Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Associated Press – February 14, 2006
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Finnish President Tarja Halonen met with late night TV talk show host Conan O'Brien at the presidential palace in downtown Helsinki Tuesday.
NBC's Conan O'Brien. left, presents Finnish President Tarja Halonen with a special Valentine's Day gift during his visit Tuesday.O'Brien handed the Nordic country's first female president a Valentine's Day present, wrapped in red paper, as they posed for photographers before the closed-door meeting, expected to last 15 minutes. O'Brien had quipped that he wanted a six-hour audience.
Last year, O'Brien caused a political stir when he endorsed the 62-year-old Halonen for a second six-year term — which she won last month — because "she looks like him," using mock ad campaigns that backed her and attacked opponents.
On arrival Saturday, O'Brien joked he expected to be rewarded for endorsing Halonen with a Cabinet position as inspector of saunas, "mostly women's saunas."
Some 2,000 fans had waited hours in subfreezing temperatures to catch a glimpse of the quirky, self-deprecating NBC network host, unusually popular in this small, taciturn nation on the northern fringe of Europe.
During the tour, O'Brien visited Arctic Lapland, some 500 miles north of the capital, with his film crew, and appeared on several Finnish TV shows.
Later Tuesday, was to receive a TV award for being "the most surprising and entertaining TV personality in Finland."