Eurovision continues to raise the bar every year, and this performance is proof. Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen, representing Finland, delivered a breathtaking vocal and musical showcase that left vocal coaches and audiences alike completely floored.
With a violinist who doubles as an athletic performer and a lead singer commanding every ounce of the stage with technical mastery, “Liekinheitin” is more than just a great Eurovision song. It is a vocal technique masterclass hiding in plain sight.
The Power of a Strong Opening: Glottal Onset and Belting
From the very first note, Pete Parkkonen announces himself with what’s known as a glottal onset, a crisp, clean attack at the start of the sound that immediately grabs attention. This technique creates that punchy, arresting quality you hear at the top of “Liekinheitin.”
Alongside the glottal onset, you can hear evidence of what’s called cricoid tilt, where the cartilage below the thyroid tilts backward, making the vocal folds thicker. This is what creates the louder, fuller sound often referred to as belting, and Pete uses it with impressive control right out of the gate.
Chest Voice vs. Belt: Understanding the Timbre Shift
One of the most fascinating things to analyze in Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen’s performance is how Pete transitions between his chest voice and his belted sound. The opening call is unmistakably a belt: full, forward, and thick. As the song moves into more lyrical territory, the voice shifts into a chest voice quality, still powerful, but carrying a noticeably different timbre. This kind of dynamic contrast is what keeps a performance from sounding flat or one-dimensional. Key vocal qualities to listen for in “Liekinheitin” include:
- Thick vocal fold contact during belted phrases
- A shift toward a speech-like, chest-driven quality in the verses
- The use of constriction as an intentional expressive color in certain passages
- A subtle cry quality entering the sound during more emotionally intense sections
Anchoring: Why the Neck Muscles Matter
During the chorus of “Liekinheitin,” you can visibly see the engagement of the neck muscles, specifically the sternocleidomastoids, the large muscles running along either side of the neck. This isn’t tension or strain; it’s anchoring. When singers move into louder, higher, or more intense passages, these anchoring muscles stabilize the smaller intrinsic muscles of the larynx, protecting them from the increased air pressure.
Pete Parkkonen’s body engages significantly during the louder sections, and this is deeply connected to subglottic pressure, the air pressure built up below the vocal folds. Rather than pushing air directly at the folds, effective singers build muscular effort in the body so that the voice can be powerful without the folds being overloaded.
Thyroid Tilt and the Emotional Cry Quality
As “Liekinheitin” builds emotionally, a quality sometimes called a “cry” enters Pete’s sound. This occurs when the thyroid cartilage, the Adam’s apple, tilts forward, lengthening the vocal folds. This is one of the key mechanical differences between speaking and singing, and it’s critical for navigating the upper range in a fuller voice. The cry quality doesn’t just serve an emotional purpose; it’s a sign that the voice is using good technique to reach higher notes without straining or flipping out of the sound. Techniques that help develop this include:
- Practicing thyroid tilt on sustained notes in the middle range
- Using a “crying” quality intentionally on phrases that reach upward
- Avoiding excess breath pressure, which prevents the tilt from functioning correctly
Vibrato, Vertical Larynx, and the Lower Range
In the quieter, lower sections of “Liekinheitin,” the sound takes on a slightly different character: less vibrato, more of a vertical larynx position, which creates a thicker, more chest-heavy quality. Vibrato, or VBR as it’s often called in vocal training, appears naturally when there is a balance between vocal fold closure and breath flow.
Without that balance, especially in the lower range, vibrato tends to disappear or feel forced. Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen’s performance demonstrates how singers can use the lower part of their voice as a grounded, speech-like foundation and then build upward from there with growing intensity and warmth.
Articulation in a Consonant-Heavy Language
Singing in Finnish presents a unique challenge: the language is dense with consonants, leaving less space on vowel sounds compared to languages like English or Italian. Strong articulation is essential, not just for clarity but for muscle conditioning.
The lips, tongue, and the connections between them all need to be trained to keep up with text-heavy vocal lines without compromising tone. In “Liekinheitin,” you can hear that Pete Parkkonen maintains both clarity and resonance even through dense consonant clusters, a sign of well-developed articulatory muscles working in coordination with the rest of the voice.
The Violinist: Strength, Balance, and the Athletic Demand of Performance
No breakdown of “Liekinheitin” is complete without acknowledging Linda Lampenius. Going into a split squat mid-performance while continuing to play is not a party trick; it’s the result of serious strength and balance training. Walking while playing an instrument already demands that the body hold back muscular tension to avoid releasing too much air, and the same principle applies to singing while moving. The physical athleticism on display is a reminder that performance-level singing and playing is a full-body endeavor that requires ongoing physical conditioning alongside vocal training.
Head Voice and Laryngeal Flexibility
The final moments of “Liekinheitin” see Pete Parkkonen navigating into his head voice, and there’s a brief moment where the voice catches slightly, a small crack or stagger. This is one of the most relatable things for singers to witness: even at the highest level, the head voice transition requires incredibly precise coordination.
As pitch rises, the vocal folds need to thin out progressively. When singers push or over-engage extraneous muscles instead, the folds can’t thin efficiently, and the voice either cracks or the pitch goes sharp. Developing a flexible larynx through exercises like siren glides helps train this thinning process gradually.
If you want to learn more about how you can learn to implement these singing techniques into your own voice, let’s sit down for a chat and discuss if the vocal academy is the right fit for you. You can join us here.