🇫🇮 Finland 2019 / “Look Away”

Photograph by Anton Sucksdorff

Semi Final 1 | 17th Place | 23 points | Did Not Qualify

Ville Virtanen, known better as Darude, a Finnish DJ, was internally selected by Finland‘s national broadcaster Yle to represent the country at Tel Aviv 2019. With Sebastian Rejman, a Finnish-Swedish singer, Darude presented three different songs at Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, Finland’s national selection final, where “Look Away” ultimately won. Darude is most know for his hit single “Sandstorm”, which later became apart of a meme. Rejman, meanwhile, is a part of two bands, The Giant Leap and Sebastian and the 4th Line Band, the latter of which was formed in response to the former going on hiatus.

“Look Away” was written by Rejman and produced by Darude as a one of three songs to potentially represent Finland at Eurovision. The song’s titular lyric and the bridge of the song alludes to the many atrocities going on in the world and in our neighborhoods that we publicly turn a blind eye to, even though they weigh heavy upon us in private. Ultimately the song wants to encourage us to take action, to look at the little things we can do to help make the world a better place. It is structured as a pop song, with Rejman’s rockstar vocals and stage presence being blended together with Darude’s EDM instincts.

Darude was born in Eura, Finland and began making music while he was studying in Turku, using tracker software on his first computer. His stage name comes from his youth, where after playing the song “Rude Boy” by Swedish artist Leila K several times at a party, he was initially nicknamed “Rude Boy” before it slowly turned into “Da Rude” and, finally, “Darude”. His breakthrough hit “Sandstorm” was originally presented as a demo to Finnish DJ JS16, who’s real name is Jaako Salovaara, who immediately turned to sign Darude to his label. “Sandstorm” was released in 1999 and quickly became an international hit, and with its success Darude has gone one to release four albums.

Rejman’s music career began when he was 14 and got his first guitar and later signed to a record label when he was 22 before he pulled out to focus on music his own way. Coming from a working-class family in a poorer area of Helsinki, Rejman’s life experiences reflect he way he approaches music and how he has led his career. He is the former frontman of the Finnish band The Giant Leap, and following its hiatus, formed the band Sebastian & The 4th Line Band. In addition, he has served as a presenter on several Finnish television shows and is currently married with two kids.

Follow Darude on Twitter and Facebook. Listen to his extended discography, from his four albums to his iconic “Sandstorm” on Spotify.

Follow Sebastian Rejman on Twitter and Instagram. Listen to his work as the frontman of The Giant Leap on Spotify.