Tapio Huuska (born 14 July 1975), known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Cristal Snow, is a Finnish musician, television presenter, and a

drag artist A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and have ...

. He was one of the candidates to represent Finland in

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasting Unio ...

. In 2016, he participated again in the preselection for

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes (Måns Zelmerlöw song), Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organis ...

with the song "Love Is Blind" and was placed 6th. In March 2018, Snow started hosting the Finnish television game show ''

Kymppitonni ''Kymppitonni'' (colloquialism for "kymmenentuhatta" = "ten-thousand") is a Finnish television and radio game show format, created by Spede Pasanen which has been featured on Finnish networks since 1985. The show was hosted by beauty queen Riitta ...

''.

Early life

Huuska was born in

Naantali Naantali (; ) is a municipalities of Finland, town in Southwest Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important centre of tourism in the country. The municipality has a population of (), and is located west of Turku. The town h ...

. When he was seven years old, his mother died and he moved with his father to

Kankaanpää Kankaanpää () is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. Kankaanpää was founded in 1865, became a township in 1967 and finally a town in 1972. It is located in the crossroads of Häm ...

where he grew up. Huuska has two half-siblings from his father's second marriage, and the family also included the stepmother's two children. After Huuska graduated from an upper secondary school, he moved to the United States. He lived in New York for seven years and studied theatre at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. During his years in New York, Huuska performed as a

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

in nightclubs under the name Cristal Snow.

Personal life

Snow is openly gay.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Prophecy'' (2008) * ''God You Made Me Wicked'' (2010)

Singles

* "Pump It Up" (2007) * "Cristal Clear" (2007) * "Scarred" (featuring Elena Mady) (2007) * "Can't Save Me" (2008) * "China Cool" (2008, promo EP, digital only) * "Turn Me Up" (2009, promo, digital only) * "Killing Me" (2010, promo, digital only) * "Wicked" (2010, promo, digital only) * "Surrender" (2010, promo EP) * "Love Is Blind" (2016) * "Riding The Storm" (2016) * "Die Hard" (2016) * "Higher Ground" (2016) * "Indestructible" (featuring Kristiina Wheeler) (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snow, Cristal Finnish male musicians 1975 births Living people Warner Music Group artists Finnish drag queens Finnish expatriates in the United States Finnish gay musicians 21st-century Finnish LGBTQ people