Pan flutist
Leo Rojas (full name: Juan Leonardo Santillia Rojas) was born in Ecuador in 1984 and is best known for winning the 2011 season of the German casting show Das Supertalent.
Rojas moved to Spain in 2000 and then to Germany, living in Berlin with his Polish wife; he often performed as a street musician until a passer-by informed him about the casting show. He became a contestant in the show's fifth season, succeeding to the semi-finals with his rendition of "El Condór Pasa" (best known in a 1970 version by
Simon & Garfunkel) and then winning the show with a cover of "Einsamer Hirte," a hit song written by
James Last and performed by
Gheorghe Zamfir in 1977.
Rojas' version of "Einsamer Hirte" was released as a single shortly after the show's finale (reaching number 48 on the singles charts), followed by his first full-length album, Spirit of the Hawk. The album, which was produced by
Dieter Bohlen and reached number two on the German album charts, featured the two abovementioned songs as well as cover versions of compositions such as
John Barry's theme from "Dances with Wolves" and
Martin Böttcher's "Winnetou." ~ Christian Genzel