Markku Aro (; born Markku Tuomas Puputti on 3 February 1950 in Mouhijärvi, Finland), is a Finnish singer who represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 in Ireland with the pop-duo . They appeared with the song "Tie uuteen päivään" ("Road to a New Day"). He has released many albums in his country and was awarded with the ' prize for schlager music in 2017.
Aro was discovered in local singing competitions in Nokia by manager Tauno âÂÂTappiâ Suojanen while still at school.
He issued his debut single âÂÂKäyn uudelleen eiliseenâ in 1968 and entered FinlandâÂÂs Eurovision selection for the first time the following year.
Aro competed in the Finnish Eurovision heats in 1969, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1979 and 1981, winning in 1971. The Dublin performance was conducted by composer Rauno Lehtinen.
During the 1970s he became one of FinlandâÂÂs best-selling male vocalists. Hits from the decade include âÂÂHyvännäköinenâÂÂ, âÂÂMoskiittoâÂÂ, âÂÂJestas sentäänâÂÂ, âÂÂOma kultaseinâÂÂ, âÂÂAnna kaikkien kukkien kukkiaâÂÂ, âÂÂEtsin kunnes löydän sunâÂÂ, âÂÂPois sun vienâÂÂ, âÂÂKun sä vierelläin sateessa ootâ and âÂÂLoit elämälle pohjaaâÂÂ. Late-decade collaborations with arranger-producer Veikko Samuli yielded further successes such as âÂÂKeskiyön aikaanâ and âÂÂOllaan lähekkäinâÂÂ.
Around 1980 Aro began working with British-Singaporean singer Nisa Soraya; their duet âÂÂMun suothan tulla vierees sunâ appeared in the 1981 Eurovision selection. Later releases with producer Kassu Halonen include âÂÂKaksi rakkaintaâ and âÂÂKyyneleet sielun puhdistaaâÂÂ, the latter finishing third in the 1989 Syksyn Sävel song contest.
AroâÂÂs best-selling album, Etsin kunnes löydän sun (1976), has sold more than 31 000 copies and earned a gold disc. In 2001 he was shortlisted for the inaugural Iskelmä-Finlandia award.
He joined the second season of the TV music series Tähdet, tähdet in 2015, placing third.
Aro has been married four times and has five children: Tuomas and Miika from his first marriage, Teemu from his second, and Senja from his third. He has been married to Satu Puputti (b. 1975) since 2010.