Pete Parkkonen

Pete Eemeli Parkkonen (born 8 February 1990) is a Finnish singer. He took part in the Finnish Idol competition in its fourth season, then launched a solo career, releasing the albums The First Album in 2009 that topped the Finnish Albums Chart followed by I'm an Accident in 2010. He represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 alongside violinist Linda Lampenius with the song "", finishing 6th in the grand final with 279 points.

Career In Idol

Parkkonen auditioned with "Mies jolle ei koskaan tapahdu mitään", a song by J. Karjalainen. During the competition, he interpreted various songs, most notably "Queen City" and "I Kissed a Girl". In the semi-finals, he sang songs from Foo Fighters, Danko Jones and Eppu Normaali making it to the Final 3. The season finals were held on 9 November 2009 with Parkkonen considered the favourite to win. However, he was unexpectedly eliminated in the Final 3 phase finishing third. The grand finale was held on 14 December with Koop Arponen winning the title and Anna Puustjärvi as runner-up.

Parkkonen has also taken part in a number of reality television shows including season 2 of Livenä vieraissa (2009) where he sang "Womanizer" from Britney Spears and "Girl In A Uniform" his single. He also took part in Kuorosota, the Finnish version of Clash of the Choirs and broadcast on Nelonen station, coming second and donating 20,000 Euros to charity.

After Idol

After Idol, Parkkonen received a recording contract from Sony BMG and was the first season 4 contestants to release an album. Appropriately titled The First Album, he debuted at number 1 in its first week of release. The album went on to sell just over 24,000 copies and was accredited a gold award. Parkkonen's second studio album, I'm an Accident was released on 18 February 2010, but failed to gain the same commercial success peaking at number 21.

He is preparing a third album in 2014 in Finnish language. Preliminary single releases from the prospective album include "Mitä minä sanoin" and "Mun".

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu Parkkonen won UMK 2026 with violinist Linda Lampenius with the song "Liekinheitin", which received a record breaking 570 points and represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. They placed 6th in the final, earning 279 points.

Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications FIN Released: 5 March 2009 Label: Sony Music Formats: CD, digital download, streaming 1 IFPI FIN: Gold Released: 15 February 2010 Label: Sony Music Formats: CD, digital download, streaming 21 Released: 25 April 2014 Label: Warner Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming 20 Released: 23 November 2018 Label: Warner Formats: LP, digital download, streaming 8

Singles As lead artist Title Year Peak chart positions Album or EP FIN "Girl in a Uniform" 2009 5 — First Album "The Final Day" — — "I'm an Accident" 2010 — — I'm an Accident "" 2013 — — Pete Parkkonen "" 2014 — — "" 2015 — — "" 2016 3 — Pete "" — — "" 2017 — — "" 2018 14 — "" — — "" 16 — "" 2020 — — "" — — "" 2021 — — "" 2022 — — "" — — "" 2026 1 96 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist Title Year Peak chart positions Album or EP FIN "" 2015 3 "" 2016 1 "Doupein" 15 "" 20 "" 2019 — Afrogold "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charted songs Title Year Peak chart positions Album or EP FINDigital "" 2018 — "" 2019 14 "Uuden edessä" 2020 10 "Let It Be" 2021 — Laulu Rakkaudelle: SecretSong Suomi (Season 1) "" 2022 — Vain elämää(Season 13) "" — "" — "" — "" — "Lost Boy" — "" — "" — "" 2024 — "" 2025 2 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Personal life Parkkonen was born into a musical family, and his brother is also a singer. His paternal grandfather was Pierre Rassin, a black French musician from Martinique, who met Parkkonen's paternal grandmother in Äänekoski in 1953 when he worked for the traveling carnival Suomen Tivoli. Parkkonen has spoken openly about the childhood bullying he had experienced because of his dark skin color that he inherited from his father, Kari.

Parkkonen has a son (born in 2015) with singer Johanna von Hertzen, a second cousin of the Von Hertzen Brothers. Parkkonen has stated that his statement in an interview that he easily falls in love with people regardless of gender was incorrectly interpreted as him being bisexual. He clarified that he did not mean love in a sexual attraction sense.