Darude will represent Finland at the 2019 Eurovision Song Competition. Darude, who is less well-known by his real name Ville Virtanen, is one of the most successful Finnish artists of all time. He started his music career in 1995 and released iconic single Sandstorm in 1999.
Currently the song is on its way to 144 million views on YouTube.
His 2000 debut album Before The Storm sold 800,000 copies worldwide, with his second album placing 11th on the Billboard dance music charts. Darude is an EDM superstar!
The DJ/record producer will perform on stage at Eurovision with featured vocalist from the band The Giant Leap. He will release three songs to compete in the national selection of the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish music competition to select Eurovision entrants. The three songs will be released on the 8th, 15th and 22nd February. The track to represent Finland will be decided by a combination of public vote and international jury points via the UMK broadcast on the 2nd of March.
Obviously, fans are stoked:
Some Twitter users have theories:
And then there are those who are, frankly, still in disbelief:
