40-year-old Heikki Paason has no illusions about the eternity of his career. I hope for myself to have dignity when my career ends

When Heikki Paasonen's TV career turned 20 years old in 2020, he made a calculation of how long it would take to watch his production up to that point "If the television had opened on February 27th, it would have closed on April 17th," says Paasonen and shows the listing he made on Instagram from his phone.

The list of twenty-six programs shows a rapid acceleration from youth programs such as Summer and Tiikeri to mainstream entertainment programs Idols, Eurovision, Huuma, Putous and The Voice of Finland He has also had lead roles in TV series such as Downshiftaaj and Roba.

With a 51-day TV channel, you would have completed all of Paasonen's TV programs until 2020 "This is the only CV I've ever had," he says.

It has not been necessary to compile a resume, Paasonen's references rarely appear on screen that night However, hosting is only the visible tip of the iceberg of what he does for a living on TV.

Paasonen is also a partner in the Solar Republic TV production company He develops, sells and writes programs.

Paasonen, who started his TV career in the youth program Summer at the age of 18, says that he was attracted to performing early on "Maybe it's when you've screamed enough times as a child that 'Mom, get out, I'm Batman!' and then the mother doesn't look, so it's fixed for the rest of your life", he says about the background of his career choice.

According to Paasonen, his first exposure to television work was an accident The high school student from Kallio was "perhaps a little restless" during classes.

"The mother tongue teacher had been called and asked about a suitable young person for Yle's youth series The teacher suggested that I go to auditions.

He must have thought that it would have a suitable spare valve for me " In the auditions, we were looking for inserts suitable for Summer, which would remind us of the legendary Tom Green's hidden camera-like show on MTV.

During the auditions, Paasonen was marched out of the Issa Paja and told to try to get back in without a pass "I put on a show in the lobby where I blocked everyone's entry.

" He got the place "Shame is a feeling that I have gotten rid of quite effectively in this job," he sums up.

Following in the wake of other Kallio high school students, Paasonen also aspired to graduate from the Theater Academy, even though acting was not exactly his dream He describes striving as a "half-hearted process".

Half of Minna Canth's assigned monologue was forgotten He had completely failed to prepare the second, freely chosen presentation.

"When I couldn't think of anything else, I thought that by stripping myself naked I would show how much I wanted in " Paasonen sang naked in front of the jury Frederik's Harva meisk is rauta.

"My high school friend Krista Kosonen was in the same group trying and saw my presentation He came afterwards to ask 'what's wrong with you?'", Paasonen laughs.

When he started his career, television was the undisputed king "When Idols was made for the first time in Finland in 2003-2004, the final broadcast had around two million viewers.

You can't reach such numbers these days " Today, the competition for attention is fierce.

"The fragmentation of the media field has meant that on the production company side, programs are made with tight margins Then less money is also distributed to those who actually make the programs, i.

E Cameramen, Editors And Screenwriters

" Paasose has no illusions about the eternity of his TV career "I really don't know how long this work can be done.

I do ask myself all the time if this is fun for me, and so far the answer has been yes " He doesn't watch much television himself, and especially not his own programs.

There is not enough time "And when you work at a sausage factory and know how to make sausage, you don't feel like eating sausage," he reasons.

On the threshold of his forties, he has one wish "I would hope for such dignity that when my career ends, I wouldn't complain on the pages of the tabloids that I was rudely thrown aside, but would understand that every performer's career ends at some point, and neither the audience nor the entertainment world owes us anything.

" Therefore, in addition to his TV work, he also has other business activities: two padel halls in Seinäjoki with my business partners At the moment, my favorite child, in addition to my own first-born daughter, is the new TV show Suomi soi! developed by Paasonen.

In the program starting in the spring at Nelose, domestic artists arrange international classic songs, new versions in Finnish "The best thing about hosting is that you get to hang out with professionals, and you don't have to be the best at anything.

" Nelonen belongs to the same Sanoma group as Helsingin Sanomat .