Otavalo Musician Wins Competition in Germany

Otavalo musician Juan Leonardo Santillán Rojas, better known as Leo Rojas, won first place in “Das Supertalent 2011” (the German super talent), playing “The lonely shepherd” by Gheorghe Zamfirs.Leo, 27, faced nine other finalists, top rated by viewers. But Rojas surprised the jury and the audience when he appeared on a white horse playing his pan flute combined with a rainstick.

“As an artist, a musician should not always be perfect, he should shake the hearts, and that was magic, pure goose bumps,” said his next South African dancer Mabusi Motsi.

Rojas, who is a street performer living in Berlin, reached the finals after playing the song “El Condor Pasa” in the previous stage, in the audience was his mother Maria Juana, who he had not seen for seven years. The meeting was planned by the German television station.

Leo won 100 000 euros, and wants to use his prize money to buy a house for his family in Ecuador.

(MS)