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