It's Darude for Finland this year!

Ville Virtanen, better known by his stage name Darude, is one of the most successful Finnish artists of the modern era. He started making music in 1995 and released his most iconic hit single Sandstorm in 1999. The music video for the instrumental dance track, uploaded to YouTube in 2009, has reached more than 143 million views at the time of writing.

Darude is a multi-platinum, award-winning producer/DJ, who has played at hundreds of clubs and festival around the world and who has released four studio albums to date. His most recent album Moments was released in 2015.

About Darude's participation

Promising to create the atmosphere and visuality of his DJ gigs on the Eurovision stage, Darude will perform his tracks with featured vocalist Sebastian Rejman, known from the band The Giant Leap, sure to bring a fresh vitality and admirable live element to Darude’s musical backdrop.

Darude about participating in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest: "This is a huge challenge for me in many ways. When I was asked to represent Finland I felt a bit scared at first, but there was no way I could say no to my country! It is an honour to be part of this incredible experience and I only have positive expectations!"

What's next?

Darude will release three songs that will compete in the national selection of the UMK, to be released worldwide on the 8th, 15th and 22nd February. The one track that will finally represent Finland in May, will be decided by a combination of public vote and international jury points via a live TV broadcast on the 2nd of March.

What do you think of Finland's choice for Darude? Let us know in the comments!