HELSINKI, Finland – Conan O'Brien finally met his match.
The "Late Night" jokester, who ran a mock ad campaign endorsing the re-election of Finnish president Tarja Halonen -- because of her strong resemblance to him, red hair and all -- had a face to similar face meeting with her Tuesday at the presidential palace in downtown Helsinki.
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 that was 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, based on their resemblance, he endorsed the 62-year-old Halonen for a second six-year term -- which she won last month. His mock ads not only backed Halonen but attacked her opponents.
On Saturday, O'Brien joked that 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 talk-show host who is unusually popular in this small, taciturn nation on the northern fringe of Europe.
Earlier, 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, he was to receive an award for being "the most surprising and entertaining TV personality in Finland."
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