 2007, Valo checked into Promises Malibu, a California rehabilitation center, to seek treatment for his alcoholism. He currently resides in Helsinki.