Tommi Hakala made a great impact when he won the competition in 2003. His rich baritone voice, great musicality, the passion and tenderness he expressed in both his performances with orchestra and piano and his personal charisma onstage made him a popular winner.

In addition, he opened up his life to readers of this website with an online diary of his experiences in Cardiff. It provides a fascinating insight into the life of a competitor, and Tommi's sensitivity and intelligence added an unexpected depth of understanding of many issues in the life of a singer.

Since winning the competition, Tommi's life has changed dramatically. Before then, he had been on contract to opera houses in Nuremberg and Leipzig, but his win has enabled him to go freelance and accept engagements all over the world. These have been as far afield as Tel Aviv and San Francisco, as well as in his native Finland and throughout Europe.

Being a freelance means having the freedom to pick and choose engagements. If you are on contract, you appear only in the operas put on by the house you are contracted to. Tommi really appreciates this freedom, and is very aware of when he feels ready to tackle certain roles.

"After Cardiff Singer", he said, "I was asked to audition for the Met in New York. They gave me the choice of Silvio (Pagliacci) or Valentin (Faust)!" It was a shame he couldn't have taken both, but he made his Metropolitan Opera debut very successfully in the latter in 2006.

"Without Cardiff Singer, who knows how long it would have taken to get that audition? Being a Cardiff winner gives you a calling card and opens so many doors for you."

Perhaps it can open too many doors a little too quickly. Regulars at Welsh National Opera had been disappointed by Tommi's non-appearance in Verdi's Don Carlos in 2005, so I asked him about it.

"I was just totally exhausted", he said. "For several months before, it was touch and go whether I'd be able to perform each time.

"Then the Don Carlos was coming up, and it was one project too many for me. I felt I had to take the time and rest, as I really didn't feel I could have got through it.

"I was very sorry not to have been able to come to Cardiff again, but I hope I'll be able to in the future".

He's very excited at the moment about his first Escamillo, which he'll perform with Finnish National Opera this autumn. He'll cut a fine figure as the handsome toreador, and his vocal richness and stage presence will be worthy of any Carmen's attention.

Tommi is a regular at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, a major event which takes place throughout July in the stunning Lakeland area of east Finland. As well as performing there each year since 2001, he is also a member of the Board of Trustees.

This year at Savonlinna, he appeared in a new opera, Isän tyttö (Daddy's Girl) by Olli Kortekangas, jointly commissioned by the festival and the Finnish Parliament to mark the 90th anniversary of Finnish independence and the 40th of the festival. The action is based around the summer of 1997 and in flashback at various points from 1956 onwards, and projecting forward to the summer of 2007.

Tommi plays the ghost of Urho, a Finnish soldier killed during World War Two. His daughter (played by Monica Groop, a Cardiff Singer finalist in 1989) turns to his letter and photo, her only links with her father, at various vital points in her life, and he appears with her most movingly to impart comfort and wise words. His influence is also felt through the rest of the family - his widow, son and grandchildren - as the effects of history, Finnish and global, impact on everyday life.

After every performance at the festival, one of the singers goes to the Opera Cellar club, to entertain post-opera diners there. On the night I was there, it was Tommi's turn to take the stage, and between the first and second courses he sang two Sibelius songs beautifully, and took questions from the floor. These ranged from his role in the opera to his newest toy and proudest possession - a motorbike!

Although I can't understand Finnish, Tommi was clearly easy with his audience, interacting graciously and with humour. If he ever gets tired of singing, there's a definite future for him in after-dinner speaking.

At the end of the evening, as the sun was rising (at around 2am - the joys of Finland close to midsummer), Tommi happily got onto his beloved motorbike and rode off to the summer cottage near Savonlinna where he's staying during the festival. "Please send my best wishes to everyone who remembers me", he said, before donning his helmet and roaring off into the Finnish dawn.