Teemu Keisteri (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈteːmuˈkei̯steri]; born 22 August 1985) is a Finnish visual artist and DJ who is known for his stage persona Windows95man.[2][3] As a visual artist, he gained recognition in Finland for his paintings and prints of the fictional character Ukkeli (lit.'Old man'), whom he created in 2008.[2] As a DJ, his artistic style and appearance draw inspiration from the mid-1990s, during which the Windows 95 operating system was released. He represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "No Rules!", alongside singer Henri Piispanen.
Early life
Keisteri has studied photography at the Institute of Design in Lahti. He has said that he learned during his studies that he is more of a visual artist than a photographer.[4] He is also known as a video artist, dance performer and DJ. Keisteri has his own art gallery called Kalleria (wordplay on the word for gallery "galleria") in Kallio, Helsinki.[3]
Career
Early career
He appeared in a music video by the rock band Pariisin Kevät, directed as an old-school video.[5]
Spread
Keisteri originally mastered Windows95man during the Flow Festival 2013, which caught the attention of many journalists and bloggers. He also caught the attention of electronic artist Evian Christ, from which who posted a picture of Keisteri over social media, making the character viral. Since then, his home videos circulated worldwide, he also got invited to multiple music festivals, even working as a DJ in Finnair flight. Several months later, he performed at Helsinki's new year festival for 2022, hosted at the Helsinki City Hall.[6] Other than his character, Keisteri possesses another character named Ukkeli, based on masculinity and greek statues. Ukkeli has since became popular and had appeared on some t-shirts.
Musical projects
Another project Keisteri is part of is Peu, which is an 80's dance band which specialized in making dark pop music.[7]
Eurovision
Keisteri participated as Windows95man with Henri Piispanen (vocals) in the 2024 edition of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, with the song "No Rules!".[8] Despite finishing last in the jury voting, he came first overall with 313 points thanks to the televote in Finland. He was thus selected to represent his country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.[9] In the Grand Final on 11 May 2024, the song received 7 points from the national juries, and a further 31 points from the general public, giving a grand total of 38 points, putting him in 19th place out of 26.[10][11]
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