STORY BEHIND THE CHAMPION

Humppa-Harri, also known as Harri Vähäniemi, the World Champion himself, is a passionate karaoke singer from the city of Lahti. In the daytime Harri works in a nursing home for the elderly, where he is well known as the 'singing nurse', as he likes to sing for his clients. In the night-time you may catch him at the local karaoke bar and witness him grab the mike and sing his heart out. Humppa-Harri's name and voice are well-known in the karaoke circles. With 30 years of experience as a football referee he has gained fame also in the sports circles.

WORLD RECORD MAN

Humppa-Harri had been singing karaoke for 15 years, when the idea of a karaoke singing record came to his mind, and he began to wonder what it could be that nobody wouldn’t have had done with karaoke before.

Humppa-Harri decided to try and set a record time for singing without stopping. The first record experiment took place in March of 2019 in his hometown Lahti, in a familiar restaurant, Hilpeä Hilma. The ten-hour run reached its finish quite easily. It was a Finnish record and at the same time an unofficial world record. In the ten hours he completed 167 songs.

It was only a few days later that Humppa-Harri began to wonder, why not try to set an official world record. Vähäniemi was in contact with Vesa Keskinen of Tuuri VillageShop, where the idea was immediately taken up. The record attempt date was set for July 13th from 10am to 10pm. When the contract for a record attempt was made, the same system was used as in Lahti: Vähäniemi did not know what songs he would be singing. There were only a few breaks of a couple of minutes during the performance. This made the following of the show more exciting for the audience and supporters. The audience was also allowed to submit their own song requests.

Now Humppa-Harri is the first man in the world, who has sung 12 hours and 202 songs at once. It is an achievement that no one else in the world has been able to achieve.

Humppa-Harri will try one more time for another record. Vähäniemi now thinks that he knows his own limits and plans to try reaching them again in the following year. However, it is wished that someone would first try to break his record. Therefore, it would be even more energetic and bold to set a new record.

You may next challenge Humppa-Harri to sing 15 hours - or maybe even more? Contact us and let’s set the date!