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{{short description|German reality talent show}}
{{infobox television |
{{redirect|DSDS|text=You may be looking for [[Disorders of sex development]] (DSDs)}}
| show_name = Deutschland sucht den Superstar
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
| image = [[Image:DSDS3.jpg]]
{{Infobox television
| caption = ''DSDS'' title card
| runtime = Varies
|rating = {{TV-G}}|format = [[Interactive television|Interactive]] [[Reality television|reality show]]
| creator = Simon Fuller
| runtime = Varies
| creator = [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|15px]] [[Simon Fuller]]
| executive_producer = [[Nigel Lythgoe]]<br/>[[Ken Warwick]]<br/>Simon Fuller
| director = [[Bruce Gowers]]
| executive_producer = [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|15px]] [[Nigel Lythgoe]]<br>[[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|15px]] [[Ken Warwick]]<br>[[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|15px]] [[Simon Fuller]]
| presenter = {{plainlist|
| director = [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|15px]] [[Bruce Gowers]]
* '''Current'''
| starring = [[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[:de:Marco Schreyl|Marco Schreyl]]<br><br>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Dieter Bohlen]]<br> [[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[:de:Nina Eichinger|Nina Eichinger]]<br> [[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[:de:Volker Neumüller|Volker Neumüller]]
* Laura Wontorra
| country = Germany
* '''Former'''
| filmed = [[Cologne]]
* [[Michelle Hunziker]]
| network = [[RTL Television|RTL]]
* Carsten Spengemann
| first_aired = 2002
* [[Yvonne Catterfeld]]
| last_aired =
* [[Tooske Ragas]]
| num_episodes =
* [[Marco Schreyl]]
<tr><td>'''Finalists'''<td>(With dates of elimination)<br>
* [[Nazan Eckes]]
<tr><td>'''Season 1'''<td> (2002-03)<br>
* [[Raúl Richter]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Alexander Klaws]]<td>''Winner''
* [[Daniel Hartwich]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Juliette Schoppmann]]<td>March 8
* [[Oliver Geissen]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Daniel Küblböck]]<td>March 1
* [[Alexander Klaws]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Vanessa Struhler]]<td>February 8
}}
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Gracia Baur]]<td>February 1
| judges = {{plainlist|
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Nicole Süßmilch]]<td>January 18
* '''Current'''
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Brazil.svg|15px]] [[Daniel Lopes]]<td>January 11
* [[Dieter Bohlen]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|15px]] Nektarios Bamiatzis<td>January 4
* [[Pietro Lombardi (singer)|Pietro Lombardi]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of India.svg|15px]] [[Judith Lefeber]]<td>''withdrew''
* [[Loredana]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Chile.svg|15px]] Andrea Josten<td>December 28
* [[Beatrice Egli]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Stephanie Brauckmeyer<td>December 23
* '''Former'''
</td></tr>
* Thomas Bug
<tr><td>'''Season 2'''<td>(2003-04)<br>
* [[Shona Fraser]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Elli Erl]]<td>''Winner''
* Thomas M. Stein
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Denise Tillmanns]]<td>March 13
* Sylvia Kollek
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Philippe Bühler]]<td>February 21
* Heinz Henn
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Benjamin Martell<td>February 14
* Anja Lukasender
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Gunther Göbbel<td>February 7
* Andreas "Bär" Läsker
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Anke Wagner<td>January 31
* [[Nina Eichinger]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg|15px]] Aida Iljasevic<td>January 17
* [[Max von Thun]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Judith Burmeister<td>January 10
* [[Volker Neumüller]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Kemi Awosogba<td>December 20
* [[Sylvie Meis]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Lorielle London|Lorenzo Woodard]]<td>December 13
* [[Fernanda Brandão]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Steffen Frommberger<td>November 29
* [[Patrick Nuo]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Jessica Houston<td>November 22
* [[Natalie Horler]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Ricky Ord<td>November 22
* [[Bruce Darnell]]
</tr></td>
* [[Bill Kaulitz]]
<tr><td>'''Season 3'''<td> (2005-06)<br>
* [[Tom Kaulitz]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Tobias Regner]]<td>''Winner''
* [[Culcha Candela|Mateo Jaschik]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Mike Leon Grosch]]<td>March 18
* [[Andrea Berg]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Vanessa Jean Dedmon]]<td>March 11
* [[Kay One]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Italy.svg|15px]] [[Nevio Passaro]]<td>March 4
* [[MIA. (German band)|Mieze Katz]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Didi Knoblauch<td>February 18
* [[Marianne Rosenberg]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Anna-Maria Zimmermann<td>February 11
* [[Mandy Capristo]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg|15px]] Daniel Muñoz<td>February 4
* [[DJ Antoine]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Lena Hanenberg<td>January 21
* [[Heino]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Stephan Darnstaedt<td>''withdrew''
* [[Michelle (German singer)|Michelle]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Moldova.svg|15px]] Dascha Semcov<td>January 14
* [[Vanessa Mai]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Spain.svg|15px]] Carolina Escolano<td>January 7
* [[H.P. Baxxter]]
</tr></td>
* [[Shirin David]]
<tr><td>'''Season 4'''<td> (2007)<br>
* [[Ella Endlich]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Mark Medlock]]<td>''Winner''
* [[Glasperlenspiel (duo)|Carolin Niemczyk]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Martin Stosch]]<td>April 21 / May 5
* [[Mousse T.]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Lisa Bund]]<td>April 28
* Oana Nechiti
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Max Buskohl<td>''withdrew''
* [[Xavier Naidoo]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Lauren Talbot<td>April 14
* [[Florian Silbereisen]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|15px]] Thomas Enns<td>April 7
* [[Maite Kelly]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Francisca Urio]]<td>March 31
* [[Mike Singer]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Julia Falke<td>March 17
* [[Michael Wendler]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|15px]] Jonathan Enns<td>March 10
* [[Thomas Gottschalk]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Spain.svg|15px]] Laura Martin<td>February 14
* [[Ilse DeLange]]
</td></tr>
* [[Toby Gad]]
<tr><td>'''Season 5'''<td> (2008)<br>
* [[Thomas Anders]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]][[Image:Flag of Poland (bordered).svg|15px]] [[Thomas Godoj]]<td>''Winner''
* [[Sarah Lombardi|Sarah Engels]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Lebanon.svg|15px]] [[Fady Maalouf]]<td>May 17
* Joachim Llambi
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Linda Teodosiu<td>May 10
* [[Katja Krasavice]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg|15px]] Monika Ivkic<td>May 3
* [[Leony]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg|15px]] [[Rania Zeriri]]<td>April 26
}}
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Benjamin Herd<td>April 19
| country = Germany
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Ghana.svg|15px]] Collins Owusu<td>April 12
| network = [[RTL (German TV channel)|RTL]]
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Italy.svg|15px]] Stella Salato<td>April 5
| first_aired = {{start date|2002|11|09|df=y}}
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Sahra Drone<td>March 22
| last_aired = present
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Jermaine Alford<td>March 17
| num_episodes = 423
</td></tr>
| num_seasons = 21
<tr><td>'''Season 6'''<td> (2009)<br></td></tr>
}}
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Daniel Schuhmacher]]<td>''Winner''
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Sarah Kreuz<td>May 9
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] [[Annemarie Eilfeld]]<td>May 2
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Dominik Büchele<td>April 26
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Benny Kieckhäben<td>April 18
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Vanessa Neigert<td>April 11
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Holger Göpfert<td>April 4
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Marc Jentzen<td>March 21
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Cornelia Patzlsperger<td>March 14
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|15px]] Michelle Bowers<td>March 7
<tr><td>[[Image:Flag of Italy.svg|15px]] Vanessa Civiello<td>''withdrew''
| website = http://www.deutschlandsuchtdensuperstar.de/
}}


'''''Deutschland sucht den Superstar''''' (German for "Germany searches for a superstar") is a [[Germany|German]] television program, also commonly known by its initials '''DSDS'''. It is the German version of the ''[[Pop Idol|Idols]]'' franchise, broadcast on [[RTL Television|RTL]]. (RTL owns the franchise worldwide.)
'''''Deutschland sucht den Superstar''''' ('''''DSDS'''''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German [[reality show|reality]] [[talent show]]. Part of the [[Idol series|''Idol'' franchise]], it was created by British [[media mogul]] [[Simon Fuller]] as a [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] from the British show ''[[Pop Idol]]'', of which two series were broadcast between the years of 2001 and 2003. Debuting to mediocre ratings in November 2002 on the [[RTL (German TV channel)|RTL]] network, the show has since become one of the most successful shows on German television.


The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions in which viewer voting determines the winner. Voting is done through phone and [[telephone voting|SMS text voting]].
The producers were not allowed to use the words "pop" or "idol" in the title ([[Frank Farian]] has held title rights to "idol" since the 1970s in Germany, and a deal with the creators of ''[[Popstars]]'' forbids the use of the word "pop" for ''Pop Idol'' editions outside the UK, henceforth "(regional) Idol" in other countries).


In July 2022, RTL announced that the show would discontinue after the conclusion of the 20th season in 2023. In the first live show of the 20th season it was announced that there will be a 21st season in 2024.
==Season 1==
{{main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Season 1)}}


==Season summaries==
The first season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' debuted without a lot of hype in October 2002 on the [[RTL Television|RTL]] network. The show's co-hosts were [[Switzerland|Swiss]] actress [[Michelle Hunziker]] and former [[soap opera]] actor [[:de:Carsten Spengemann|Carsten Spengemann]], and the jury consisted of [[music producer]], [[composer]] and half of former duo [[Modern Talking]], [[Dieter Bohlen]], radio host [[:de:Thomas Bug|Thomas Bug]], British music journalist [[:de:Shona Fraser|Shona Fraser]], and the former president of [[BMG|BMG Germany]], [[:de:Thomas M. Stein|Thomas M. Stein]]. (Bertelsmann is the majority owner of RTL, which owns the franchise, show, and network in Germany.)


===Season 1===
Through word of mouth generated by the appeal of its contestants and the presence of Bohlen's acid-tongued commentary, the show grew into a phenomenon ending with a finale viewed by an estimated twelve million viewers in March 2003. Following such a success, the second season was moved to air the upcoming fall during the higher profile 2003 fall schedule. The number of episodes increased, as did the show's budget and the charge for commercial spots.
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 1}}
The first season 2002–2003 of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' debuted without much hype in November 2002 on the [[RTL (German TV channel)|RTL]] network. The show's co-hosts were Swiss actress [[Michelle Hunziker]] and former [[soap opera]] actor Carsten Spengemann, while the jury consisted of music producer [[Dieter Bohlen]], radio host Thomas Bug, British music journalist [[Shona Fraser]], and then-president of [[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG Germany]], Thomas M. Stein.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Nicole|last=Lange|title=Steiniger Weg zum Popstar-Erfolg|work=Rhein-Zeitung|url=http://archiv.rhein-zeitung.de/on/02/09/11/magazin/news/superstar.html?a|access-date=16 April 2010|language=de|archive-date=19 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719074857/http://archiv.rhein-zeitung.de/on/02/09/11/magazin/news/superstar.html?a|url-status=dead}}</ref> Through word of mouth generated by the appeal of its contestants and the presence of Bohlen's acid-tongued commentary, the show grew into a phenomenon ending with a finale viewed by an estimated twelve million viewers in March 2003.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Ina|last=Michaelis-Ugwonno|date=5 May 2009|title=Wer besiegte wen – beim Kampf um den "Superstar"-Titel?|work=Bild-Zeitung|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/dsds/2009/05/05/sarah-kreuz-und-daniel-schuhmacher-im-dsds/dsds-finale-wer-kaempfte-in-den-vergangenen-staffeln-um-den-sieg-und-die-gewinner.html|access-date=17 April 2010|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090723191757/http://www.bild.de/BILD/dsds/2009/05/05/sarah-kreuz-und-daniel-schuhmacher-im-dsds/dsds-finale-wer-kaempfte-in-den-vergangenen-staffeln-um-den-sieg-und-die-gewinner.html|archive-date=23 July 2009}}</ref>


Winner [[Alexander Klaws]] signed with [[BMG]], the label in partnership with ''DSDS''. Immediately post-finale, Klaws released three singles, most notably the coronation song "Take Me Tonight" which was written by Bohlen and debuted on top of the [[Media Control Charts|German singles chart]], eventually becoming the second biggest selling single of 2003 – only losing to ''We Have a Dream'', the pre-released recording of all ten finalists. As part of the promotion planned for the show's first winner, the song had been prerecorded ready to air on radio stations the week after the finale. Appearances on numerous entertainment/news shows followed, as did videos for the singles that began airing on [[MTV Central]] and [[Viva (TV station)|VIVA]]. Klaws has subsequently had three albums and several hit singles mostly from his more successful first album. While his debut, ''Take Your Chance'' (2003, and its follow-up, ''Here I Am'' (2004), saw nationwide success and garnered him several [[ECHO]] nominations, his independent 2006 release, ''Attention'' failed to link on previous sales figures.
[[File:Alexander klaws ahlen 2008.jpg|thumb|upright|Debut season winner [[Alexander Klaws]] in 2008]] Winner [[Alexander Klaws]] signed a recording contract with [[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]], the label in partnership with ''DSDS''. Immediately post-finale, Klaws released three singles, most notably the coronation song "Take Me Tonight" which was written by Bohlen and debuted on top of the [[Media Control Charts|German Singles Chart]], eventually becoming the second biggest-selling single of 2003 – only losing to "[[We Have a Dream (Deutschland sucht den Superstar song)|We Have a Dream]]", the pre-released recording of all ten finalists.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Winglecharts Jahrescharts 2003|work=Mix1.de|url=http://www.mix1.de/chartsarchiv/jahrescharts2003.htm|access-date=17 April 2010|language=de}}</ref> Klaws has subsequently had three albums and several hit singles mostly from his more successful first album. While his debut, ''Take Your Chance'' (2003), and its follow-up, ''Here I Am'' (2004), saw nationwide success and garnered him several [[ECHO Award]] nominations, his independent 2006 release, ''[[Attention!]]'' failed to link on previous sales figures.<ref name="stern1">{{Cite web|date=17 April 2010|title=Das machen die "Superstars" heute|work=Stern.de|url=http://www.stern.de/kultur/musik/vor-dem-dsds-finale-das-machen-die-superstars-heute-1558987.html|access-date=18 April 2010|language=de}}</ref> He has since established a secondary career as an actor on the [[Sat.1]] [[telenovela]] ''[[Anna und die Liebe]]'' and appeared in leading roles on musicals such as ''[[Dance of the Vampires (musical)|Dance of the Vampires]]'' and ''[[Tarzan (musical)|Tarzan]]''.<ref name="stern1"/>


Besides Klaws, all finalists with the exception of then-pregnant Andrea Josten signed record deals with various companies. Runner-up [[Juliette Schoppmann]] also signed with BMG, but in contrast to public expectations she denied working with Bohlen. Its said that the ballad ''Für dich'' (performed by [[Yvonne Catterfeld]]) was originally written by Bohlen for her. It went on to become the best selling-German single of 2003 and the biggest success for the singer. Schoppmann instead released three independent singles (of which two entered the Top 10) and a solo album, ''Unique'' which eventually debuted in 2004. Due to moderate sales BMG dropped her shortly after its release. She is currently working on a comeback.
Besides Klaws, all ten finalists with the exception of then-pregnant Andrea Josten signed record deals with various record companies.<ref name="stern1"/> Runner-up [[Juliette Schoppmann]] also signed with BMG, but in contrast to public expectations she declined working with Bohlen. Instead, she released three singles of which two entered the top ten and a solo album, ''Unique'', which eventually debuted in 2004. Due to moderate sales BMG dropped her shortly after its release.<ref name="stern1"/> She has since made herself a name as professional songwriter.<ref name="stern1"/> Third-placed [[Daniel Küblböck]] also expanded his nationwide but extremely polarising popularity with a contract with BMG. Until June 2004 he released four major succeeded hit singles and a number-one album, titled ''Positive Energien'' (2003). However, further efforts failed on the charts after a controversial participations in the German versions of ''[[I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!]]'' and ''[[Big Brother Germany|Big Brother]]'' and the release of his flopped motion picture ''[[Daniel – Der Zauberer]]'' (2004).<ref name="stern1"/>


[[Vanessa Struhler]] became the protégé of hip hop producer [[DJ Tomekk]] and saw solid commercial success with her first album, ''Ride with Me'' (2003).<ref>{{Cite web|date=3 April 2010|title=Kennen Sie DIESE "Superstars" noch?|work=Bild-Zeitung|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/regional/ruhrgebiet/leute/2010/04/03/unsere-dsds-teilnehmer-bei-bohlen/kennen-sie-diese-superstars-noch.html|access-date=17 April 2010|language=de}}</ref> [[Gracia Baur]] also was signed to BMG, but was dropped after her moderate succeeded rock debut ''Intoxicated'' (2003). She then signed with Bros Music and was selected to represent Germany in the [[Eurovision Song Contest 2005]] with the song "[[Run & Hide (Gracia Baur song)|Run & Hide]]", where it placed last in a field of 24.<ref name="stern1"/> [[Judith Lefeber]], [[Daniel Lopes]], and Nektarios Bamiatzis also scored mediocre to little success after the show with their own releases.<ref name="stern1"/>
Third-placed [[Daniel Küblböck]] also expanded his nationwide but extremely polarising popularity with a contract with BMG. Until June 2004 he released four major succeeded hit singles and a number-one album, titled ''Positive Energien''. However, further efforts failed on the charts after a controversial participation in the German version of ''[[I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!]]'' and the release of his flopped motion picture ''Daniel – Der Zauberer''.


===Season 2===
[[Vanessa Struhler]] became the protegé of [[Hip-Hop]] producer [[DJ Tomekk]] and saw solid commercial success with her first album, Ride With Me. Her second 2004 release failed to link on previous sales figures. [[Gracia Baur]] also was signed to BMG, but was dropped after her moderate succeeded Rock debut. She then signed with Bros Music and was selected to represented Germany in the [[Eurovision Song Contest 2005]] with the song "Run & Hide", beating out former-DSDS-opponent [[Nicole Süßmilch]] in the German pre-selection. However, the track placed last (24th). [[Daniel Lopes]] (seventh) and Nektarios Bamiatzis (eighth) have had little success after the show.
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 2}}


In the second series of ''DSDS'' 2003–2004, co-hosts Hunziker and Spengemann and all four jury members reprised their engagements in the show.<ref name="rz1">{{Cite web|author=DDP staff|title=Erste Motto-Show brachte wenig Neues|work=Rhein-Zeitung|url=http://archiv.rhein-zeitung.de/on/03/11/23/topnews/superstar.html|access-date=17 April 2010|language=de|archive-date=19 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719075019/http://archiv.rhein-zeitung.de/on/03/11/23/topnews/superstar.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Following the success of the first installment, the second season was aired to a higher profile during 2003 fall schedule, including an increased number of episodes, budgets and charges for commercial spots. In contrast to the first season, however, the second soon found its main audience but never reached the overwhelming hype and demand which the first season had captured. This fact was underscored by decreasing phone votes and ratings, which were released after the show's final.<ref name="rz1"/>
===Semi Final Qualifiyings===
Top 30<br>
Format: 3 out of ten making the final each week + one Wildcard


[[File:Elli Erl - ColognePride 2009 (2571).jpg|thumb|upright|Second season winner [[Elli Erl]] in 2009]] This time, teacher [[Elli Erl]] emerged as the winner. Though Erl agreed to release the Bohlen-produced coronation song "This Is My Life" in a remixed edition, she declined collaborating with him on her debut album ''In My Dreams'' due to musical differences.<ref name="stern2"/> While the debut single still reached the top three of the [[German Singles Chart]], the album, released in October 2004, reached number thirty-three on the [[German Albums Chart]] and spawned another two singles of which none became a commercial hit, making Erl the lowest-selling ''DSDS'' winner to date.<ref name="stern2">{{Cite web|first=Marc|last=Hasse|title=Gewinner und schräge Vögel: Was DSDS-Kandidaten heute machen|date=16 November 2005|work=Stern.de|url=http://www.stern.de/lifestyle/leute/was-macht-eigentlich-elli-erl-550220.html|access-date=17 April 2010|language=de}}</ref> Her following two albums ''Moving Out'' (2007) and ''Human'' (2009) failed to chart anywhere.<ref name="stern1"/>
{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=6

|-bgcolor=#808080
Unlike in season one, the other finalists hit on major problems when they watched out for record deals. While runner-up [[Denise Tillmanns]] never signed a recording contract,<ref name="rp4">{{Cite web|title=Gewinner und schräge Vögel: Was DSDS-Kandidaten heute machen|date=25 October 2008|work=RP-online.de|url=http://www.rp-online.de/gesellschaft/medien/dsds/Gewinner-und-schraege-Voegel-Was-DSDS-Kandidaten-heute-machen_bid_20836.html|access-date=17 April 2010|language=de}}</ref> third-place finisher [[Philippe Bühler]] established himself as a professional songwriter and released two [[R&B]]-influenced singles, entitled "Warum?" (2005) and "Ich kann dich lieben" (2006), both of which entered the top forty of the German Singles Chart.<ref name="rp4"/> Anke Wagner signed with independent label Perleberg, but neither her debut single nor her album magaged to enter any chart.<ref name="rp4"/> Benjamin Martell was signed to [[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]], but was dropped when he demanded to write the album by himself.<ref name="rp4"/> Fifth-place finisher Gunther Göbbel became part of the [[R&B]] duo Lemon Ice, whose cover single "[[Stand by Me (Ben E. King song)|Stand by Me]]" entered the German top twenty in fall 2006.<ref name="rp4"/> [[Lorielle London|Lorenzo Woodard]] participated in several prominent [[reality show]]s such as ''Die Alm'' and ''[[Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!]]'' and has since enjoyed media attention under his [[Transsexualism|transsexual identity]] "[[Lorielle London]]".<ref name="rp4"/>
|'''Date'''

|'''First'''
===Season 3===
|'''Second'''
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 3}}
|'''Third'''
[[File:Tobias Regner.jpg|thumb|upright|Third season winner [[Tobias Regner]] in 2006]] After an absence of one year (2004–2005), the third season 2005–2006 introduced several new elements. Neither Hunziker nor Spengemann were asked back as the show's hosts as the studio wanted a new complexion on the season. They were replaced with Marco Schreyl and Dutch co-host Tooske Ragas. The jury cast also went through radical changes; [[Dieter Bohlen]] remained the only original member, and was eventually joined by music producer Sylvia Kollek and former manager Heinz Henn.

===Season 4===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 4}}
[[File:Mark Medlock 4.JPG|thumb|upright|Fourth season winner [[Mark Medlock]]]]
The fourth season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' was aired on German channel [[RTL Television|RTL]] from January to May 2007. [[Mark Medlock]], this season's winner, was awarded a contract with [[Sony BMG]]. The judges in this season were [[Dieter Bohlen]], Heinz Henn and Anja Lukaseder. It was hosted by Marco Schreyl and Tooske Ragas. The viewers chose the contestant's fates as they were able to call for their favorite contestant. The voting results were published on May 7, 2007.

===Season 5===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 5}}
[[File:Thomas Godoj - Jetix-Award - YOU 2008 Berlin (6971).jpg|thumb|upright|Fifth season winner [[Thomas Godoj]] in 2008]] Because of the success of season four [[RTL Television|RTL]] decided to create a fifth season in 2008. This was announced just before the fourth season final show was shown on TV. There were several changes: [[Marco Schreyl]] became the sole host of the show, without the assistance of Tooske Ragas. Due to some arguments with [[Dieter Bohlen]], Heinz Henn was replaced in the jury by Andreas "Bär" Läsker.<ref>[http://www.news.idealo.de/news/4681-dsds-staffel-5-bohlen.html DSDS: Staffel 5 wieder mit Bohlen » news.idealo.de] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509165951/http://www.news.idealo.de/news/4681-dsds-staffel-5-bohlen.html |date=9 May 2007 }}</ref> Läsker discovered and is the manager of [[Die Fantastischen Vier]] (The Fantastic Four), and joined existing jury members Bohlen and Anja Lukaseder. The last substantial change concerns only one semi-final shows ("Top 15 shows") with the name ''Jetzt oder nie'' (Now or Never): So far the 10 best candidates had been determined by telephone and [[SMS]] voting. Instead the jury selected the Top 10 live in front of 1,000 spectators. The five contestants with the highest number of votes from the public went through to the motto shows. The judges picked five more contestants of the remaining 10 to join them. Later, the candidates enter the final shows with public voting as in the earlier series. With the new rules, the producers hope to increase the excitement and to prevent good candidates from being knocked out too early. The auditions started in August on [[Mallorca]] and for the first time ever on [[Ibiza]]. From September on the casting crew toured throughout Germany. The first show, ''Now or never – Jetzt oder nie'', aired on March 8, 2008.

===Season 6===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 6}}
[[File:Daniel schuhmacher hamm2.jpg|thumb|upright|Sixth season winner [[Daniel Schuhmacher]]]]
The sixth season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' was aired on German channel [[RTL (German TV channel)|RTL]] from January to May 2009. The season's winner, [[Daniel Schuhmacher]], was awarded a contract with [[Sony BMG]]. The judges in this season were [[Dieter Bohlen]], [[Nina Eichinger]], and [[Volker Neumüller]]. It was hosted by [[Marco Schreyl]]. The viewers chose the contestant's fates as they were able to call for their favorite contestant. As with season 5, the "Top 10" was created by the Top 5 contestants with the most telephone and [[SMS]] voting and the other five were selected by the jury.

===Season 7===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 7}}
[[File:Mehrzad Marashi performing "Hello" on German Idol.jpg|thumb|upright|Seventh season winner [[Mehrzad Marashi]] in 2010]]
The seventh season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' was aired on German channel [[RTL (German TV channel)|RTL]] from 6 January to 17 April 2010. The season marked a new national record with more than 35,000 participants. The season's winner was [[Mehrzad Marashi]].

====Public votes====
Mehrzad Marahsi won the show. Second was Menowin Fröhlich and on third place Manuel Hoffmann. Menowin has won every liveshow but lost against Mehrzad who won the final with 56,04%. Manuel Hoffmann was eliminated in the 5th show, but he came back after Helmut Orosz was expelled from the show. Manuel came back and reached the semi-final, so that he was the first one who was eliminated and has survived more than one show again. Thomas Karaoglan, who reached the 5th place was known as ''der Checker'' and Kim Debkowski has made some advertisement during her video previous her performance with some beauty tips on ''Kim Gloss Tv''.

The live-shows began with the Top-15 show to determine the contestants that would make up the Top 10 in the mottoshows. As done in the previous seasons, the Top 10 were contestants put through from the public vote and the jury's vote. However, 7 (instead of 5) contestants were put through with the public votes and 3 (instead of 5) would be put through by the jury; which ultimately became the contestants that ranked with the next three largest number of votes. In the first live show, Steffi Landerer, who was known for her sex appeal, was eliminated. Marcel Pluschke, who was eliminated on the second live-show, did not perceive an excellent audience respect because of his weak voice and country music roots (which was a first in DSDS). Though criticized for his song selection in the third live show, Nelson Sangaré was surprisingly eliminated after ranking as one of the top contestants throughout the first and second live-shows. After being in the bottom groups every week, Ines Redjeb was eventually eliminated in the fourth live-show. Though proving to be a favorite in the competition despite ranking in the bottom half of the voting, Manuel Hoffmann was eliminated in the fifth show against Helmut Orosz. Orosz, who was a Top 50 contestant in the second season, became criticized for his problems with singing correct texts; immediately after Hoffmann's elimination, the producers of DSDS had found a video of Orosz with a friend using cocaine recently, to which Orosz confessed. Because of this, Orosz was disqualified from the contest and Hoffmann returned to the live-shows surpassing crowd favorite Thomas Karaoglan in the sixth-live show and Kim Debkowski in the seventh live-show. However, Hoffmann's journey ended in the semi-final leaving the finale in the hands of the season's front-runners Menowin Fröhlich and Mehrzad Marashi. Fröhlich, a local DJ, successfully auditioned for the show in the third season making it to the Top-20 live-shows; he later became disqualified due to battery and fraud. Both friends throughout the recall, tensions rose throughout the competition between fans and themselves. After the final vote, Marashi won though only ranking in first place in the Top-15 and the finale as Fröhlich ranked first every week.

===Season 8===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 8}}
[[File:Pietro Lombardi Bremen Ole 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Eighth season winner [[Pietro Lombardi (singer)|Pietro Lombardi]] in 2014]]
'''''Deutschland sucht den Superstar Season 8''''' is the eighth season of the [[Idol series]] in Germany began airing on [[RTL Television|RTL]] on 8 January 2011.<ref name="RTL1">{{cite news|title=DSDS 2011: "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" ist zurück!|url=http://www.rtl.de/cms/unterhaltung/superstar/news/dsds-zurueck-2011.html|publisher=RTL Television|date=29 November 2010|access-date=29 November 2010}}</ref> The winner will get a recording contract with [[Universal Music Group]].<ref name="RTL1"/> 34,956 people auditioned throughout the 35 cities that hosted auditions.<ref name="RTL1"/> [[Nina Eichinger]] and [[Volker Neumüller]] were removed from the panel.<ref name="Eichingerout">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/dsds/2010/06/05/jury-mitglied-nina-eichinger/fliegt-bei-dsds-raus.html|title=Nina Eichinger fliegt bei DSDS raus!|first1=S.|last1=Kuschel|first2=D.|last2=Cremer|work=[[Bild]]|date=6 June 2010|access-date=9 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706220717/http://www.bild.de/BILD/dsds/2010/06/05/jury-mitglied-nina-eichinger/fliegt-bei-dsds-raus.html|archive-date=6 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="Neumüllerout">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/unterhaltung/leute/2010/07/23/dieter-bohlen-interview/pop-titan-dsds-jury-neumueller-nicht-mehr-dabei.html|title=Dieter Bohlen: Es wird eine neue DSDS-Jury geben|work=[[Bild]]|date=23 July 2010|access-date=9 July 2010}}</ref> Their successors are Swiss singer [[Patrick Nuo]] and singer/dancer [[Fernanda Brandão]].<ref name="New Jury">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/dsds/2010/07/31/patrick-nuo/deutschland-sucht-den-superstar-der-neue-neben-dieter-bohlen.html|title=Patrick Nuo ist der Neue bei "DSDS"|work=[[Bild]]|date=31 July 2010|access-date=31 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802075228/http://www.bild.de/BILD/dsds/2010/07/31/patrick-nuo/deutschland-sucht-den-superstar-der-neue-neben-dieter-bohlen.html|archive-date=2 August 2010}}</ref> [[Marco Schreyl]] returned as the host. DSDS has extended participation privileges to Austria and Switzerland.<ref name="RTL1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rtl.de/cms/unterhaltung/superstar/news/bewerbungsfrist-verlaengert.html?tc_r=rtlde_cms_superstar&tc_m=rtlde_aufmacher_default&tc_te=DSDS+verlängert+die+Bewerbungsfrist!&tc_ta=rtlde&tc_i=232675&tc_c=da03086a87dd9d19db000325aa1e87f8128156|title=DSDS – Bewerbungsfrist verlängert!|work=[[RTL Television|RTL]]|date=2 August 2010|access-date=11 August 2010}}</ref> The Top 35 will be going to the [[Maldives]].<ref name="RTL1"/> The final aired on 7 May 2011, and the winner was Pietro Lombardi. This season reintroduced the contestants singing with backing tracks as opposed to a live band.

====Controversies====
The ''[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]'' questioned whether [[RTL Television|RTL]] misquoted DSDS Top 10 candidate Anna-Carina Woitschack.<ref name="Hamburger Morgenpost1">{{cite web|url=http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/faelschte-rtl-hass-zitat-/-/5645386/7505052/-/index.html|title=Fälschte RTL Hass-Zitat?|work=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=28 February 2011|access-date=4 August 2011|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303100834/http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/faelschte-rtl-hass-zitat-/-/5645386/7505052/-/index.html|archive-date=3 March 2011}}</ref> In an interview, Anna-Carina was quoted as saying "It was cut together all wrong. I never said that I hate Sarah – but on the contrary, I do not hate Sarah Engels. That is what I said. But it was cut this way by RTL, because it looks good for the show."<ref name="Hamburger Morgenpost1"/>

RTL received a statement from the Office of Public Safety stating that Sebastian Wurth was not allowed to participate after 10 PM.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-kurier/nachrichten/dsds-kueken_basti_sebastian_wurth__16__amt_verbannt_ihn_von_der_buehne/335378.php|title=Das Amt verbannt ihn von der Bühne|work=[[Berliner Kurier]]|date=14 March 2011|access-date=4 August 2011|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317093200/http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-kurier/nachrichten/dsds-kueken_basti_sebastian_wurth__16__amt_verbannt_ihn_von_der_buehne/335378.php|archive-date=17 March 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> RTL was also fined 15,000 Euro for the incident.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/dritte-dsds-show--rtl-muss-15-000-euro-zahlen/-/5645386/8115824/-/index.html|title=Dritte DSDS-Show: RTL muss 15.000 Euro zahlen|work=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=13 March 2011|access-date=4 August 2011|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316040719/http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/dritte-dsds-show--rtl-muss-15-000-euro-zahlen/-/5645386/8115824/-/index.html|archive-date=16 March 2011}}</ref>

The ''[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]'' questioned whether the liveshows were actually live broadcast.<ref name="Hamburger Morgenpost2">{{cite web|url=http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/wird-bei-dsds-nicht-live-gesungen-/-/5645386/8118622/-/index.html|title=Wird bei DSDS nicht live gesungen?|work=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=14 March 2011|access-date=4 August 2011|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317085240/http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/wird-bei-dsds-nicht-live-gesungen-/-/5645386/8118622/-/index.html|archive-date=17 March 2011}}</ref> In the 3rd Mottoshow, Marco Angelini slipped up in his performance and forgot to sing at the correct time.<ref name="Hamburger Morgenpost2"/>

[[Pietro Lombardi (singer)|Pietro Lombardi]]'s brother posted nude picture of [[Sarah Engels]] after she used Pietro's cell phone to talk to girls.<ref name="SarahPietro">{{cite web|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/dsds/2011/03/18/schoene-sarah/nackt-attacke-von-pietros-bruder.html|title=Aus Rache: Pietros Bruder postet Nacktbild von Sarah|work=[[Bild]]|date=18 March 2011|access-date=4 August 2011|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320035256/http://www.bild.de/BILD/dsds/2011/03/18/schoene-sarah/nackt-attacke-von-pietros-bruder.html|archive-date=20 March 2011}}</ref> The hardcore fans of Pietro Lombardi told his brother Marco about this and he wasn't happy about this. So, he decided to take "revenge."<ref name="SarahPietro"/> Pietro's brother also wrote "Everyone knows how cheap Sarah Engels is. She is sneaky. A liar."<ref name="SarahPietro"/>

DSDS host [[Marco Schreyl]] mixed up the phone numbers for candidates Zazou Mall and Marco Angelini.<ref name=Votingscandal>{{cite news|last=Peters|first=Bernd|title=Superstar-Eklat! Schreyl vertauscht Voting-Nummern|url=http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/superstar-eklat--schreyl-vertauscht-voting-nummern/-/5645386/8294296/-/index.html|access-date=4 August 2011|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=2 April 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405071459/http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/superstar-eklat--schreyl-vertauscht-voting-nummern/-/5645386/8294296/-/index.html|archive-date=5 April 2011}}</ref> A camera shot of Marco Angelini showed him enraged towards the lens.<ref name=Votingscandal/> A reporter for the [[Hamburger Morgenpost]], who was present, reported there were chaotic scenes shortly before the end of the recording.<ref name=Votingscandal/> [[Dieter Bohlen]] mentioned the mistake and Marco Schreyl replied that "It could be made easier for the host".<ref name=Votingscandal/> [[RTL Television|RTL]] decided that no candidate would be eliminated and the final show was pushed back a week.<ref name=Votingscandal/>

On the 6th mottoshow, Sarah Engels had two wardrobe incidents, when dancing to "Walking on Sunshine", where she began dancing too close to one of the cameras, causing two [[upskirts]]. This was eventually shown to the studio audience during the recap of her performance and was noted by the judges.

===Season 9===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar (season 9)}}
[[File:20140727 DSDS on Tour 9719.jpg|thumb|upright|Ninth season winner [[Luca Hänni]]]]
For the ninth season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'', jury members [[Fernanda Brandão]] and [[Patrick Nuo]] were replaced by [[Bruce Darnell]] and [[Cascada]]'s [[Natalie Horler]]. The winner will receive a [[recording contract]] with [[Universal Music Group]] and €500,000.<ref name="AuditionDeadline">{{cite news|title=Bewerbungen für neunte DSDS-Staffel laufen|url=http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/bewerbungen-fuer-neunte-dsds-staffel-laufen/-/5645386/8631112/-/index.html|access-date=28 August 2011|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=4 July 2011|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816211436/http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/bewerbungen-fuer-neunte-dsds-staffel-laufen/-/5645386/8631112/-/index.html|archive-date=16 August 2011}}</ref> Participants must be between the ages of 16 and 30 and living in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.<ref name="AuditionDeadline"/> The auditions stage had 34 audition events in 33 cities across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 35.401 participants auditioned for season 9. RTL decided to have a "Top 16" instead of a "Top 15". Unlike previous seasons, participants sung in a duet. [[Luca Hänni]] won season 9. At age 17, Luca is the youngest winner-to-date.

The Cologne district government wants to enforce a law that protect minors.<ref name=legalissue>{{cite news|title=Kölner Beamte wollen DSDS-Bühne räumen|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/streit-um-jugendschutz-koelner-beamte-wollen-dsds-buehne-raeumen,5645386,11754168.html|access-date=3 March 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=2 March 2012|author=D. Kylla|author2=B. Peters|language=de}}</ref> The law will not allow minors to participate on stage after 10 PM.<ref name=legalissue/> The issue started [[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 8|last season]] when this law was enforced for [[Sebastian Wurth]].<ref name=2011legalissue>{{cite web|url=http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/dritte-dsds-show--rtl-muss-15-000-euro-zahlen/-/5645386/8115824/-/index.html|title=Dritte DSDS-Show: RTL muss 15.000 Euro zahlen|work=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=13 March 2011|access-date=3 March 2012|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316040719/http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/dritte-dsds-show--rtl-muss-15-000-euro-zahlen/-/5645386/8115824/-/index.html|archive-date=16 March 2011}}</ref> RTL received a 15,000 Euro fine for the incident.<ref name=2011legalissue/> The candidates that this would affect are Daniele Negroni, age 16; Luca Hänni, age 17; Vanessa Krasniqi, age 17 and Fabienne Rothe, age 16.<ref name=legalissue/> RTL decided to cancel the results show for 7, 14 and 21 April due to the minor protection law.<ref>{{cite news|title=DSDS schafft Entscheidungs-Show ab|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/minderjaehrige-kandidaten-dsds-schafft-entscheidungs-show-ab,5645386,14677364.html|access-date=4 April 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=4 April 2012|language=de}}</ref>

[[Hamburger Morgenpost]] hinted that Thomas Pegram's elimination was expected because of some of his statistics on [[Facebook]].<ref name=ThomasFacebookstats>{{cite news|last=Trzeciak|first=Matthias|title=DSDS-Fans ahnten schon vorher, dass Thomas fliegt|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/facebook-falle-dsds-fans-ahnten-schon-vorher--dass-thomas-fliegt,5645386,11768022.html|access-date=5 March 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=5 March 2012|language=de}}</ref> He has the fewest people who clicked the "like" button only 4.105 people and received only 813 comments after the official DSDS Facebook fanpage put up his photo.<ref name=ThomasFacebookstats/> Hamburger Morgenpost continued this when Silvia Amaru was eliminated restating how the lowest "like" total showed who was going to be eliminated before the final decision.<ref name=Amarufacebookstats>{{cite news|title="Facebook-Orakel" hat wieder zugeschlagen|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/dsds-aus-fuer-silvia--facebook-orakel--hat-wieder-zugeschlagen,5645386,11874772.html|access-date=11 March 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=11 March 2012|language=de}}</ref> Silvia Amaru's photo had 4.761 "like" while the competition was at around 10.000 on Sunday 11 March at 10:15 CET.<ref name=Amarufacebookstats/> Hamburger Morgenpost stated that it should be "clear" for RTL that "Facebook is a power killer" for ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar''.<ref name=Amarufacebookstats/> In the Top 8, Kristof had the fews likes for his photo and was not voted out of the show.

Kristof Hering suffered verbal and death threats during his participation during season 9 due to his homosexuality. People were writing stuff like "You are sooo gay to .."; "I'll cut your eggs"; "Get out of DSDS, if you value your life" and "I stab you up". RTL filed charges against unknown persons because of the threats.

TV ratings for season 9 have been disappointing.<ref name=DSDSratings>{{cite news|last=Kylla|first=Denise|title=Ist DSDS bald am Ende?|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/die-bohlen-daemmerung-ist-dsds-bald-am-ende-,5645386,14824054.html|access-date=16 April 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=15 April 2012|language=de|archive-date=17 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417040039/http://www.mopo.de/dsds/die-bohlen-daemmerung-ist-dsds-bald-am-ende-,5645386,14824054.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> None of the mottoshows have reached 5 million viewers.<ref name=DSDSratings/> [[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 1|season 1]] averaged 8.09 million viewers and [[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 8|season 8]] averaged 6.32 million viewers in the show's key demographic (ages 14 to 49).<ref name=DSDSratings/> Only 4.71 million people watch the final show of season 9.<ref name=DSDSrecordlow>{{cite news|title=Absolutes Zuschauer-Rekordtief für DSDS-Finale|url=https://www.welt.de/fernsehen/article106237613/Absolutes-Zuschauer-Rekordtief-fuer-DSDS-Finale.html|access-date=29 April 2012|newspaper=[[Die Welt]]|date=29 April 2012|language=de}}</ref> This is the lowest viewership in the history of all the final shows of DSDS.<ref name=DSDSrecordlow/> RTL stated they want to continue with the show declining rates.<ref>{{cite news|title="DSDS" wird trotz sinkender Quoten fortgesetzt|url=https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/schlaglichter_nt/article106238391/DSDS-wird-trotz-sinkender-Quoten-fortgesetzt.html|access-date=30 April 2012|newspaper=[[Die Welt]]|date=30 April 2012|language=de}}</ref>

=== Season 10 ===

[[File:Beatrice Egli OF13.jpg|thumb|upright|Tenth season winner [[Beatrice Egli]]]]
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 10}}
On 30 April 2012, RTL announced that the show will return for a tenth season, in spite of declining ratings in Season 9. It was also announced that previous judges Natalie Horler and Bruce Darnell as well as host Marco Schreyl will be replaced. Furthermore, a "female quota" will be introduced in order to have an equal balance of male and female contestants.

According to reports, the show was supposed to have a live band accompanying the contestants in the live shows, which has been absent since season 8. However, the first motto show of the season did not feature a live band and contestants sounded to be singing to pre-recorded tracks.

On 14 September 2012, RTL announced Tom and Bill Kaulitz from the [[MTV Video Music Awards]] winning band [[Tokio Hotel]] and Mateo Jaschik founding member of the German dancehall band [[Culcha Candela]] as the replacements for Natalie Horler and Bruce Darnell in the jury. This is the first time since season 2 that the jury consisted of four judges.<ref name="Season 10 jury">{{cite news|title=Tokio-Hotel-Zwillinge in DSDS-Jury!|url=http://www.bild.de/dsds/2012/dsds/tokio-hotel-neue-jury-bei-dsds-26203020.bild.html|access-date=14 September 2012|newspaper=Bild-Zeitung|date=14 September 2012|language=de}}</ref>

The first episode attracted 5.18 Mio. viewers, which marks the lowest season premiere rating since [[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 1|season 1]], which has not been broadcast on the primetime slot on 8.15pm.<ref name="Season 10 ratings">{{cite news|title="DSDS" mit schwächstem Start seit erster Staffel|url=http://www.dwdl.de/zahlenzentrale/39032/dsds_mit_schwaechstem_start_seit_erster_staffel/|access-date=8 January 2013|date=6 January 2013|language=de}}</ref> Despite this, the show was renewed for an eleventh season for 2014. Only 4,63 Mio. viewers watched the final, a major low record.

The winner of the tenth season was [[Beatrice Egli]]. She became the first female winner since season 2 and the first German [[Schlager music|Schlager]] singer to win the competition. The season featured a female finale which has happened only twice so far in the history of the show. Furthermore, this is the first time that three women reached the final four.

=== Season 11 ===
[[File:DSDS Live on Tour Vienna 2014 - 131.JPG|thumb|upright|Eleventh season winner [[Aneta Sablik]]]]
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 11}}
On 13 March 2013 RTL announced, that there will be an eleventh season.<ref>{{cite web|title=RTL will DSDS trotz Zuschauer-Schwund fortsetzen|url=https://www.derwesten.de/kultur/fernsehen/rtl-will-dsds-trotz-zuschauer-schwund-fortsetzen-id7718518.html|work=derwesten.de|access-date=5 January 2014|location=Cologne|language=de|date=13 March 2013|archive-date=21 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221173908/http://www.derwesten.de/kultur/fernsehen/rtl-will-dsds-trotz-zuschauer-schwund-fortsetzen-id7718518.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title="DSDS" wird trotz schlechter Quoten fortgesetzt|url=http://woodz.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/stars/news/11544-qdsdsq-wird-trotz-schlechter-quoten-fortgesetzt.html|work=schwarzwaelder-bote.de|access-date=5 January 2014|language=de|date=13 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215105602/http://woodz.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/stars/news/11544-qdsdsq-wird-trotz-schlechter-quoten-fortgesetzt.html|archive-date=15 December 2013}}</ref> The judges from the previous season, with the exception of [[Dieter Bohlen]], were replaced by rapper [[Kay One]], the singer ''Mieze Katz'' of the band [[MIA. (German band)|MIA.]], and the [[Schlager music|Schlager]] singer [[Marianne Rosenberg]]. [[Nazan Eckes]] returned as the host of the eleventh season, however without [[Raúl Richter]]. The season started on Wednesday, 8 January 2014 on RTL.

The top 30, which consisted of 15 female and 15 male contestants, were brought to Cuba for the further competition. In the top 20 round, the judges chose the top ten to compete in the live shows. Five of the ten eliminated contestants were given a wild card by the judges and made available for public voting. The two with the highest votes by the viewers will be joining the top 10.

The season premiere attracted 2,70 Mil. viewers, which makes it the least-watched season premiere in the history of ''Deutschland such den Superstar''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dwdl.de/zahlenzentrale/44176/schwaechster_dsdsstart_macht_biggest_loser_platt/ | title=Schwächster DSDS-Start macht "Biggest Loser" platt | author=Alexander Krei | publisher=DWDL.de | access-date=20 January 2014 | language=de }}</ref> However, ratings improved up to 3,33 Mil. viewers by episode three, which makes it the most watched episode of the season so far within the demographics between ages 14–49.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dwdl.de/zahlenzentrale/44408/novum_dschungelcamp_zeigt_wetten_dass_die_ruecklichter/ | title=Dschungel zeigt "Wetten, dass..?" die Rücklichter | author=Timo Niemeier | publisher=DWDL.de | access-date=20 March 2014 | language=de }}</ref> Overall, this season showed the lowest ratings in the history of the show.

For the second year in a row this season featured a female final top two and producing a female Superstar for the third time in the history of the show. [[Aneta Sablik]] was announced as the winner on 3 May 2014.

=== Season 12 ===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 12}}
During the live-shows of season 11, it was announced that the castings for season 12 will start in August 2014. RTL's Head of Programm Frank Hoffmann stated in April 2014 that he wants to keep the series for the years the come, although the ratings continued to fall, especially in the live shows. He further explained that the live-shows will be cut to an "absolut minimum".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dwdl.de/nachrichten/45624/hoffmann_haelt_an_dsds_fest_keine_gameshows/ | title=Hoffmann hält an "DSDS" fest, keine Gameshows | author=Marcel Pohlig | publisher=DWDL.de | access-date=20 April 2014 | language=de }}</ref> In Fall 2014, RTL gave closer details to the changes of Season 12. The liveshows are replaced with pre-recorded concerts in clubs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Only the announcement of the results will be broadcast live. In contrary to the seasons before the final will not take place in a TV studio in [[Cologne]], but in the [[ÖVB Arena]] in Bremen.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dwdl.de/nachrichten/48663/wie_viel_dsds_steckt_eigentlich_noch_in_dsds/| title=Wie viel "DSDS" steckt eigentlich noch in "DSDS"?| author=Alexander Krei | publisher=DWDL.de | access-date=15 December 2014 | language=de }}</ref>

For the first time, auditions will be held in the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dwdl.de/nachrichten/47121/dsds_deutschland_ist_laengst_nicht_mehr_genug/ | title="DSDS": Deutschland ist längst nicht mehr genug | author=Uwe Mantel | publisher=DWDL.de | access-date=12 August 2014 | language=de }}</ref>

In October 2014, RTL announced that Marianne Rosenberg, Mietze Katz and Kay One won't return for the twelfth season. The new jury consists of [[Dieter Bohlen]], Swiss discjockey [[DJ Antoine]], Schlager singer [[Heino]] and singer [[Mandy Capristo]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dwdl.de/nachrichten/47903/jury_komplett_bohlens_neue_heisst_mandy_capristo/| title=Jury komplett: Bohlens Neue heißt Mandy Capristo| author=Marcel Pohlig | publisher=DWDL.de | access-date=15 December 2014 | language=de }}</ref>

The winner of the Deutschland sucht den Superstar 2015 was announced as Severino Seeger with Viviana Grisafi finishing as the runner-up. The winner song entitled ''Hero of My Heart'' was produced and written by juror [[Dieter Bohlen]].

===Season 13===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 13}}
In the first event show of the twelfth season, Oliver Geissen announced that 2016 should be a season for which you should be able to apply for now. [35] In the final betrayed Dieter Bohlen that for this season all previous limits such as the age restriction are repealed. Accordingly, the motto of the squadron "No Limits" is. In June 2015, RTL announced that Oliver Geissen will host the Final Shows in 2016 again. On October 1, 2015 RTL announced that next Dieter Bohlen also [[H.P. Baxxter]], [[Vanessa Mai]] and [[Michelle (German singer)|Michelle]] are on the jury. During the auditions, each judge has the option to send a Golden CD a candidate directly in the foreign-Recall. was implemented along the Golden Turd, with the judges can distinguish particularly poor performances. The foreign-Recall took place on Jamaica.

Prince Damien Ritzinger was the winner of the Deutschland sucht den Superstar 2016 with Laura van den Elzen finishing as the runner-up. The winner song is entitled "Glücksmoment".

===Season 14===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 14}}
[[File:Alphonso Williams März 2018.JPG|thumb|upright|Thirteen season winner Alphonso Williams in 2018]]
During the live-shows of [[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 13|season 13]], it was announced that the castings for season 14 will start in August 2016. In Fall 2016, RTL gave closer details to the changes of Season 14. This season's the foreign-Recall was in [[Dubai]] and the contestants were performing in the desert, on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab, in front of the world's tallest free-standing-structure, the Burj Khalifa. The pre-recorded concerts in clubs in Germany were replaced by the mottoshows (theme shows) which were used from season 1 to 10.

In 2016, RTL announced that H.P. Baxxter, Michelle and Dieter Bohlen would return, while [[Vanessa Mai]] was replaced by YouTuber [[Shirin David]]. [[Oliver Geissen]] returned as the host of the live shows. This season marked an all-time high because there was a '''final 14''' which was the highest amount of mottoshow contestants ever. Also for the first time, a wild card voting was introduced where the public voted Alphonso Williams who was eliminated just before the mottoshows back in the competition. Alphonso Williams was announced the winner on 6 May followed by Alexander Jahnke, Maria Voskania and Duygu Goenel. With 54 years Williams is the oldest winner to date.

===Season 15===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 15}}
For Season 15, Dieter Bohlen announced a new jury that consists of Carolin Niemczyk, Ella Endlich and [[Mousse T.|Mousse T]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rtl.de/cms/dsds-2018-dieter-bohlen-carolin-niemczyk-mousse-t-und-ella-endlich-suchen-nach-dem-superstar-2018-4129489.html|title=Auf der Suche nach echten Rohdiamanten|work=rtl.de|access-date=19 January 2018|language=de-DE}}</ref> The winner was the 16 years old Marie Wegener. She is the youngest winner ever and only the fourth woman to win the show and the first to win against a male in the top two. Michel Truog was the Runner-Up and Michael Rauscher reached the third Place.

===Season 16===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 16}}
For Season 16, RTL and Dieter Bohlen engaged German soul singer [[Xavier Naidoo]], [[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 8|Season 8]]'s winner [[Pietro Lombardi (singer)|Pietro Lombardi]] and professional dancer Oana Nechiti to be a judges on Deutschland sucht den Superstar. 20 year old [[Davin Herbrüggen]] was the winner, where Nick Feretti and Joana Kesenci came in second and third pace.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://m.augsburger-allgemeine.de/panorama/Deutschland-sucht-den-Superstar-2019-Jury-mit-Oana-Nechiti-und-Xavier-Naidoo-id52481106.html|title="Deutschland sucht den Superstar" 2019: Jury mit Oana Nechiti und Xavier Naidoo|work=AugsburgerAllgemeine.de|access-date=24 October 2018|language=de-DE}}</ref>

===Season 17===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 17}}
For the start of Season 17, the judges stayed as they are. The season premiered on 4 January 2020. Xavier Naidoo was subsequently excluded from the jury and replaced by [[Florian Silbereisen]].
The winner was Ramon Roselly, Chiara Dꞌamico reached 2nd, Joshua Tappe 3rd and Paulina Wagner the 4th place. For the second time the winner was a singer of german Schlager and the first male to do so. He reached the highest percentage of voting in the show's history.

===Season 18===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 18}}
The eighteenth season will begin airing on 2021. On 13 August 2020, it was announced that next to the judge [[Dieter Bohlen]] will seat [[Mike Singer]] and [[Michael Wendler]]. On 16 August 2020, it was announced [[Maite Kelly]] as the fourth judge. Due to his public belief in conspiracy theories and other statements, Michael Wendler was completely cut out of the show. The season will be the last season with Dieter Bohlen as a judge. [[Thomas Gottschalk]] replaced Bohlen in the live shows since he was unable to participate because of an illness. For the first time there were only two live shows and also it was the first Top four to just consist of male contestants. Jan-Marten Block was the winner of the season and Karl Jeroboan came in the second place.

===Season 19===
{{Main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 19}}

The 19th season started on January 22, 2022 and was won by Harry Marcello Laffontien while his younger brother Gianni Laffontien finished fourth. This was the first time in the show that two brothers reached a seasons final. The Jury consists of [[Florian Silbereisen]], [[Toby Gad]] and [[Ilse Delange]].

===Season 20===

January 14, 2023. [[Dieter Bohlen]], who should have had his final season as a judge in season 18, returned as a judge, as did [[Pietro Lombardi (singer)|Pietro Lombardi]]. New members were [[Katja Krasavice]] and [[Leony]].

This season should have been the last season of the series, but Dieter Bohlen announced that the series will return for a 21st season. The winner was Sem Eisinger. Monika Gajek was second, Lorent Berisha third and Kiyan Yousefbeik fourth.

====Finalists====
{|class="wikitable center" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|-
! Place
|December 2
! Contestant
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Alexander Klaws]]
! Age
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Judith Lefeber]]
! Hometown
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Daniel Küblböck]]
! Occupation
! Status
|-
|-
| 1
|December 9
| Sem Eisinger
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Juliette Schoppmann]]
| 29
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Gracia Baur]]
| [[Frankfurt]]
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Nektarios Bamiatzis
| Barkeeper
| bgcolor="gold"|'''Winner'''
|-
|-
| 2
|December 16
| Monika Gajek
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Daniel Lopes]]
| 21
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Andrea Josten
| [[Salzgitter]]
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Stephanie Brauckmeyer
| Warehousewoman (trainee)
| bgcolor="silver"|Runner-up
|-
|-
| 3
|December 16<br>
| Lorent Berisha
(Wildcard)
| 19
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Vanessa Struhler<br>(Viewers Choice)<sup>1</sup>
| [[Dierikon]]
|Nicole Süßmilch<br>(missed out)<sup>2</sup>
| Medical practice assistant
|Tarik<br>(missed out)
| bgcolor="#F4C7B8" rowspan=2|Eliminated<br />{{nowrap|Final}}
|-
|-
|4
| colspan=17 style="font-size:85%"| '''Notes:'''
| Kiyan Yousefbeik
<ol start=1><li>There was no wildcard show held, the percentage from every 4th placer in each group got revealed with Struhler having the highest out of the three.</ol>
| 25
<ol start=2><li>Süßmilch eventually made the finals in round four as being officially the 11th choice when Judith Lefeber withdrew.</ol>
| [[Hannover]]
| Content manager at TikTok
|-
| 5
| David Leischik
| 27
| [[Cologne]]
| Music student
| bgcolor="#F4C7B8" rowspan=4|Eliminated<br />{{nowrap|Semi-Final}}
|-
| 6
| Peris Grigoriadis
| 25
| [[Pleidelsheim]]
| Mechanic and DJ
|-
| 7
| Aileen Sager
| 23
| [[Birkenfeld]]
| Medical assistant
|-
| 8
| Lawa Baban
| 25
| [[Gießen]]
| Mini-jobber
|-
| 9
| Natalie Nock
| 29
| [[Baden-Baden]]
| Real estate clerk
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#F4C7B8"|Eliminated<br />{{nowrap|Liveshow 1}}
|-
| 10
| Rose Ndumba
| 23
| [[Essen]]
| Student
|}
|}


===Finals elimination chart===
====Elimination chart====
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
'''NOTE: Not in every case these were the people revealed by RTL in the results shows'''
| style="background:pink; width:100px;"| Females
{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=6
| style="background:cyan; width:100px;"| Males
|-bgcolor=#808080
| style="background:#8ab8e6; width:100px;"| Top 10
|'''Date'''
| style="background:gold; width:100px;"| Winner
|'''Theme'''
| style="background:silver; width:100px;"| Runner-up
|colspan="3" align="center"|'''Bottom Three'''
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
| style="background:white; width:100px;"| Safe
| style="background:lightgreen; width:100px;"| Most votes
| style="background:#b8dbff; width:100px;"| Safe Last
| style="background:#8ab8e6; width:100px;"| Eliminated
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|''Stage:''
|December 21
| style="background:#8ab8e6;"|'''Top 10'''
|My Superstar
| style="background:#8ab8e6;"|'''Semi-Final - Top 8'''
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Stephanie Brauckmeyer
|colspan="2" style="background:#8ab8e6;"|'''Final - Top 4'''
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Gracia Baur]]
|Andrea Josten
|-
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|''Week:''
|December 28
!style="width:120px;" |4/1
|[[Love song|Love Songs]]
!style="width:120px;"|4/8
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Andrea Josten (2)
!colspan="2" style="width:120px;"|4/15
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Daniel Lopes]]
|Nektarios Bamiatzis
|-
|-
!style="width:35px;"|Place
|January 4
!style="width:150px;"|Contestant
|[[2002 in music|Hits of 2002]]
!colspan="7"|Result
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Nektarios Bamiatzis (2)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Gracia Baur (2)
|[[Vanessa Struhler]]
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''1'''
|January 11
|style="background:cyan;"| '''Sem Eisinger'''
|[[Musical theatre|Musical]]
|style="background:lightgreen;"| '''1st'''<br>36,97%
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Daniel Lopes (2)
|style="background:lightgreen;"| '''1st'''<br>35,80%
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Juliette Schoppmann]]
| style="background:gold;|'''Winner'''<br>54,81%
|Vanessa Struhler (2)
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''2'''
|January 18
|style="background:pink;"| '''Monika Gajek'''
|[[The 80s]]
| '''3rd'''<br>12,24%
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Nicole Süßmilch]]
| '''2nd'''<br>16,18%
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Vanessa Struhler (3)
| style="background:silver;|'''Runner-up'''<br>18,52%
|Juliette Schoppmann (2)
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''3'''
|February 1
|style="background:cyan;"| '''Lorent Berisha'''
|[[Big Band]]
| '''2nd'''<br>18,41%
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Gracia Baur (3)
| style="background:#b8dbff;"|'''4th'''<br>10,03%
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Vanessa Struhler (4)
| style="background:#8ab8e6; |'''3rd'''<br>13,88%
|Juliette Schoppmann (3)
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''4'''
|-bgcolor=#808080
|style="background:cyan;"| '''Kiyan Yousefbeik'''
|'''Date'''
|'''Theme'''
|'''4th'''<br>8,29%
|'''3rd'''<br>15,65%
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Bottom Two'''
|style="background:#8ab8e6; |'''4th'''<br>12,79%
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''5'''
|February 8
|style="background:cyan;"| '''David Leischik'''
|[[Disco]]
| '''5th'''<br>7,98%
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Vanessa Struhler (5)
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''5th'''<br>8,14%
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Daniel Küblböck]]
|style="background:#999999;" colspan=4|
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''6'''
|March 1
|style="background:cyan;"| '''Peris Grigoriadis'''
|Movies
| '''7th'''<br>4,09%
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Daniel Küblböck (2)
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''6th'''<br>6,09%
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Juliette Schoppmann (4)
|style="background:#999999;" colspan=4|
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''7'''
|March 8
|style="background:pink;"| '''Aileen Sager'''
|Finale
| '''6th'''<br>4,15%
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Juliette Schoppmann (5)
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''7th'''<br>4,82%
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Alexander Klaws]]'''
|style="background:#999999;" colspan=4|
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''8'''
|style="background:pink;"| '''Lawa Baban'''
| style="background:#b8dbff;"| '''8th'''<br>3,10%
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''8th'''<br>3,29%
|style="background:#999999;" colspan=4|
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''9'''
|style="background:pink;"| '''Natalie Nock'''
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''9th'''<br>2,45%
|style="background:#999999;" colspan=2|
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''10'''
|style="background:pink;"| '''Rose Ndumba'''
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''10th'''<br>2,32%
|style="background:#999999;" colspan=2|
|}
|}


==Season 2==
===Season 21===
{{main|Deutschland sucht den SuperStar (Season 2)}}


In this season contestants above 30 years can participate to win the title Superstar because there is no more limit of age. The last time that was the case where in season fourteen. The Jury in this season consists of [[Dieter Bohlen]], [[Pietro Lombardi (singer)|Pietro Lombardi]], [[Beatrice Egli]] and [[Loredana]]. The season premiered on 18 September 2024. That was the first time since season 2 that ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' begins airing a season in September. From season four to twenty the airdate was always January. This Season is the shortest with only 15 episodes. Only 4 Finalists compete in the one Liveshow this year and at the second time since season 18 all of them being male. The season was won by Christian Jährig with Philip Matas came the Runner-Up, Nissim Mizrahi third and Tom Mc Conner in the fourth place. Christian Jährig also breaks the Record of the highest percentage of votes by 4 finalists with 75,61%.
In Season 2, co-hosts Hunziker and Spengemann and all four jury members reprised their engagements in the show. In contrast to the first season, the second (which aired a half year after the first season's finale) soon found its main audience but never reached the overwhelming hype and demand which the first season had captured. This fact was underscored by decreasing phone votes and ratings, which were released after the show's final.


====Elimination chart====
This time, [[Elli Erl]] emerged as the winner with [[Denise Tillmanns]] as runner-up. Though Erl agreed to release the [[Dieter Bohlen|Bohlen]] produced coronation song "This Is My Life" in a remixed edition, she denied collaborating with him on her debut album due to musical and personal conflicts. Elli instead released a self-written song, "In My Dreams", which saw minor success only with a chart peak at number 40. Her debut album ''Shout It Out'' saw similar success, when it eventually debuted in October 2004. Two further singles were released afterwards but none of them became a commercial hit. A second solo album is now scheduled for spring 2007.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
| style="background:cyan; width:100px;"| Males
| style="background:#8ab8e6; width:100px;"| Top 4
| style="background:gold; width:100px;"| Winner
| style="background:silver; width:100px;"| Runner-up
|}


{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
Unlike in season one, the other finalists hit on major problems when they watched out for record deals. Third-place finisher [[Philippe Bühler]] released two [[R&B]] influenced singles, "Warum?" and "Ich Kann Dich Lieben"; both of them entered the Top 40 of the [[Media Control Charts|German singles chart]] in winter 2005 and spring 2006 respectively. Anke Wagner (sixth) signed with independent label Perleberg, but neither her debut single nor her album entered the Top 100. Benjamin Martell (third) was signed to [[BMG]], but was dropped when he demanded to write the album by himself. Fifth-place finisher Gunther Göbbel became part of the [[R&B]] duo Lemon Ice, whose cover single "[[Stand by Me (song)|Stand by Me]]" entered the German top 20 in fall 2006. [[Lorielle London|Lorenzo Woodard]] (eighth) didn't release any music but enjoyed short popularity when he appeared on various reality-TV shows.<br>Semifinalist [[Žanamari Lalić]] (known as Jeanne-Marie) went on to audition for the shows Croatian equivalent [[Hrvatski Idol]] and eventually won the contest one year later. Being a native Croatian but living in Germany for a couple of years, Lalić went back to her homecountry to become a well known artist in the media as well as on local festivals.
| style="background:#8ab8e6; width:100px;"| Eliminated

|}
===Semi Final Qualifiyings===
Top 50<br>
Format: 2 out of ten making the final each week + three Wilcards<sup>1</sup>


{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center; font-size:85%"
{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=6
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''First'''
|'''Second'''
|-
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|''Stage:''
|October 8
|colspan="2" style="background:#8ab8e6;"|'''Final - Top 4'''
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Jessica Houston
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Denise Tillmanns]]
|-
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:right;"|''Week:''
|October 15
!style="width:120px;" |11/9
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Judith Burmeister
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Ricky Ord
|-
|-
!style="width:35px;"|Place
|October 22
!style="width:150px;"|Contestant
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Benjamin Martell
!colspan="7"|Result
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Kemi Awosogba
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''1'''
|October 29
|style="background:cyan;"| '''Christian Jährig'''
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Aida Iljasevic
| style="background:gold;|'''Winner'''<br>75,61%
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Steffen Frommberger
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''2'''
|November 5
|style="background:cyan;"| '''Philip Matas'''
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Elli Erl]]
| style="background:silver;|'''Runner-up'''<br>9,92%
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Lorielle London|Lorenzo Woodard]]
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''3'''
|November 12<br>(Wildcard)
|style="background:cyan;"| '''Nissim Mizrahi'''
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Philippe Bühler]]<br>(Viewers Choice)
| style="background:#8ab8e6; |'''3rd'''<br>8,38%
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Anke Wagner &<br>Gunther Göbbel<br>(Judges Choices)
|-
|-
|style="background:#8ab8e6;"| '''4'''
|style="background:cyan;"| '''Tom Mc Conner'''
|style="background:#8ab8e6; |'''4th'''<br>6,09%
|}
|}


==Criticisms and controversies==
{|
The German Cultural Council accused RTL "malicious disregard" for humanity after a 17-year-old had a nervous breakdown during his audition.<ref name="DW1">{{cite news|title=TV Casting Show Accused of Damaging Germany's Youth|url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3106370,00.html|publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]]|date=4 February 2008|access-date=9 February 2011}}</ref> The ''Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz'' opened a review procedure against Deutschland sucht den Superstar<ref name="DW1"/> and KJM boss Wolf-Dieter Ring stated that "the manner in which contestants are humiliated on the show could have detrimental effects on young viewers."<ref name="DW1"/>
| colspan=17 style="font-size:85%"| '''Notes:'''

<ol start=1><li>Originally there were 12 spots in the final (with only one Judges' Choice) but when the judges decided to let two people through it became a top 13.</ol>
[[Elli Erl]], the winner of [[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 2|season 2]], confirmed that RTL asked for fake stories when she participated in the show.<ref>{{cite news|title=Elli Erl: "RTL bat um erfundene Geschichten"|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/abrechnung-der-dsds-siegerin-elli-erl---rtl-bat-um-erfundene-geschichten-,5645386,11994120.html|access-date=26 March 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=26 March 2012|language=de}}</ref> Again, in season 8, RTL created fake stories.<ref name="Fakestories">{{cite web|url=http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/faelschte-rtl-hass-zitat-/-/5645386/7505052/-/index.html|title=Fälschte RTL Hass-Zitat?|work=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=28 February 2011|access-date=26 March 2012|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303100834/http://www.mopo.de/news/promi---show/dsds/faelschte-rtl-hass-zitat-/-/5645386/7505052/-/index.html|archive-date=3 March 2011}}</ref> RTL misquoted DSDS [[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 8|season 8]] candidate Anna-Carina Woitschack.<ref name="Fakestories"/> In an interview, Anna-Carina was quoted as saying "It was cut together all wrong.<ref name="Fakestories"/> I never said that I hate Sarah – but on the contrary, I do not hate Sarah Engels. That is what I said. But it was cut this way by RTL, because it looks good for the show."<ref name="Fakestories"/>
|}

==''DSDS Kids''==
On 13 March 2012, RTL announced that there will be a kids edition of DSDS.<ref name=DSDSKidsWelt>{{cite news|title=RTL schickt jetzt Kinder auf die "Superstar"-Bühne|url=https://www.welt.de/fernsehen/article13920250/RTL-schickt-jetzt-Kinder-auf-die-Superstar-Buehne.html|access-date=13 March 2012|newspaper=[[Die Welt]]|date=13 March 2012|language=de}}</ref><ref name=DSDSKidsHMP>{{cite news|title=RTL startet neues DSDS für Kinder|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/von-4-bis-14-jahren-rtl-startet-neues-dsds-fuer-kinder,5645386,11889840.html|access-date=13 March 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=13 March 2012|language=de}}</ref> The ages will be from 4 to 14.<ref name=DSDSKidsWelt/><ref name=DSDSKidsHMP/> The participants will get training scholarship and prize money.<ref name=DSDSKidsWelt/> [[Dieter Bohlen]], [[Michelle Hunziker]] and [[Dana Schweiger]] were named to the jury for [[DSDS Kids season 1|season 1]].<ref name=DSDSKidsstartWelt>{{cite news|title=Dieter Bohlen verpasst sich selbst einen Maulkorb|url=https://www.welt.de/fernsehen/article106134072/Dieter-Bohlen-verpasst-sich-selbst-einen-Maulkorb.html|access-date=30 March 2012|newspaper=[[Die Welt]]|date=29 March 2012|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Michelle Hunziker & Dana Schweiger an Bohlens Seite|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/dsds-fuer-kids-michelle-hunziker---dana-schweiger-an-bohlens-seite,5645386,13576308.html|access-date=30 March 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=29 March 2012}}</ref> There were 38.664 applications for season 1 of the show.<ref name=DSDSKidsapplicants>{{cite news|title=Fast 40.000 Kinder wollen zu "DSDS Kids"|url=http://www.mopo.de/dsds/neue-show-ab-mai-fast-40-000-kinder-wollen-zu--dsds-kids-,5645386,14827350.html|access-date=16 April 2012|newspaper=[[Hamburger Morgenpost]]|date=16 April 2012|language=de}}</ref>


German child protection association president Heinz Hilgers advised parents not to apply for the show.<ref name=Localcritic>{{cite news|title=TV talent show sparks anger with kids' version|url=http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120314-41323.html|access-date=14 March 2012|newspaper=[[The Local]]|date=14 March 2012}}</ref> He claimed that the adult version "was based on humiliation and embarrassment".<ref name=Localcritic/> The association's director, Paula Honkanen-Schoberth, stated that "Casting shows are geared towards making one person successful" and also claimed "The message for the rest is, 'you're no good.'"<ref name=Localcritic/> However, RTL stated that this is a family show and it wants to encourage the children.<ref name=DSDSKidsstartWelt/>
===Finals elimination chart===

'''NOTE: Not in every case these were the people revealed by RTL in the results shows'''
==Season details==
{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=6
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; width:100%; text-align: center;"
|-bgcolor=#808080
!width="5%"|Season
|'''Date'''
!width="13%"|Premiere date
|'''Theme'''
!width="13%"|Final date
|colspan="3" align="center"|'''Bottom Three'''
!width="13%"|Number of episodes
!width=14%|Winner
!width=14%|Runner-up
!width="35%"|Other contestants in order of elimination
!width="7%"|Number of contestants
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 1|1]]
|November 22
|9 November 2002
|My Superstar
|8 March 2003
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Ricky Ord
|15
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Jessica Houston
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Steffen Frommberger
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Alexander Klaws]]'''
|bgcolor="pink"|[[Juliette Schoppmann]]
|Stephanie Brauckmeyer, Andrea Josten, [[Judith Lefeber]], [[Nektarios Bamiatzis]], [[Daniel Lopes]], [[Nicole Süßmilch]], [[Gracia Baur]], Vanessa Struhler, [[Daniel Küblböck]]
|11
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 2|2]]
|November 29
|3 September 2003
|Love Songs
|13 March 2004
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Steffen Frommberger (2)
|22
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Kemi Awosogba
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Elli Erl]]'''
|Lorenzo Woodard
|bgcolor="pink"|Denise Tillmanns
|Ricky Ord, Jessica Houston, Steffen Frommberger, [[Lorielle London|Lorenzo Woodard]], Kemi Awosogba, Judith Burmeister, Aida Ilijasevic, Anke Wagner, [[Gunther Göbbel]], Benjamin Martell, Philippe Bühler
|13
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 3|3]]
|December 13
|16 November 2005
|Birth Year
|18 March 2006
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Lorenzo Woodard (2)
|20
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Kemi Awosogba (2)
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Tobias Regner]]'''
|Judith Burmeister
|bgcolor="cyan"|[[Mike Leon Grosch]]
|Carolina Escolano, Stephan Darnstaedt, Dascha Semcov, Lena Hanenberg, Daniel Muñoz, [[Anna-Maria Zimmermann]], Didi Knoblauch, Vanessa Jean Dedmon
|11
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 4|4]]
|December 20
|10 January 2007
|Christmas Songs
|5 May 2007
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Kemi Awosogba (3)
|20
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Benjamin Martell
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Mark Medlock]]'''
|Judith Burmeister (2)
|bgcolor="cyan"|[[Martin Stosch]]
|[[Laura Martin]], Jonathan Enns, Julia Falke, Francisca Urio, Thomas Enns, Lauren Talbot, Max Buskohl, Lisa Bund
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 5|5]]
|January 10
|23 January 2008
|Elton John meets Madonna
|17 May 2008
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Judith Burmeister (3)
|20
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Gunther Göbbel
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Thomas Godoj]]'''
|Elli Erl
|bgcolor="cyan"|[[Fady Maalouf]]
|Jermaine Alford, Sahra Drone, Stella Salato, Collins Owusu, Benjamin Herd, [[Rania Zeriri]],Monica Ivkic, Linda Teodosiu
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 6|6]]
|January 17
|21 January 2009
|Big Band
|9 May 2009
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Aida Ilijasevic
|20
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Gunther Göbbel (2)
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Daniel Schuhmacher]]'''
|Benjamin Martell (2)
|bgcolor="pink"|[[Sarah Kreuz]]
|Michelle Bowers, Cornelia Patzlsperger, [[Marc Jentzen]], Holger Göpfert, [[Vanessa Neigert]], Benny Kieckhäben, Dominik Büchele, Annemarie Eilfeld
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 7|7]]
|January 31
|6 January 2010
|Disco
|17 April 2010
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Anke Wagner
|20
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Gunther Göbbel (3)
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Mehrzad Marashi]]'''
|Elli Erl (2)
|bgcolor="cyan"|Menowin Fröhlich
|Steffi Landerer, Marcel Pluschke, Nelson Sangaré, Ines Redjeb, Helmut Orosz, [[Thomas Karaoglan]], Kim Debkowski, Manuel Hoffmann
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 8|8]]
|February 7
|8 January 2011
|Movies
|7 May 2011
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Gunther Göbbel (4)
|23
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Elli Erl (3)
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Pietro Lombardi (singer)|Pietro Lombardi]]'''
|Benjamin Martell (3)
|bgcolor="pink"|[[Sarah Engels]]
|Marvin Cybulski, Nina Richel, Anna-Carina Woitschack, [[Norman Langen]], Zazou Mall, [[Sebastian Wurth]], Marco Angelini, Ardian Bujupi
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 9|9]]
|-bgcolor=#808080
|7 January 2012
|'''Date'''
|28 April 2012
|'''Theme'''
|24
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Bottom Two'''
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Luca Hänni]]'''
|bgcolor="cyan"|[[Daniele Negroni]]
|Thomas Pegram, Silvia Amaru, [[Vanessa Krasniqi]], Hamed Anousheh, [[Kristof Hering]], [[Joey Heindle]], Fabienne Rothe, Jesse Ritch
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 10|10]]
|February 14
|5 January 2013
|Judges choice
|11 May 2013
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Benjamin Martell (4)
|23
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Elli Erl (4)
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Beatrice Egli]]'''
|bgcolor="pink"|Lisa Wohlgemuth
|Nora Ferjani, Maurice Glover, Timo Tiggeler, Simone Mangiapane, Tim David Weller, Erwin Kintop, Susan Albers, Ricardo Bielecki
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 11|11]]
|February 21
|8 January 2014
|The 60s
|3 May 2014
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|[[Phillipe Bühler]]
|19
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Denise Tillmanns]]
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Aneta Sablik]]'''
|bgcolor="pink"|Meltem Acikgöz
|Sophia Akkara, Larissa Joyce Melody Haase, Alessandro Di Lella, Vanessa Valera-Rojas, Enrico von Krawczynski, Elif Batman, Christopher Schnell, Yasemin Kocak, Richard Schlögel, Daniel Ceylan
|12
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 12|12]]
|March 13
|7 January 2015
|Finale
|16 May 2015
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|[[Denise Tillmanns]] (2)
|20
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Elli Erl]]'''
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[:de:Severino Seeger|Severino Seeger]]'''
|}
|bgcolor="pink"|Viviana Grisafi

|Leon Heidrich, Marcel Kärcher, Robin Eichinger, Laura Lopez, Seraphina Ueberholz, Erica Greenfield, Jeannine Rossi, Antonio Gerardi
==Season 3==
|10
{{main|Deutschland sucht den SuperStar (Season 3)}}
After an absence of one year, the third season introduced several new elements. Neither Hunziker nor Spengemann were asked back as the show's hosts as the studio wanted a new complexion on the season. They were replaced with Marco Schreyl and Dutch co-host Tooske Ragas. The jury cast also went through radical changes; [[Dieter Bohlen]] remained the only original member, and was eventually joined by music producer Sylvia Kollek and former manager Heinz Henn.
===Top 20 Bottom 4===
Top 20<br>
Format: First Week: 3 boys and 3 girls eliminated.
Second Week: 2 boys and 2 girls eliminated.

{| cellpadding=4 cellspacing=6
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''Eliminated'''
|'''Eliminated'''
|'''Eliminated/or Saved Last'''
|'''Saved Last/or Saved First'''
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 13|13]]
|December 14
|2 January 2016
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Luca Krykon
|7 May 2016
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Julian Kasprzik
|21
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Markus Derwall
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Prince Damien]]'''
|Stephan Darnstaedt
|bgcolor="pink"|Laura van den Elzen
|Aytug Gün, Ramona Mihajilovic, Tobias Soltau, Sandra Berger, Mark Hoffmann, Igor Barbosa, Anita Wiegand, Thomas Katrozan
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 14|14]]
|December 17
|4 January 2017
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Angelika Wolf
|6 May 2017
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Selina Mateo
|22
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Laura Holstermann
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Alphonso Williams]]'''
|Carolina Escolano
|bgcolor="cyan"|Alexander Jahnke
| Matthias Bonrath, Angelika Ewa Turo, Mihaela Cataj, Armando Sarowny, Ruben Mateo, Ivanildo Kembel, Monique Simon, Sandro Brehorst, Chanelle Wyrsch, Noah Schärer, Duygu Goenel, Maria Voskania
|14
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 15|15]]
|December 21
|3 January 2018
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Didi Knoblauch<sup>1</sup>
|5 May 2018
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Fabian Behnisch
|19
|Stephan Darnstaedt (2)
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Marie Wegener]]'''
|Daniel Munoz
|bgcolor="cyan"|Michel Truog
|Emilija Mihailova, Isa Martino, Mario Turtak, Giulio Arancio, Mia Gucek, Lukas Otte, Janina El Arguioui, Michael Rauscher
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 16|16]]
|December 28
|5 January 2019
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Meri Voskanian
|27 April 2019
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Sharyhan Osman
|21
|Lena Hanenburg
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[Davin Herbrüggen]]'''
|Dascha Semcov
|bgcolor="cyan"|Nick Ferretti
|Angelina Mazzamurro, Lukas Kepser, Jonas Weisser, Momo Chahine, Clarissa Schöppe, Taylor Luc Jacobs, Alicia Awa Beissert, Joana Kesenci
|10
|-
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 17|17]]
|4 January 2020
|4 April 2020
|22
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[:de:Ramon Roselly|Ramon Roselly]]'''
|bgcolor="pink"|Chiara D'Amico
|Ricardo Rodrigues, Marcio Pereira Conrado, Lydia Kelovitz, Paulina Wagner, Joshua Tappe
|7
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 18|18]]
|5 January 2021
|3 April 2021
|19
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[:de:Jan-Marten Block|Jan-Marten Block]]'''
|bgcolor="cyan"|Karl Jeroboan
|Daniel "Ludi" Ludwig, Daniele Puccia, Jan Böckmann, Michelle Patz, Pia-Sophie Remmel, Starian Dwayne Mccoy, Kevin Jenewein
|9
|-
![[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 19|19]]
|22 January 2022
|7 May 2022
|18
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''Harry Laffontien'''
|bgcolor="pink"|Amber van den Elzen
|Domenico Tarantino, Abi Nova Campos, Tina Umbricht, Din Omerhodzic, Melissa Turan, Dominik Simmen, Gianni Laffontien, Melissa Mantzoukis
|10
|-
!20
|14 January 2023
|15 April 2023
|20
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[:de:Sem Eisinger|Sem Eisinger]]'''
|bgcolor="pink"|Monika Gajek
|Natalie Nock, Rose Ndumba, Aileen Sager, Lawa Baban, Peris Achilleas Grigoriadis, David Leischik, Kiyan Sepehr Yousefbeik, Lorent Berisha
|10
|-
!21
|18 September 2024
|9 November 2024
|15
|bgcolor="cyan"|'''[[:de:Christian Jährig|Christian Jährig]]'''
|bgcolor="cyan"|Philip Matas
|Tom Mc Conner, Nissim Mizrahi
|4
|}
|}
<sup>1</sup> <small> Didi was eliminated but was brought back into the top 10 after Stephan Darnstaedt quit the competition. </small>


==Formats==
'''Elimination Chart<br>
{| class="wikitable"
'''NOTE: Not in every case these were the people revealed by RTL in the results shows'''

==Finals elimination chart==
===Season 3===
{| cellpadding=3 cellspacing=6
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''Theme'''
|colspan="3" align="center"|'''Bottom Three'''
|-
|-
!Season!!Round 1!!Round 2!!Round 3!!Round 4!!Round 5
|January 7
|Greatest Hits
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Carolina Escolano
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Lena Hanenberg
|Daniel Muñoz
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 1|1]]||rowspan="21"|Auditions||rowspan="21"|Recalls||Top 30||Top 11||rowspan="9"|Final 2
|January 14
|80s
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Dascha Semcov
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Daniel Muñoz (2)
|Lena Hanenberg (2)
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 2|2]]||Top 50||Top 13
|January 21
|Rock Hits
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Lena Hanenberg (3)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Daniel Muñoz (3)
|[[Nevio Passaro]]
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 3|3]]||rowspan="2"|Top 20 (Boys)<br>Top 20 (Girls)||Top 11
|February 4
|Big Band
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Daniel Muñoz (4)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Nevio Passaro (2)
|Didi Knoblauch
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 4|4]]||rowspan="6"|Top 10
|February 11
|Love Songs
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Anna-Maria Zimmermann
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Tobias Regner]]
|Nevio Passaro (3)
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 5|5]]||rowspan="4"|Top 15
|February 18
|#1 Hits
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Didi Knoblauch (2)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Vanessa Jean Dedmon]]
|[[Mike Leon Grosch]]
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 6|6]]
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''Theme'''
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Bottom Two'''
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 7|7]]
|February 25
|Soul
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Nevio Passaro (4)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Vanessa Jean Dedmon (2)
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 8|8]]
|March 11
|Ballads
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Vanessa Jean Dedmon (3)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Mike Leon Grosch]] (2)
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 9|9]]||rowspan="1"|Top 16
|March 18
|Finale
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|[[Mike Leon Grosch]] (3)
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Tobias Regner]]'''
|}

*Stephan withdrew from the competition.

==Season 4==
{{main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Season 4)}}
[[Image:Dsds2007.jpg|thumb|220px|right|Season 4's 10 finalists on the cover of their common studio album ''Power of Love'' (2007).]]
Because of the success of season three, [[RTL Television|RTL]] decided to create a fourth season for 2007. In the jury Anja Lukaseder replaces Silvia Kollek after just one season.

These are the last 10 contestants for the big live shows debuting on February 24 and ending on May 5: Lauren Talbot, [[Francisca Urio]], Lisa Bund, Laura Martín, Julia Falke, Jonathan Enns, Thomas Enns, [[Martin Stosch]], [[Mark Medlock]] and Max Buskohl.

The cast album for this season, called ''Power of Love'', was released on 19 March 2007 and features these songs:<ref>[http://www.amazon.de/dp/B000NA207S Amazon.com]</ref>
#Francisca Urio: ''[[If I Ain't Got You]]'' ([[Alicia Keys]])
#Max Buskohl: ''[[Here Without You]]'' ([[3 Doors Down]])
#Lauren Talbot: ''[[True Colors (song)|True Colors]]'' ([[Cyndi Lauper|Cindy Lauper]])
#Mark Medlock: ''[[Endless Love (song)|Endless Love]]'' ([[Lionel Richie]])
#Lisa Bund: ''[[(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman]]'' ([[Aretha Franklin]])
#Martin Stosch: ''[[If Tomorrow Never Comes]]'' ([[Ronan Keating]])
#Laura Martin: ''[[Woman in Love]]'' ([[Barbra Streisand]])
#Thomas Enns: ''[[I Want to Know What Love Is|I Want To Know What Love Is]]'' ([[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]])
#Julia Falke: ''[[Angel (Sarah McLachlan song)|Angel]]'' ([[Sarah McLachlan]])
#Jonathan Enns: ''All Or Nothing'' ([[O-Town (band)|O-Town]])
#DSDS Top 10: ''[[If You Don't Know Me By Now]]'' ([[Simply Red]])

===Top 20 Bottom 4 and 5===
Top 20<br>
Format: First week: 2 Boys eliminated and 3 girls eliminated.
Second week: 3 boys eliminated and 2 girls eliminated.

'''Note: These are the live results. These may not be dependent on actual percentage of votes.'''
{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=5
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''Eliminated'''
|'''Eliminated'''
|'''Eliminated/or Saved Last'''
|'''Saved Last/or Saved First'''
|'''Saved First'''
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 10|10]]|| Top 10||Final 2||rowspan="12"{{n/a|}}
|February 7
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Lindsay Stabe
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Aleksan Cetinkaya
|Jonathan Enns
|Arcangelo Vigneri
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 11|11]]||Top 12||rowspan="3"|Final 3
|February 10
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Madleleine Boly
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Dominika Mrugala
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Nebiha Celenler
|Julia Falke
|Sarah Jahncke
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 12|12]]|| rowspan=2|Top 10 (Event Shows)
|February 15
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Arcangelo Vigneri (2)
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Dennis Haberlach
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Tristan Iser
|Jonathan Enns (2)
|Martin Stosch
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 13|13]]
|February 17
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Priscilla Harris
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Sarah Jahncke (2)
|Laura Martin
|Julia Falke (2)
|-
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 14|14]]||Top 14||rowspan="7"|Final 4
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 15|15]]|| rowspan=2|Top 10
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 16|16]]
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 17|17]] ||Top 7
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 18|18]]||Top 9
|-
|[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 19|19]]||rowspan="2"|Top 10
|-
|20
|-
|21||Final 4||{{n/a|}}
|}
|}


==Judges and hosts==
'''Elimination Chart<br>
===Judges===
'''NOTE: Not in every case these were the people revealed by RTL in the results shows'''
====''DSDS''====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
==Finals elimination chart==
===Season 4===
{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=6
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''Theme'''
|colspan="5" align="center"|'''Bottom Three'''
|-
|-
! Seasons
|February 24
! colspan="4" | Judges
|Greatest Hits
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Laura Martin
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Julia Falke
|Jonathan Enns
|-
|-
|March 10
| 1
| rowspan="18" | [[Dieter Bohlen]]<sup>6</sup>
|80s & 90s
| rowspan="2" | Thomas Bug
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Jonathan Enns (2)
| rowspan="2" | [[Shona Fraser]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Thomas Enns
| rowspan="2" | Thomas M. Stein
|Martin Stosch
|-
|-
|March 17
| 2
|Power of Love
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Julia Falke (2)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Lauren Talbot
|Martin Stosch (2)
|-
|-
|March 31
| 3
| Sylvia Kollek
|Today's hits
| rowspan="2" | Heinz Henn
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Francisca Urio]]
| rowspan="7" {{n/a|}}
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Martin Stosch (3)
|Thomas Enns (2)
|-
|-
|April 7
| 4
| rowspan="2" | Anja Lukaseder
|Big Band
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Thomas Enns (3)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Martin Stosch (4)
|Lauren Talbot (2)
|-
|-
|April 14
| 5
| Andreas "Bär" Läsker
|Divas & Heroes
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|[[Lauren Talbot]] (3)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Martin Stosch (5)
|Lisa Bund
|-
|-
| 6
|-bgcolor=#808080
| rowspan="2" | [[Nina Eichinger]]<sup>2</sup>
|'''Date'''
| rowspan="2" | [[Volker Neumüller]]<sup>1</sup>
|'''Theme'''
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Bottom Two'''
|-
|-
|April 21
| 7
|70s & Dedications
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Martin Stosch (6)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Lisa Bund (2)
|-
|-
|April 28
| 8
| [[Fernanda Brandão]]
|Judges' choice
| [[Patrick Nuo]]
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|[[Lisa Bund]] (3)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Martin Stosch (7)
|-
|-
|May 5
| 9
| [[Natalie Horler]]
|Finale
| [[Bruce Darnell]]
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|[[Martin Stosch]] (8)
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Mark Medlock]]'''
|}

*Max Buskohl dropped out of the competition.<ref>[http://www.rtl.de/musik/superstar_931377.php?set_id=9366 RTL.de]</ref>

==Season 5==
{{main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar (season 5)}}
[[Image:AnjaLukaseder.jpg|thumb|210px|Anja Lukaseder with [[Bro'Sis]]-Member Ross Antony.]]
Because of the success of season four [[RTL Television|RTL]] decided to create a fifth season. This was announced just before the fourth season final show was shown on TV. There were several changes: [[Marco Schreyl]] became the sole host of the show, without the assistance of Tooske Ragas. Due to some arguments with [[Dieter Bohlen]], Heinz Henn was replaced in the jury by Andreas "Bär" Läsker.<ref>[http://www.news.idealo.de/news/4681-dsds-staffel-5-bohlen.html DSDS: Staffel 5 wieder mit Bohlen » news.idealo.de]</ref> Läsker discovered and is the manager of [[Die Fantastischen Vier]] (The Fantastic Four), and joined existing jury members Bohlen and [[Anja Lukaseder]]. The last substantial change concerns only one semi-final shows ("Top 15 shows") with the name ''Jetzt oder nie'' (Now or Never): So far the 10 best candidates had been determined by telephone and [[SMS]] voting. Instead the jury selected the Top 10 live in front of 1,000 spectators. The five contestants with the highest number of votes from the public went through to the motto shows. The judges picked five more contestants of the remaining 10 to join them. Later, the candidates enter the final shows with public voting as in the earlier series. With the new rules, the producers hope to increase the excitement and to prevent good candidates from being knocked out too early.
The auditions started in August on [[Mallorca]] and for the first time ever on [[Ibiza]]. From September on the casting crew toured throughout Germany.
The first show ,''Now or Never-Jetzt oder Nie'', started on March 8.

===Top 15 candidates===
(''ages stated are at time of contest'')
* Christopher Schnell, age 19, from [[Bremen]]
* Felix Gaisberger, age 17, from [[Jettingen]]
* Juna Manaj, age 16, from [[Butzbach]]
* Simon Gincberg, age 21, from [[Korschenbroich]]
* Viviana Stengel, age 27, from [[München]]
* '''Eliminated on March 8'''

'''The Top 10 are:'''

Guys:
* Benjamin Herd, age 16, from [[Worms, Germany|Worms]] '''Eliminated on 19 April'''
* Collins Owusu, age 25, from [[Düsseldorf]] – '''Eliminated on 12 April'''
* Fady Maalouf, age 28, from [[Hamburg]] – '''Runner-up on 17 May'''
* Jermaine Alford, age 20, from [[Langenselbold]] – '''Eliminated on 15 March'''
* Thomas Godoj, age 30, from [[Recklinghausen]] – '''Winner'''

Girls:
* Linda Teodosiu, age 16, from [[Köln]] – '''Eliminated on 10 May'''
* Monika Ivkic, age 18, from [[Vienna]] (Austria) – '''Eliminated on 3 May'''
* Rania Zeriri, age 22, from [[Epe, North Rhine-Westphalia|Gronau-Epe (NRW)]] – '''Eliminated on 26 April'''
* Sahra Drohne, age 18, from [[Werl]] – '''Eliminated on 22 March'''
* Stella Salato, age 22, from [[Bad Homburg]] – '''Eliminated on 5 April'''

==Finals elimination chart==
===Season 5===
'''NOTE: Not in every case these were the people revealed by RTL in the results shows'''

{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=6
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''Theme'''
|colspan="3" align="center"|'''Bottom Three'''
|-
|-
| 10<sup>3</sup>
|March 15
| [[Bill Kaulitz]]
|Current Hits
| [[Tom Kaulitz]]
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Jermaine Alford
| [[Culcha Candela|Mateo Jaschik]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Stella Salato
|Sahra Drone
|-
|-
|March 22
| 11
| [[Kay One (rapper)|Kay One]]
|Film Hits
| [[MIA. (German band)|Mieze Katz]]
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Sahra Drone (2)
| [[Marianne Rosenberg]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Stella Salato (2)
|Collins Owusu
|-
|-
|April 5
| 12
| [[Mandy Capristo]]
|Mariah Carey & Take That
| [[DJ Antoine]]
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Stella Salato (3)
| [[Heino]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Benjamin Herd
|Collins Owusu (2)
|-
|-
|April 12
| 13
| rowspan="2" | [[Michelle (German singer)|Michelle]]
|Greatest Hits
| [[Vanessa Mai]]
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Collins Owusu (3)
| rowspan="2" | [[H.P. Baxxter]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Monika Ivkic
|Benjamin Herd (2)
|-
|-
|April 19
| 14
| [[Shirin David]]
|Judges' Choice
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Benjamin Herd (3)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Rania Zeriri]]
|Monika Ivkic (2)
|-
|-
|April 26
| 15
| [[Ella Endlich]]
|Party Hits & Ballads
| [[Glasperlenspiel (duo)|Carolin Niemczyk]]
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Rania Zeriri (2)
| [[Mousse T.]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Monika Ivkic (3)
|Linda Teodosiu
|-
|-
| 16
|-bgcolor=#808080
| rowspan="2" | [[Pietro Lombardi (singer)|Pietro Lombardi]]
|'''Date'''
| rowspan="2" | Oana Nechiti
|'''Theme'''
| rowspan="2" | [[Xavier Naidoo]]<sup>4</sup>
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Bottom Two'''
|-
|-
|May 3
| 17
|Germany Against England
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Monika Ivkic (4)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Fady Maalouf
|-
|-
| 18<sup>5</sup>
|May 10
| [[Maite Kelly]]
|Number 1 Hits/ [[Beatles]]/ <br>Dedications
| [[Mike Singer]]
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Linda Teodosiu (2)
| rowspan="2" {{n/a|}}
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Fady Maalouf (2)
|
|-
|-
| 19<sup>7</sup>
|May 17
| [[Florian Silbereisen]]
|Finale
| [[Ilse DeLange]]
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Fady Maalouf (3)
| [[Toby Gad]]
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Thomas Godoj]]'''
|-
| 20
| rowspan="2" | Dieter Bohlen
| rowspan="2" | Pietro Lombardi
| [[Katja Krasavice]]
| [[Leony]]
|-
| 21
| [[Loredana]]
| [[Beatrice Egli]]
|}
|}


'''Annotations'''
===Audition cities===
* <sup>1</sup> [[Max von Thun]] was replaced by Volker Neumüller during the auditions of season 6.
*Berlin (All 5 seasons)
* <sup>2</sup> [[Sylvie Meis]] stepped in for Nina Eichinger in the final of season 7.
*[[Munich]] (All 5 seasons)
* <sup>3</sup> [[Andrea Berg]] was a guest judge on the seventh "Mottoshow" of season 10.
*[[Hamburg]] (All 5 seasons)
* <sup>4</sup> Florian Silbereisen replaced Xavier Naidoo from the second "Liveshow" until the final of season 17.
*[[Cologne]] (All 5 seasons)
* <sup>5</sup> After the filming the auditions of the 18th season, [[Michael Wendler]] decided to leave the jury.
*[[Erfurt]] (Seasons 1,2 & 3)
* <sup>6</sup> [[Thomas Gottschalk]] replaced Dieter Bohlen in the "Liveshows" of season 18.
*[[Frankfurt]] (Season 4&5)
* <sup>7</sup> There were different guest judges on the season 19 "Liveshows": [[Thomas Anders]] on the first show, [[Sarah Lombardi|Sarah Engels]] on the second show, and Joachim Llambi in the semi-final and final.
*[[Dresden]] (Season 4)
*[[Nuremberg]] (Season 3)
*[[Stuttgart]] (Season 4&5)
*[[Wiesbaden]] (Season 4)
*[[Leipzig]] (Season 2)
*[[Wuppertal]] (Season 3)
*[[Palma de Mallorca]] (Season 4&5)
*[[Ibiza]] (Season 5)


==Season 6==
====''DSDS Kids''====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
{{main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Season 6)}}
|-
! Season
! colspan="3" | Judges
|-
| 1
| [[Dana Schweiger]]
| [[Dieter Bohlen]]
| [[Michelle Hunziker]]
|}


===Presenters===
A sixth season of RTL already has been officially confirmed for 2009 and it's been announced that there will be clear and visible changes to the format. <ref>[http://www.derwesten.de/nachrichten/wr/westfalen/2008/5/15/news-46565094/detail.html Der Westen (in German)]</ref> The sixth season started on 21st of January 2009.
====''DSDS''====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
===Top 15 candidates===
(with songs they were eliminated)

*Florian Ehlers- [[Michael Buble]]- ''Home''
*Fausta Giordano- [[Rihanna]]- ''Umbrella''
*Roshan Paul- [[Mando Diao]]- ''Dance With Somebody''
*Tobias Rößler- [[3 Doors Down]]- ''Here Without You''
*Michelle Bowers- [[A Fine Frenzy]]- ''Almost Lover''
* '''Eliminated on February 28'''

The Top 10 are:

Guys:
*Marc Jentzen (eliminated)
*Holger Göpfert (eliminated)
*'''Daniel Schuhmacher (winner)'''
*Dominik Büchele (eliminated)
*Benny Kieckhäben (eliminated)

Girls:
*Vanessa Civiello (withdrew)
*Annemarie Eilfeld (eliminated)
*Vanessa Neigert (eliminated)
*Cornelia Patzlsberger (eliminated)
*Sarah Kreuz (Runner-Up)
*Michelle Bowers (eliminated)

==Finals elimination chart==
===Season 6===
'''NOTE: Not in every case these were the people revealed by RTL in the results shows'''

{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=6
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''Theme'''
|colspan="3" align="center"|'''Bottom Three'''
|-
|-
! Seasons
|March 7
! colspan="2" | Presenters
|Greatest Hits
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Michelle Bowers]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Annemarie Eilfeld]]
|[[Benny Kieckhäben]]
|-
|-
|March 14
| 1
| rowspan="2" | [[Michelle Hunziker]]<sup>1</sup>
|Geschlechtertausch
| rowspan="2" | Carsten Spengemann
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Cornelia Patzlsperger]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Benny Kieckhäben (2)
|Annemarie Eilfeld (2)
|-
|-
|March 21
| 2
|Party Hits
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Marc Jentzen]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Benny Kieckhäben (3)
|[[Vanessa Neigert]]
|-
|-
|April 4
| 3
| rowspan="2" | [[Tooske Ragas]]
|Sexy Hits
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|[[Holger Göpfert]]
| rowspan="2" | [[Marco Schreyl]]
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Benny Kieckhäben (4)
|Vanessa Neigert (2)
|-
|-
|April 11
| 4
|I Love You/Current Hits
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Vanessa Neigert (3)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Benny Kieckhäben (5)
|[[Daniel Schuhmacher]]
|-
|-
|April 18
| 5
| rowspan="5" | Marco Schreyl
|Sun and Rain
| rowspan="5" {{n/a|}}
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Benny Kieckhäben (6)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|[[Sarah Kreuz]]
|[[Dominik Büchele]]
|-
|-
| 6
|-bgcolor=#808080
|'''Date'''
|'''Theme'''
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Bottom Two'''
|-
|-
|April 26
| 7
|Movies & Unplugged
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Dominik Büchele (2)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Annemarie Eilfeld (3)
|-
|-
|May 2
| 8
|Uptempo/Ballad/Nr. 1
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Annemarie Eilfeld (4)
|bgcolor="#F0F0F0"|Daniel Schuhmacher (2)
|
|-
|-
|May 8
| 9
|-
|Finale
| 10
|bgcolor="C0C0C0"|Sarah Kreuz (2)
| rowspan="2" | [[Nazan Eckes]]<sup>2</sup>
|bgcolor="pink"|'''[[Daniel Schuhmacher]]'''
| [[Raúl Richter]]
|-
| 11
| rowspan="11" {{n/a|}}
|-
| 12
| rowspan="5" | [[Oliver Geissen]]
|-
| 13
|-
| 14
|-
| 15
|-
| 16
|-
| 17
| rowspan="1" | [[Alexander Klaws]]
|-
| 18
| rowspan="1" | Oliver Geissen
|-
| 19
| rowspan="1" | Marco Schreyl
|-
| 20
| rowspan="2" | Laura Wontorra
|-
| 21
|}
|}


'''Annotations'''
==Season 7==
* <sup>1</sup> [[Yvonne Catterfeld]] stepped in for Michelle Hunziker in the third "Top-50-Show" of season 2.
{{main|Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Season 7)}}
* <sup>2</sup> [[Daniel Hartwich]] stepped in for Nazan Eckes in the semi-final of season 11.


====''DSDS Kids''====
A seventh season of RTL already has been officially confirmed for 2010.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-
==First Season contestants==
! Season
===Nektarios Bamiatzis===
! Presenter
Nektarios Bamiatzis was born on July 10, 1975 and is of [[Greek people|Greek]] descent. He placed 8th in the competition. Since the show, Bamiatzis has released two singles. His solo single, "Looks Like We Made It", was released in 2003. In 2005, Bamiatzis teamed up with three other fellow DSDS alumni to form "4 United". The group only released one single, titled "Don't Close Your Eyes".
|-

| 1
===Stephanie Brauckmeyer===
| Daniel Aßmann
Stephanie Brauckmeyer was born on May 11, 1980. Brauckmeyer joined the top 10 on December 14 2002. She was in the third group of the 30 semi-finalists. However, she was the first member of the top 10 to be eliminated. After Idol, Stephanie only released one single, "Don't Close Your Eyes", as part of a group called "4 United", consisting of her and three other DSDS alumni.
|}

===Andrea Josten===
Andrea Josten was born Andrea Lopez on September 9, 1985. Josten is from [[Chile]] and was adopted by her German stepfather. Andrea received 9th place in the show. After the show, it was revealed that she was pregnant. Her son Jeremy was born October 19 2003 in [[Frankfurt]]. Since the show's end, Josten has largely disappeared from the public eye.

===[[Daniel Küblböck]]===
Daniel Küblböck, born August 27, 1985 in Hutthurm, Bavaria, Germany, received third place in the show, after which he signed a contract with BMG. Until June 2004 he released four major hit singles and a #1 album. As a public persona, Küblböck is extremely polarising due to his carefully cultivated image as ''der schräge Daniel'' (Wacky Daniel), a boy-girl persona with a distinctly [[Austro-Bavarian|Bavarian]] dialect, who, according to reliable [[Yellow journalism|yellow-press]] reports, loves to wear girlish clothes, use [[cosmetics]] and make-up, and collect [[perfume]]s and [[incense]]. After a controversial participation in the German version of ''[[I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!]]'', his popularity faltered. He was voted by the viewers of the German TV channel [[Pro7]] as the most annoying personality of 2003, and the second most annoying person in 2004.

===[[Daniel Lopes]]===
Daniel Lopes was born on November 12, 1976 in Brazil, and was adopted by his German stepfather. During the show he dated fellow contestant Juliette Schoppmann; they have since broken up. Daniel was eliminated on January 11 2003, and got 7th place on the show. After his elimination, Lopes was signed to a record label. His album "For You" was released in February 2003, while the competition was still going on. Because of this, he was apparently dropped from the tour. Lopes released 2 singles, "For You": "Shine On" and "I Love You More Than Yesterday". He has released two other singles including "Last Christmas/I Used To Cry" in late 2003 and "Change The World" in 2005.

==Second Season contestants==
===Kemisola Awosogba===
"Kemi" Awosogba was born on November 15, 1982. Her father is a native of [[Nigeria]]. Kemi joined the top 13 on October 22 2003 along with Benjamin Martell. She was eliminated on 20 December 2003 after receiving 3.54 percent of the votes in the top 9. She was a contestant on Popstars: On Stage, the sixth season of the German version of [[Popstars]]. Where she was part of the Final 20 contestants.

===Judith Burmeister===
Judith Burmeister was born September 9, 1986. Burmeister joined the top 13 after getting into the top 2 vote-getters of her group along with Ricky Ord. She was eliminated in the top 8 after receiving 5.97 percent of the vote.

===Steffen Frommberger===
Steffen Frommberger was born January 29, 1982. He joined the top 13 on October 29 2003 along with Aida Iljasevic. He was eliminated on November 29 2003 after receiving 2.46 percent of the vote.

===Gunther Göbbel===
Gunther Göbbel was born May 6, 1979. Gunther was eliminated in the top 5 after receiving 12.58 percent of the vote. Originally, Göbbel did not advance to the top 13. However, he was brought back as a wildcard and advanced then. Since the show, Gunther has released a single, "Caramba!", as a part of the duet "Meant 2 Be". Gunther is currently a member of the band "Lemon Ice".

===Aida Iljasevic===
Aida Iljasevic, born January 4, 1976 in [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]], was a contestant in the second season, finishing in 7th place.

At the age of sixteen, in 1992, Aida escaped from her home country because of the [[History of Bosnia and Herzegovina#Bosnian War|Bosnian War]], and she found a new home in [[Münster]]. She became the lead singer of her school's band, and became a back-up vocal for the cover band ROXANE. Interestingly, they were booked to perform on the Clubship [[Aida]].

In the summer of 2003 Aida auditioned for the second season of the famous TV show Deutschland sucht den Superstar and easily made the cut to the top 150. She was eventually eliminated, but was later brought back with six other contestants to perform again. She fought for one of the three positions left in the top 50, finally making it to the semifinals.

After her experience on DSDS, Aida performed a few gigs with her former DSDS rivals [[Denise Tillmanns]] and Ricky Ord. Later, she became a member of the [[girl group]] CASTAWAY formed by German VJ [[Mola Adebisi]]. She continues to live in [[Münster]], Germany.

===Benjamin Martell===
Benny Martell was born March 1, 1980. Benjamin was eliminated from the show in the top 4 after receiving 16.91 percent of the vote. Benny joined the top 13 on 2003-10-22 after placing in the top 2 vote-getters of his group. Also joining the top 13 that night was Kemi. Since the show, Benny has released one single as a solo artist "1st Fan Edition". In 2005, he was featured on a single entitled "Once In A Lifetime".

===Ricky Ord===
Ricky Ord was born July 5, 1978, was a contestant in the second season. Ord joined the top 13 on October 15 2003 along with Judith Burmeister. He was eliminated first out of the competition after receiving only 2.47 percent of the vote.

===Anke Wagner===
Anke Wagner, born January 25, 1975, was a contestant in the second season. Wagner is the oldest contestant to appear on any season of the show. She was eliminated in the top 6 after receiving 8.37 percent of the vote. Wagner joined the top 13 as a wildcard. She was originally in group 5 but was beat out for a spot by Elli Erl and Lorenzo Woodard. Since the show, Wagner has released two CDs: "Close To Me" and "Weihnachten".

===Lorenzo Woodard===
Lorenzo Woodard is an Afro-German, born December 24, 1983. He was a contestant on the second season. Lorenzo joined the top 10 on November 5 2003 along with [[Elli Erl]], who later won the competition. He was eliminated on December 13 2003 after receiving only 4.34 percent of the vote. Today he is out as a transgendered woman named Lorielle London.

==Third Season contestants==
===Stephan Darnstaedt===
Stephan Darnstaedt, born October 10, 1987 was a contestant on the third season. He quit the competition the week of 2006-01-21. Controversy erupted when he was safe in the first Top 20 show and later made the Top 10 the week later. Darnstaedt was declared to get the boot the first night of the Top 20 shows. However, the host had actually misread the percentage and it was later announced in the show that Markus Derwall was eliminated and Stephan was safe. This caused RTL to publish the voting percentages which declared that Stephan received 5.04% of the vote as Markus received 4.78%. Although Darnstaedt was disliked and was the one that Germany wanted to go home, he placed in the top 5 during voting in the Top 10 and top 4 in the Top 9. Darnstaedt left DSDS one day before the 3rd mottoshow, being replaced by Didi.

;Top 20 Show – Boys 1
:"[[Anywhere For You]]" by [[Backstreet Boys]] ''(Bottom Four)''

;Top 20 Show- Boys 2
:"[[Hello]]" by [[Lionel Richie]] ''(Bottom Three)''

;Top 10 – Greatest Hits
:"[[You Are Not Alone]]" by [[Michael Jackson]]

;Top 9- Greatest Hits of the 80's
:"[[Forever Young (Alphaville song)|Forever Young]]" by [[Alphaville (band)|Alphaville]]

;Top 8 – Rock
:''(Withdrew)''
[[Image:Dedmon Vanessa Jean 2007-09-23-by-steschke.jpg|thumbnail|right|120px|Vanessa Jean Dedmon.]]

===[[Vanessa Jean Dedmon]]===
Vanessa Jean Dedmon, born April 28, 1987 to Russel and Waltraud Dedmon was a semifinalist in the third season and was voted out by the audience in the Top 3 Show. From March to June 2006 she was going out with former co-competitor [[Mike Leon Grosch]].

In October 2006 her first single ''Sonnenschein'', a duet with German Hip Hop band Rapsoul, entered the German single charts at #17.

===Carolina Escolano-Fernandez===

Carolina Escolano-Fernandez, born March 19, 1984 in [[Pforzheim]], Germany, was a contestant in the third season. She is of Spanish ancestry.

===Didi Knoblauch===
Didi Knoblauch (actually Jamie Dwayne Knoblauch), born as Diana Knoblauch December 15, 1980 in [[Illerkirchberg]]/[[Baden-Württemberg]], Germany was a contestant in the third season. He is female to male transsexual. He lost against Stephan Darnstaedt in the Top-20 Show but took over Stephan's place after he gave up. His first night in the finals, Didi sang "The Final Countdown" by Europe, which is what Stephan was suppose to perform that day. The judges gave praise to him due to the fact he had to learn the song in only 24 hours. When the results came in, Didi received the highest number of votes. Weeks, had followed and Didi was in the Top 5, landing in the bottom group once. Didi's journey had finally ended in the Top 5 after receiving the lowest number of votes. After his leaving he had an appearance in the television show [[TV total]] and performed a duet with talk show host [[Stefan Raab]]. Knoblauch is a member of the Rock 'n' Roll coverband The Cash in Baden-Württemberg.

===Dascha Semcov===

"Dascha" Semcov was born March 30, 1988 in [[Kishinev]], [[Moldova]]. Prior to Superstar, Dascha had been in Germany for only 18 months. Her father Alexej and mother Diana moved from Moldova to [[Erfurt]] and currently run and live in a hotel. Dascha has taken roles in 3 musicals including [[Starlight Express]] & also is part of the band Soul AG from [[Weimar]]. In September 2005, Dascha won first place in the ''Erfurt Song Contest''. In 2008 she teamed up with season 2 almumni Jessica Houston to create a girl group named ''I'm your Baby''.

===Daniel Muñoz-Repko===
Daniel Muñoz-Repko born on December 28, 1983, was a contestant in the third season. Daniel is of mixed [[Spanish people|Spanish]] and [[Dutch people|Dutch]] ethnicity. He has 2 brothers: Ricardo and Raul. His brother Ricardo is also a talented singer.
He received the fourth most votes in the first round of voting and despite being in the suggested bottom 4 the second week, he was the first sent to safety and made the top 10. Daniel performed 4 times, until he was voted out. His personal website is operated by his brother Raul. <ref>[http://www.danimunoz.de Daniel Muñoz-Repko Homepage]</ref>

==Fourth Season contestants==
===Lisa Bund===
Anna-Lisa Bund was born May 31, 1988 in [[Frankfurt am Main]]. She lives with her brother and her parents in [[Hattersheim]]. Prior to becoming a contestant she worked for two years in her parents lingerie shop in [[Mainz]]. Lisa received a lot of support by the German media. Despite this she got a lot of promotion by a scandal video where she had a hard argumentation with her boyfriend and former contestant, Tristan Iser. After the show Bund received a record contract and released her first single "Learn to Love You" on August 31, 2007.<ref>[http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/aktuelles/gesellschaft/leute/456286 Erster Plattenvertrag für Lisa Bund]</ref> In January she participated as a contestant on ''[[Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!]], Season 3''.
[[Image:Mark Medlock.jpg|thumbnail|right|140px|Mark Medlock.]]

===Julia Falke===
Julia Falke was born June 21, 1988 in [[Schärding]], Austria. She lives with her older brother and her parents in Fürstenzell and attends the 12th class of a high school.

===[[Mark Medlock]]===
Mark Medlock was born July 9, 1978 in [[Frankfurt am Main]] and lives in [[Offenbach, Hesse]]. He worked as carer for the elderly before joining the show. His father Lauria came from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], USA and was a [[gospel|gospel singer]]. Mark got married to a man on December 6, 2001 but they separated end of 2004.He won the 4th season of DSDS. <ref>[http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/leute/2007/03/31/dsds-medlock-ehemann/scheidung-gruende.html Bild online article (in German)]</ref>

===[[Francisca Urio]]===
[[Image:Franciscaurio mammamia crop.jpg|thumbnail|right|120px|Francisca Urio.]]
Francisca Urio was born February 6, 1981 in [[Meiningen]] but grew up in Berlin. She is the only child of her German mother and her father from [[Tanzania]].

After finishing high school she started a career as singer and songwriter. She worked as background singer for [[Mousse T.]], [[Seal (musician)|Seal]], [[Shakira]] and [[Wyclef Jean]].<ref>[http://www.rtl.de/musik/superstar_932772.php RTL biography (in German)]</ref><ref>[http://francisca-urio.de/index.php?id=15 Francisca Urio Homepage]</ref> Together with N’gone Thiam, Boussa Thiam and Priscilla Harris, who was also a DSDS contestant (but was voted out just before reaching the Top-10 'Motto' shows), she founded 1996 the band ''Silvashado'' which performed (after first Boussa Thiam and later also N’gone Thiam left the band) as Duo until 2006.<ref>[http://www.priscilla-harris.de/biographie/index.html Priscilla Harris Homepage]</ref> Urio also worked as fashion model and radio presenter for the radio station ''Jazz-Radio 101,9''<ref>[http://www.jazzradio.net/staff/staff.php Jazz-Radio 101,9]</ref> in Berlin. In the musical show ''The Magic Night of Dancing Musicals''<ref>[http://www.news-on-tour.de/?p=599 NEWS-on-Tour]</ref> she presented five songs as solo singer.<ref>[http://www.bonnaparte.de/story.php3?articleid=8486 Article (in German)]</ref>

=== Lauren Talbot ===
Lauren Talbot was born on March 15, 1990 in [[Hannover]]. She is the youngest female contestant in this season and attends the 10th class of a [[Hauptschule]]. After living in [[Edinburgh]], [[Milan]], [[Frankfurt]] and [[Hamburg]] she moved with her mother and stepfather to [[Winsen (Aller)]].

=== [[Martin Stosch]] ===
[[Image:Martin Stosch PL 1.JPG|thumbnail|right|250px|Martin Stosch.]]
Martin Stosch was born on July 30, 1990. He was a girl-teen favorite because he was the youngest contestant on the show, which is possibly believed for his success on the show. In the first week of voting of the studio shows, he was known as one of the best. But weeks had followed, and Martin was found in the bottom 2/3/4/ and 5 (during Top 20) every week. He was finally voted out of the competition in the 7th mottoshow. But, Stosch was brought back onto the show because original Top 3 contestant, Max Buskohl quit the competition due to disagreements. Stosch surprised the public in the 8th result show when he beat an assumed finale contestant, Lisa Bund. Of course, no surprise had come in the final show when Stosch placed 2nd since Mark Medlock received about three-forths of the public vote.

==Fifth Season contestants==
=== [[Rania Zeriri]] ===
[[Image:Rania Zeriri auf der Jugendmesse YOU (6575).JPG|thumb|Rania Zereri]]
Rania Zeriri was born on January 6, 1986 in [[Enschede]] ([[Netherlands]]). Her father, who left the family when she was still very young, is from [[Algeria]] and her mother from the [[Netherland]]s. After finishing school with a [[General Certificate of Secondary Education]] (''Mittlere Reife''), she moved at the age of 17 with her mother to [[Salamanca]] to study Spanish. Later she acquired a hotel animation diploma in [[Mallorca]] and than worked mainly on [[Ibiza]]. She resigned from her job and moved back to Germany after she reached the Top 10 of the fifth season of DSDS. She was born with holes in her [[vocal folds|vocal cords]] and since an operation a few years ago she has problems to [[phonation|phonate]] in the [[falsetto]] register.<ref>[http://www.westfaelische-nachrichten.de/lokales/kreis_borken/gronau/?em_cnt=206612& Westfälische Nachrichten (in German)]</ref> She was eliminated on April 26, 2008 finishing on 5th place.

=== Benjamin Herd ===
Benjamin Herd was a contestant on the fifth season. He was the youngest on the show at 16 years old. He was born in Worms where he goes to a housekeeping-school. He was an early favorite in the competition for his performing skills and entertainment value rather than his voice. He was put into the bottom group every week, only to be saved and moved on to the next round. He was a fan favorite until Mariah Carey/Take That week where he took a judges comments into offense, saying disrespectful words during the result show and the crowd began booing. Benni then decided to withdraw from the competition a couple days later. But after Dieter Bohlen talked to Herd about his problems, he came back into the competition but with a different outlook on the audience. He was eliminated on April 19, 2008; finishing on 6th place.

=== [[Thomas Godoj]] ===
Winner of the fifth season. 30 years old and born in the South of Poland, raised in Recklinghausen. His winning titel is called "Love is you" (available: 23 of May 2008).

== Bottom Group Controversies ==
Like all Idol shows, DSDS has voting via telephone and SMS after the end of the show. Later on in the night, there is a results show indicating the contestants with the lowest number of votes and the contestant with the lowest is eliminated and sent home. In many cases, the "bottom group" is picked at complete random and even contestants with the highest percentages are sometimes in the bottom group. Examples:

'''Season 1: Top 7 (Musicals)''' Daniel Küblböck and Daniel Lopes were the bottom 2 of the night in which Lopes was sent home with the lowest number. However, Daniel Küblböck received the second highest number of votes.

'''Season 2: Top 5 (Film)''' Gunther Göbbel and Denise Tillmann were in the bottom 2 with Göbbel being eliminated with the lowest number of votes. However, Denise Tillmann received the second highest number of votes.

'''Season 2: Top 4 (Jury Picks)''' Benny Martell and Philippe Bühler were in the bottom 2 of the night in which Martell was eliminated with the lowest number of votes. However, Philippe received the second highest number of votes.

'''Season 3: Top 4 (Soul)''' Nevio Passaro and Mike Leon Grosch were in the bottom 2 of the night with Passaro being eliminated with the lowest number of votes. However, Mike Leon received the highest number of votes.

'''Season 4: Top 20 Shows (Men/week 2)''' Jonathan Enns and Martin Stosch were placed into the bottom 5. However, both of these contestants received the second highest and third highest number of votes over declared safe contestants Max Buskohl and Thomas Enns.

'''Season 4: Top 10 (Greatest hits)''' Martin Stosch was placed into the bottom 4, although he received the 5th highest number of votes with 7.59%. Max Buskohl received the 7th highest number of votes with 6.00% and was declared safe

'''Season 4: Top 9 (Hits of 80's and 90's)''' Max Buskohl was placed into the bottom 4 after receiving the 5th highest number of votes with 8.92%. Julia Falke placed with the 6th highest number of votes with 8.52% of the votes and was declared safe.

'''Season 4: Top 7 (Today's hits)''' Lauren Talbot and Francisca Urio were in the bottom 4 with Urio eliminated. However, Talbot received the second highest number of the votes.

'''Season 5: Top 10 (Greatest hits)''' Fady Maalouf and Jermaine Alford got placed in the bottom 2 with Alford eliminated. However, Maalouf received the second highest number of the votes while Stella Salato, who was the very first contestant to be declared save, only barely made the cut into the next round. Only two contestants in the suggested bottom five of that show (Alford and Collins Owusu) have actually been among the second half vote getters while Linda Teodosiu, Fady Maalouf and Benjamin Herd (who were declared as being in danger of getting the boot) all have been among the top 5 vote getters of that night.

'''Season 5''' Thomas Godoj, the winner of Season 5, was placed into the bottom groups twice, but actually received the highest number of votes every week.

'''Season 6 : Top 4 (Moviesongs/Ballads)''' Sarah Kreuz and Dominik Büchele were in the bottom 2 with Büchele eliminated, but Sarah Kreuz was the highest number of the vote.

'''Season 6: Top 3 (Nr.1/Ballads/Up-tempo)''' Annemarie Eilfeld and Sarah Kreuz were in the bottom 2 and Annemarie Eilfeld was eliminated but Sarah Kreuz was the highest number of this vote. So would Daniel Schuhmacher had with Annermarie Eilfeld in the bottom 2 stayed.


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
<references/>


==External links==
== External links ==
*[http://dsds.de Official Site]
*[http://dsds.de/ ''DSDS'' official website]
*[http://www.clipfish.de/special/dsds/home/ DSDS Videoclips]
*[http://www.clipfish.de/special/dsds/home/ ''DSDS'' video clips]
*[http://www.dsds-news.de DSDS News]
*[http://dsds-portal.de ''DSDS'' Portal]
*[http://dsds-portal.de DSDS Portal]
*[http://dsds-superstar.com ''DSDS'' Superstar]
*[http://www.dsds-finale.de DSDS Finale]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180413013432/http://www.dsds-finale.de/ ''DSDS'' Finale]
*[http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Deutschland-sucht-den-Superstar/81022855045 DSDS page] on [[Facebook]]
*[http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Deutschland-sucht-den-Superstar/81022855045 ''DSDS'' page] on [[Facebook]]
* {{imdb title|0362339|Deutschland sucht den Superstar}}
* {{IMDb title|0362339|Deutschland sucht den Superstar}}
*[http://www.alexander-klaws.de Alexander Klaws – Official Site]
*[http://www.elli-e.de Elli Erl – Official Site]
*[http://www.tobiasregner.de Tobias Regner – Official Site]


{{DSDS}}
{{DSDS}}
{{Idol series}}
{{Idol series}}


[[Category:2002 television series debuts]]
[[Category:Deutschland sucht den Superstar| ]]
[[Category:German reality television series]]
[[Category:2010s German television series]]
[[Category:Idol television series]]
[[Category:2020s German television series]]
[[Category:Television series by FremantleMedia]]
[[Category:RTL (German TV channel) original programming]]
[[Category:Television series by Fremantle (company)]]

[[Category:German television series based on British television series]]
[[de:Deutschland sucht den Superstar]]
[[es:Deutschland sucht den Superstar]]
[[fr:Deutschland sucht den SuperStar]]
[[ko:독일은 슈퍼스타를 찾습니다]]
[[hr:Deutschland sucht den Superstar]]
[[nl:Deutschland sucht den Superstar]]
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Latest revision as of 21:23, 19 November 2024

Deutschland sucht den Superstar
Created bySimon Fuller
Directed byBruce Gowers
Presented by
Judges
Country of originGermany
No. of seasons21
No. of episodes423
Production
Executive producersNigel Lythgoe
Ken Warwick
Simon Fuller
Running timeVaries
Original release
NetworkRTL
Release9 November 2002 (2002-11-09) –
present

Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the Idol franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show Pop Idol, of which two series were broadcast between the years of 2001 and 2003. Debuting to mediocre ratings in November 2002 on the RTL network, the show has since become one of the most successful shows on German television.

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions in which viewer voting determines the winner. Voting is done through phone and SMS text voting.

In July 2022, RTL announced that the show would discontinue after the conclusion of the 20th season in 2023. In the first live show of the 20th season it was announced that there will be a 21st season in 2024.

Season summaries

[edit]

Season 1

[edit]

The first season 2002–2003 of Deutschland sucht den Superstar debuted without much hype in November 2002 on the RTL network. The show's co-hosts were Swiss actress Michelle Hunziker and former soap opera actor Carsten Spengemann, while the jury consisted of music producer Dieter Bohlen, radio host Thomas Bug, British music journalist Shona Fraser, and then-president of BMG Germany, Thomas M. Stein.[1] Through word of mouth generated by the appeal of its contestants and the presence of Bohlen's acid-tongued commentary, the show grew into a phenomenon ending with a finale viewed by an estimated twelve million viewers in March 2003.[2]

Debut season winner Alexander Klaws in 2008

Winner Alexander Klaws signed a recording contract with BMG, the label in partnership with DSDS. Immediately post-finale, Klaws released three singles, most notably the coronation song "Take Me Tonight" which was written by Bohlen and debuted on top of the German Singles Chart, eventually becoming the second biggest-selling single of 2003 – only losing to "We Have a Dream", the pre-released recording of all ten finalists.[3] Klaws has subsequently had three albums and several hit singles mostly from his more successful first album. While his debut, Take Your Chance (2003), and its follow-up, Here I Am (2004), saw nationwide success and garnered him several ECHO Award nominations, his independent 2006 release, Attention! failed to link on previous sales figures.[4] He has since established a secondary career as an actor on the Sat.1 telenovela Anna und die Liebe and appeared in leading roles on musicals such as Dance of the Vampires and Tarzan.[4]

Besides Klaws, all ten finalists with the exception of then-pregnant Andrea Josten signed record deals with various record companies.[4] Runner-up Juliette Schoppmann also signed with BMG, but in contrast to public expectations she declined working with Bohlen. Instead, she released three singles of which two entered the top ten and a solo album, Unique, which eventually debuted in 2004. Due to moderate sales BMG dropped her shortly after its release.[4] She has since made herself a name as professional songwriter.[4] Third-placed Daniel Küblböck also expanded his nationwide but extremely polarising popularity with a contract with BMG. Until June 2004 he released four major succeeded hit singles and a number-one album, titled Positive Energien (2003). However, further efforts failed on the charts after a controversial participations in the German versions of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and Big Brother and the release of his flopped motion picture Daniel – Der Zauberer (2004).[4]

Vanessa Struhler became the protégé of hip hop producer DJ Tomekk and saw solid commercial success with her first album, Ride with Me (2003).[5] Gracia Baur also was signed to BMG, but was dropped after her moderate succeeded rock debut Intoxicated (2003). She then signed with Bros Music and was selected to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Run & Hide", where it placed last in a field of 24.[4] Judith Lefeber, Daniel Lopes, and Nektarios Bamiatzis also scored mediocre to little success after the show with their own releases.[4]

Season 2

[edit]

In the second series of DSDS 2003–2004, co-hosts Hunziker and Spengemann and all four jury members reprised their engagements in the show.[6] Following the success of the first installment, the second season was aired to a higher profile during 2003 fall schedule, including an increased number of episodes, budgets and charges for commercial spots. In contrast to the first season, however, the second soon found its main audience but never reached the overwhelming hype and demand which the first season had captured. This fact was underscored by decreasing phone votes and ratings, which were released after the show's final.[6]

Second season winner Elli Erl in 2009

This time, teacher Elli Erl emerged as the winner. Though Erl agreed to release the Bohlen-produced coronation song "This Is My Life" in a remixed edition, she declined collaborating with him on her debut album In My Dreams due to musical differences.[7] While the debut single still reached the top three of the German Singles Chart, the album, released in October 2004, reached number thirty-three on the German Albums Chart and spawned another two singles of which none became a commercial hit, making Erl the lowest-selling DSDS winner to date.[7] Her following two albums Moving Out (2007) and Human (2009) failed to chart anywhere.[4]

Unlike in season one, the other finalists hit on major problems when they watched out for record deals. While runner-up Denise Tillmanns never signed a recording contract,[8] third-place finisher Philippe Bühler established himself as a professional songwriter and released two R&B-influenced singles, entitled "Warum?" (2005) and "Ich kann dich lieben" (2006), both of which entered the top forty of the German Singles Chart.[8] Anke Wagner signed with independent label Perleberg, but neither her debut single nor her album magaged to enter any chart.[8] Benjamin Martell was signed to BMG, but was dropped when he demanded to write the album by himself.[8] Fifth-place finisher Gunther Göbbel became part of the R&B duo Lemon Ice, whose cover single "Stand by Me" entered the German top twenty in fall 2006.[8] Lorenzo Woodard participated in several prominent reality shows such as Die Alm and Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! and has since enjoyed media attention under his transsexual identity "Lorielle London".[8]

Season 3

[edit]
Third season winner Tobias Regner in 2006

After an absence of one year (2004–2005), the third season 2005–2006 introduced several new elements. Neither Hunziker nor Spengemann were asked back as the show's hosts as the studio wanted a new complexion on the season. They were replaced with Marco Schreyl and Dutch co-host Tooske Ragas. The jury cast also went through radical changes; Dieter Bohlen remained the only original member, and was eventually joined by music producer Sylvia Kollek and former manager Heinz Henn.

Season 4

[edit]
Fourth season winner Mark Medlock

The fourth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar was aired on German channel RTL from January to May 2007. Mark Medlock, this season's winner, was awarded a contract with Sony BMG. The judges in this season were Dieter Bohlen, Heinz Henn and Anja Lukaseder. It was hosted by Marco Schreyl and Tooske Ragas. The viewers chose the contestant's fates as they were able to call for their favorite contestant. The voting results were published on May 7, 2007.

Season 5

[edit]
Fifth season winner Thomas Godoj in 2008

Because of the success of season four RTL decided to create a fifth season in 2008. This was announced just before the fourth season final show was shown on TV. There were several changes: Marco Schreyl became the sole host of the show, without the assistance of Tooske Ragas. Due to some arguments with Dieter Bohlen, Heinz Henn was replaced in the jury by Andreas "Bär" Läsker.[9] Läsker discovered and is the manager of Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four), and joined existing jury members Bohlen and Anja Lukaseder. The last substantial change concerns only one semi-final shows ("Top 15 shows") with the name Jetzt oder nie (Now or Never): So far the 10 best candidates had been determined by telephone and SMS voting. Instead the jury selected the Top 10 live in front of 1,000 spectators. The five contestants with the highest number of votes from the public went through to the motto shows. The judges picked five more contestants of the remaining 10 to join them. Later, the candidates enter the final shows with public voting as in the earlier series. With the new rules, the producers hope to increase the excitement and to prevent good candidates from being knocked out too early. The auditions started in August on Mallorca and for the first time ever on Ibiza. From September on the casting crew toured throughout Germany. The first show, Now or never – Jetzt oder nie, aired on March 8, 2008.

Season 6

[edit]
Sixth season winner Daniel Schuhmacher

The sixth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar was aired on German channel RTL from January to May 2009. The season's winner, Daniel Schuhmacher, was awarded a contract with Sony BMG. The judges in this season were Dieter Bohlen, Nina Eichinger, and Volker Neumüller. It was hosted by Marco Schreyl. The viewers chose the contestant's fates as they were able to call for their favorite contestant. As with season 5, the "Top 10" was created by the Top 5 contestants with the most telephone and SMS voting and the other five were selected by the jury.

Season 7

[edit]
Seventh season winner Mehrzad Marashi in 2010

The seventh season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar was aired on German channel RTL from 6 January to 17 April 2010. The season marked a new national record with more than 35,000 participants. The season's winner was Mehrzad Marashi.

Public votes

[edit]

Mehrzad Marahsi won the show. Second was Menowin Fröhlich and on third place Manuel Hoffmann. Menowin has won every liveshow but lost against Mehrzad who won the final with 56,04%. Manuel Hoffmann was eliminated in the 5th show, but he came back after Helmut Orosz was expelled from the show. Manuel came back and reached the semi-final, so that he was the first one who was eliminated and has survived more than one show again. Thomas Karaoglan, who reached the 5th place was known as der Checker and Kim Debkowski has made some advertisement during her video previous her performance with some beauty tips on Kim Gloss Tv.

The live-shows began with the Top-15 show to determine the contestants that would make up the Top 10 in the mottoshows. As done in the previous seasons, the Top 10 were contestants put through from the public vote and the jury's vote. However, 7 (instead of 5) contestants were put through with the public votes and 3 (instead of 5) would be put through by the jury; which ultimately became the contestants that ranked with the next three largest number of votes. In the first live show, Steffi Landerer, who was known for her sex appeal, was eliminated. Marcel Pluschke, who was eliminated on the second live-show, did not perceive an excellent audience respect because of his weak voice and country music roots (which was a first in DSDS). Though criticized for his song selection in the third live show, Nelson Sangaré was surprisingly eliminated after ranking as one of the top contestants throughout the first and second live-shows. After being in the bottom groups every week, Ines Redjeb was eventually eliminated in the fourth live-show. Though proving to be a favorite in the competition despite ranking in the bottom half of the voting, Manuel Hoffmann was eliminated in the fifth show against Helmut Orosz. Orosz, who was a Top 50 contestant in the second season, became criticized for his problems with singing correct texts; immediately after Hoffmann's elimination, the producers of DSDS had found a video of Orosz with a friend using cocaine recently, to which Orosz confessed. Because of this, Orosz was disqualified from the contest and Hoffmann returned to the live-shows surpassing crowd favorite Thomas Karaoglan in the sixth-live show and Kim Debkowski in the seventh live-show. However, Hoffmann's journey ended in the semi-final leaving the finale in the hands of the season's front-runners Menowin Fröhlich and Mehrzad Marashi. Fröhlich, a local DJ, successfully auditioned for the show in the third season making it to the Top-20 live-shows; he later became disqualified due to battery and fraud. Both friends throughout the recall, tensions rose throughout the competition between fans and themselves. After the final vote, Marashi won though only ranking in first place in the Top-15 and the finale as Fröhlich ranked first every week.

Season 8

[edit]
Eighth season winner Pietro Lombardi in 2014

Deutschland sucht den Superstar Season 8 is the eighth season of the Idol series in Germany began airing on RTL on 8 January 2011.[10] The winner will get a recording contract with Universal Music Group.[10] 34,956 people auditioned throughout the 35 cities that hosted auditions.[10] Nina Eichinger and Volker Neumüller were removed from the panel.[11][12] Their successors are Swiss singer Patrick Nuo and singer/dancer Fernanda Brandão.[13] Marco Schreyl returned as the host. DSDS has extended participation privileges to Austria and Switzerland.[10][14] The Top 35 will be going to the Maldives.[10] The final aired on 7 May 2011, and the winner was Pietro Lombardi. This season reintroduced the contestants singing with backing tracks as opposed to a live band.

Controversies

[edit]

The Hamburger Morgenpost questioned whether RTL misquoted DSDS Top 10 candidate Anna-Carina Woitschack.[15] In an interview, Anna-Carina was quoted as saying "It was cut together all wrong. I never said that I hate Sarah – but on the contrary, I do not hate Sarah Engels. That is what I said. But it was cut this way by RTL, because it looks good for the show."[15]

RTL received a statement from the Office of Public Safety stating that Sebastian Wurth was not allowed to participate after 10 PM.[16] RTL was also fined 15,000 Euro for the incident.[17]

The Hamburger Morgenpost questioned whether the liveshows were actually live broadcast.[18] In the 3rd Mottoshow, Marco Angelini slipped up in his performance and forgot to sing at the correct time.[18]

Pietro Lombardi's brother posted nude picture of Sarah Engels after she used Pietro's cell phone to talk to girls.[19] The hardcore fans of Pietro Lombardi told his brother Marco about this and he wasn't happy about this. So, he decided to take "revenge."[19] Pietro's brother also wrote "Everyone knows how cheap Sarah Engels is. She is sneaky. A liar."[19]

DSDS host Marco Schreyl mixed up the phone numbers for candidates Zazou Mall and Marco Angelini.[20] A camera shot of Marco Angelini showed him enraged towards the lens.[20] A reporter for the Hamburger Morgenpost, who was present, reported there were chaotic scenes shortly before the end of the recording.[20] Dieter Bohlen mentioned the mistake and Marco Schreyl replied that "It could be made easier for the host".[20] RTL decided that no candidate would be eliminated and the final show was pushed back a week.[20]

On the 6th mottoshow, Sarah Engels had two wardrobe incidents, when dancing to "Walking on Sunshine", where she began dancing too close to one of the cameras, causing two upskirts. This was eventually shown to the studio audience during the recap of her performance and was noted by the judges.

Season 9

[edit]
Ninth season winner Luca Hänni

For the ninth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar, jury members Fernanda Brandão and Patrick Nuo were replaced by Bruce Darnell and Cascada's Natalie Horler. The winner will receive a recording contract with Universal Music Group and €500,000.[21] Participants must be between the ages of 16 and 30 and living in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.[21] The auditions stage had 34 audition events in 33 cities across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 35.401 participants auditioned for season 9. RTL decided to have a "Top 16" instead of a "Top 15". Unlike previous seasons, participants sung in a duet. Luca Hänni won season 9. At age 17, Luca is the youngest winner-to-date.

The Cologne district government wants to enforce a law that protect minors.[22] The law will not allow minors to participate on stage after 10 PM.[22] The issue started last season when this law was enforced for Sebastian Wurth.[23] RTL received a 15,000 Euro fine for the incident.[23] The candidates that this would affect are Daniele Negroni, age 16; Luca Hänni, age 17; Vanessa Krasniqi, age 17 and Fabienne Rothe, age 16.[22] RTL decided to cancel the results show for 7, 14 and 21 April due to the minor protection law.[24]

Hamburger Morgenpost hinted that Thomas Pegram's elimination was expected because of some of his statistics on Facebook.[25] He has the fewest people who clicked the "like" button only 4.105 people and received only 813 comments after the official DSDS Facebook fanpage put up his photo.[25] Hamburger Morgenpost continued this when Silvia Amaru was eliminated restating how the lowest "like" total showed who was going to be eliminated before the final decision.[26] Silvia Amaru's photo had 4.761 "like" while the competition was at around 10.000 on Sunday 11 March at 10:15 CET.[26] Hamburger Morgenpost stated that it should be "clear" for RTL that "Facebook is a power killer" for Deutschland sucht den Superstar.[26] In the Top 8, Kristof had the fews likes for his photo and was not voted out of the show.

Kristof Hering suffered verbal and death threats during his participation during season 9 due to his homosexuality. People were writing stuff like "You are sooo gay to .."; "I'll cut your eggs"; "Get out of DSDS, if you value your life" and "I stab you up". RTL filed charges against unknown persons because of the threats.

TV ratings for season 9 have been disappointing.[27] None of the mottoshows have reached 5 million viewers.[27] season 1 averaged 8.09 million viewers and season 8 averaged 6.32 million viewers in the show's key demographic (ages 14 to 49).[27] Only 4.71 million people watch the final show of season 9.[28] This is the lowest viewership in the history of all the final shows of DSDS.[28] RTL stated they want to continue with the show declining rates.[29]

Season 10

[edit]
Tenth season winner Beatrice Egli

On 30 April 2012, RTL announced that the show will return for a tenth season, in spite of declining ratings in Season 9. It was also announced that previous judges Natalie Horler and Bruce Darnell as well as host Marco Schreyl will be replaced. Furthermore, a "female quota" will be introduced in order to have an equal balance of male and female contestants.

According to reports, the show was supposed to have a live band accompanying the contestants in the live shows, which has been absent since season 8. However, the first motto show of the season did not feature a live band and contestants sounded to be singing to pre-recorded tracks.

On 14 September 2012, RTL announced Tom and Bill Kaulitz from the MTV Video Music Awards winning band Tokio Hotel and Mateo Jaschik founding member of the German dancehall band Culcha Candela as the replacements for Natalie Horler and Bruce Darnell in the jury. This is the first time since season 2 that the jury consisted of four judges.[30]

The first episode attracted 5.18 Mio. viewers, which marks the lowest season premiere rating since season 1, which has not been broadcast on the primetime slot on 8.15pm.[31] Despite this, the show was renewed for an eleventh season for 2014. Only 4,63 Mio. viewers watched the final, a major low record.

The winner of the tenth season was Beatrice Egli. She became the first female winner since season 2 and the first German Schlager singer to win the competition. The season featured a female finale which has happened only twice so far in the history of the show. Furthermore, this is the first time that three women reached the final four.

Season 11

[edit]
Eleventh season winner Aneta Sablik

On 13 March 2013 RTL announced, that there will be an eleventh season.[32][33] The judges from the previous season, with the exception of Dieter Bohlen, were replaced by rapper Kay One, the singer Mieze Katz of the band MIA., and the Schlager singer Marianne Rosenberg. Nazan Eckes returned as the host of the eleventh season, however without Raúl Richter. The season started on Wednesday, 8 January 2014 on RTL.

The top 30, which consisted of 15 female and 15 male contestants, were brought to Cuba for the further competition. In the top 20 round, the judges chose the top ten to compete in the live shows. Five of the ten eliminated contestants were given a wild card by the judges and made available for public voting. The two with the highest votes by the viewers will be joining the top 10.

The season premiere attracted 2,70 Mil. viewers, which makes it the least-watched season premiere in the history of Deutschland such den Superstar.[34] However, ratings improved up to 3,33 Mil. viewers by episode three, which makes it the most watched episode of the season so far within the demographics between ages 14–49.[35] Overall, this season showed the lowest ratings in the history of the show.

For the second year in a row this season featured a female final top two and producing a female Superstar for the third time in the history of the show. Aneta Sablik was announced as the winner on 3 May 2014.

Season 12

[edit]

During the live-shows of season 11, it was announced that the castings for season 12 will start in August 2014. RTL's Head of Programm Frank Hoffmann stated in April 2014 that he wants to keep the series for the years the come, although the ratings continued to fall, especially in the live shows. He further explained that the live-shows will be cut to an "absolut minimum".[36] In Fall 2014, RTL gave closer details to the changes of Season 12. The liveshows are replaced with pre-recorded concerts in clubs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Only the announcement of the results will be broadcast live. In contrary to the seasons before the final will not take place in a TV studio in Cologne, but in the ÖVB Arena in Bremen.[37]

For the first time, auditions will be held in the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.[38]

In October 2014, RTL announced that Marianne Rosenberg, Mietze Katz and Kay One won't return for the twelfth season. The new jury consists of Dieter Bohlen, Swiss discjockey DJ Antoine, Schlager singer Heino and singer Mandy Capristo.[39]

The winner of the Deutschland sucht den Superstar 2015 was announced as Severino Seeger with Viviana Grisafi finishing as the runner-up. The winner song entitled Hero of My Heart was produced and written by juror Dieter Bohlen.

Season 13

[edit]

In the first event show of the twelfth season, Oliver Geissen announced that 2016 should be a season for which you should be able to apply for now. [35] In the final betrayed Dieter Bohlen that for this season all previous limits such as the age restriction are repealed. Accordingly, the motto of the squadron "No Limits" is. In June 2015, RTL announced that Oliver Geissen will host the Final Shows in 2016 again. On October 1, 2015 RTL announced that next Dieter Bohlen also H.P. Baxxter, Vanessa Mai and Michelle are on the jury. During the auditions, each judge has the option to send a Golden CD a candidate directly in the foreign-Recall. was implemented along the Golden Turd, with the judges can distinguish particularly poor performances. The foreign-Recall took place on Jamaica.

Prince Damien Ritzinger was the winner of the Deutschland sucht den Superstar 2016 with Laura van den Elzen finishing as the runner-up. The winner song is entitled "Glücksmoment".

Season 14

[edit]
Thirteen season winner Alphonso Williams in 2018

During the live-shows of season 13, it was announced that the castings for season 14 will start in August 2016. In Fall 2016, RTL gave closer details to the changes of Season 14. This season's the foreign-Recall was in Dubai and the contestants were performing in the desert, on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab, in front of the world's tallest free-standing-structure, the Burj Khalifa. The pre-recorded concerts in clubs in Germany were replaced by the mottoshows (theme shows) which were used from season 1 to 10.

In 2016, RTL announced that H.P. Baxxter, Michelle and Dieter Bohlen would return, while Vanessa Mai was replaced by YouTuber Shirin David. Oliver Geissen returned as the host of the live shows. This season marked an all-time high because there was a final 14 which was the highest amount of mottoshow contestants ever. Also for the first time, a wild card voting was introduced where the public voted Alphonso Williams who was eliminated just before the mottoshows back in the competition. Alphonso Williams was announced the winner on 6 May followed by Alexander Jahnke, Maria Voskania and Duygu Goenel. With 54 years Williams is the oldest winner to date.

Season 15

[edit]

For Season 15, Dieter Bohlen announced a new jury that consists of Carolin Niemczyk, Ella Endlich and Mousse T.[40] The winner was the 16 years old Marie Wegener. She is the youngest winner ever and only the fourth woman to win the show and the first to win against a male in the top two. Michel Truog was the Runner-Up and Michael Rauscher reached the third Place.

Season 16

[edit]

For Season 16, RTL and Dieter Bohlen engaged German soul singer Xavier Naidoo, Season 8's winner Pietro Lombardi and professional dancer Oana Nechiti to be a judges on Deutschland sucht den Superstar. 20 year old Davin Herbrüggen was the winner, where Nick Feretti and Joana Kesenci came in second and third pace.[41]

Season 17

[edit]

For the start of Season 17, the judges stayed as they are. The season premiered on 4 January 2020. Xavier Naidoo was subsequently excluded from the jury and replaced by Florian Silbereisen. The winner was Ramon Roselly, Chiara Dꞌamico reached 2nd, Joshua Tappe 3rd and Paulina Wagner the 4th place. For the second time the winner was a singer of german Schlager and the first male to do so. He reached the highest percentage of voting in the show's history.

Season 18

[edit]

The eighteenth season will begin airing on 2021. On 13 August 2020, it was announced that next to the judge Dieter Bohlen will seat Mike Singer and Michael Wendler. On 16 August 2020, it was announced Maite Kelly as the fourth judge. Due to his public belief in conspiracy theories and other statements, Michael Wendler was completely cut out of the show. The season will be the last season with Dieter Bohlen as a judge. Thomas Gottschalk replaced Bohlen in the live shows since he was unable to participate because of an illness. For the first time there were only two live shows and also it was the first Top four to just consist of male contestants. Jan-Marten Block was the winner of the season and Karl Jeroboan came in the second place.

Season 19

[edit]

The 19th season started on January 22, 2022 and was won by Harry Marcello Laffontien while his younger brother Gianni Laffontien finished fourth. This was the first time in the show that two brothers reached a seasons final. The Jury consists of Florian Silbereisen, Toby Gad and Ilse Delange.

Season 20

[edit]

January 14, 2023. Dieter Bohlen, who should have had his final season as a judge in season 18, returned as a judge, as did Pietro Lombardi. New members were Katja Krasavice and Leony.

This season should have been the last season of the series, but Dieter Bohlen announced that the series will return for a 21st season. The winner was Sem Eisinger. Monika Gajek was second, Lorent Berisha third and Kiyan Yousefbeik fourth.

Finalists

[edit]
Place Contestant Age Hometown Occupation Status
1 Sem Eisinger 29 Frankfurt Barkeeper Winner
2 Monika Gajek 21 Salzgitter Warehousewoman (trainee) Runner-up
3 Lorent Berisha 19 Dierikon Medical practice assistant Eliminated
Final
4 Kiyan Yousefbeik 25 Hannover Content manager at TikTok
5 David Leischik 27 Cologne Music student Eliminated
Semi-Final
6 Peris Grigoriadis 25 Pleidelsheim Mechanic and DJ
7 Aileen Sager 23 Birkenfeld Medical assistant
8 Lawa Baban 25 Gießen Mini-jobber
9 Natalie Nock 29 Baden-Baden Real estate clerk Eliminated
Liveshow 1
10 Rose Ndumba 23 Essen Student

Elimination chart

[edit]
Females Males Top 10 Winner Runner-up
Safe Most votes Safe Last Eliminated
Stage: Top 10 Semi-Final - Top 8 Final - Top 4
Week: 4/1 4/8 4/15
Place Contestant Result
1 Sem Eisinger 1st
36,97%
1st
35,80%
Winner
54,81%
2 Monika Gajek 3rd
12,24%
2nd
16,18%
Runner-up
18,52%
3 Lorent Berisha 2nd
18,41%
4th
10,03%
3rd
13,88%
4 Kiyan Yousefbeik 4th
8,29%
3rd
15,65%
4th
12,79%
5 David Leischik 5th
7,98%
5th
8,14%
6 Peris Grigoriadis 7th
4,09%
6th
6,09%
7 Aileen Sager 6th
4,15%
7th
4,82%
8 Lawa Baban 8th
3,10%
8th
3,29%
9 Natalie Nock 9th
2,45%
10 Rose Ndumba 10th
2,32%

Season 21

[edit]

In this season contestants above 30 years can participate to win the title Superstar because there is no more limit of age. The last time that was the case where in season fourteen. The Jury in this season consists of Dieter Bohlen, Pietro Lombardi, Beatrice Egli and Loredana. The season premiered on 18 September 2024. That was the first time since season 2 that Deutschland sucht den Superstar begins airing a season in September. From season four to twenty the airdate was always January. This Season is the shortest with only 15 episodes. Only 4 Finalists compete in the one Liveshow this year and at the second time since season 18 all of them being male. The season was won by Christian Jährig with Philip Matas came the Runner-Up, Nissim Mizrahi third and Tom Mc Conner in the fourth place. Christian Jährig also breaks the Record of the highest percentage of votes by 4 finalists with 75,61%.

Elimination chart

[edit]
Males Top 4 Winner Runner-up
Eliminated
Stage: Final - Top 4
Week: 11/9
Place Contestant Result
1 Christian Jährig Winner
75,61%
2 Philip Matas Runner-up
9,92%
3 Nissim Mizrahi 3rd
8,38%
4 Tom Mc Conner 4th
6,09%

Criticisms and controversies

[edit]

The German Cultural Council accused RTL "malicious disregard" for humanity after a 17-year-old had a nervous breakdown during his audition.[42] The Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz opened a review procedure against Deutschland sucht den Superstar[42] and KJM boss Wolf-Dieter Ring stated that "the manner in which contestants are humiliated on the show could have detrimental effects on young viewers."[42]

Elli Erl, the winner of season 2, confirmed that RTL asked for fake stories when she participated in the show.[43] Again, in season 8, RTL created fake stories.[44] RTL misquoted DSDS season 8 candidate Anna-Carina Woitschack.[44] In an interview, Anna-Carina was quoted as saying "It was cut together all wrong.[44] I never said that I hate Sarah – but on the contrary, I do not hate Sarah Engels. That is what I said. But it was cut this way by RTL, because it looks good for the show."[44]

DSDS Kids

[edit]

On 13 March 2012, RTL announced that there will be a kids edition of DSDS.[45][46] The ages will be from 4 to 14.[45][46] The participants will get training scholarship and prize money.[45] Dieter Bohlen, Michelle Hunziker and Dana Schweiger were named to the jury for season 1.[47][48] There were 38.664 applications for season 1 of the show.[49]

German child protection association president Heinz Hilgers advised parents not to apply for the show.[50] He claimed that the adult version "was based on humiliation and embarrassment".[50] The association's director, Paula Honkanen-Schoberth, stated that "Casting shows are geared towards making one person successful" and also claimed "The message for the rest is, 'you're no good.'"[50] However, RTL stated that this is a family show and it wants to encourage the children.[47]

Season details

[edit]
Season Premiere date Final date Number of episodes Winner Runner-up Other contestants in order of elimination Number of contestants
1 9 November 2002 8 March 2003 15 Alexander Klaws Juliette Schoppmann Stephanie Brauckmeyer, Andrea Josten, Judith Lefeber, Nektarios Bamiatzis, Daniel Lopes, Nicole Süßmilch, Gracia Baur, Vanessa Struhler, Daniel Küblböck 11
2 3 September 2003 13 March 2004 22 Elli Erl Denise Tillmanns Ricky Ord, Jessica Houston, Steffen Frommberger, Lorenzo Woodard, Kemi Awosogba, Judith Burmeister, Aida Ilijasevic, Anke Wagner, Gunther Göbbel, Benjamin Martell, Philippe Bühler 13
3 16 November 2005 18 March 2006 20 Tobias Regner Mike Leon Grosch Carolina Escolano, Stephan Darnstaedt, Dascha Semcov, Lena Hanenberg, Daniel Muñoz, Anna-Maria Zimmermann, Didi Knoblauch, Vanessa Jean Dedmon 11
4 10 January 2007 5 May 2007 20 Mark Medlock Martin Stosch Laura Martin, Jonathan Enns, Julia Falke, Francisca Urio, Thomas Enns, Lauren Talbot, Max Buskohl, Lisa Bund 10
5 23 January 2008 17 May 2008 20 Thomas Godoj Fady Maalouf Jermaine Alford, Sahra Drone, Stella Salato, Collins Owusu, Benjamin Herd, Rania Zeriri,Monica Ivkic, Linda Teodosiu 10
6 21 January 2009 9 May 2009 20 Daniel Schuhmacher Sarah Kreuz Michelle Bowers, Cornelia Patzlsperger, Marc Jentzen, Holger Göpfert, Vanessa Neigert, Benny Kieckhäben, Dominik Büchele, Annemarie Eilfeld 10
7 6 January 2010 17 April 2010 20 Mehrzad Marashi Menowin Fröhlich Steffi Landerer, Marcel Pluschke, Nelson Sangaré, Ines Redjeb, Helmut Orosz, Thomas Karaoglan, Kim Debkowski, Manuel Hoffmann 10
8 8 January 2011 7 May 2011 23 Pietro Lombardi Sarah Engels Marvin Cybulski, Nina Richel, Anna-Carina Woitschack, Norman Langen, Zazou Mall, Sebastian Wurth, Marco Angelini, Ardian Bujupi 10
9 7 January 2012 28 April 2012 24 Luca Hänni Daniele Negroni Thomas Pegram, Silvia Amaru, Vanessa Krasniqi, Hamed Anousheh, Kristof Hering, Joey Heindle, Fabienne Rothe, Jesse Ritch 10
10 5 January 2013 11 May 2013 23 Beatrice Egli Lisa Wohlgemuth Nora Ferjani, Maurice Glover, Timo Tiggeler, Simone Mangiapane, Tim David Weller, Erwin Kintop, Susan Albers, Ricardo Bielecki 10
11 8 January 2014 3 May 2014 19 Aneta Sablik Meltem Acikgöz Sophia Akkara, Larissa Joyce Melody Haase, Alessandro Di Lella, Vanessa Valera-Rojas, Enrico von Krawczynski, Elif Batman, Christopher Schnell, Yasemin Kocak, Richard Schlögel, Daniel Ceylan 12
12 7 January 2015 16 May 2015 20 Severino Seeger Viviana Grisafi Leon Heidrich, Marcel Kärcher, Robin Eichinger, Laura Lopez, Seraphina Ueberholz, Erica Greenfield, Jeannine Rossi, Antonio Gerardi 10
13 2 January 2016 7 May 2016 21 Prince Damien Laura van den Elzen Aytug Gün, Ramona Mihajilovic, Tobias Soltau, Sandra Berger, Mark Hoffmann, Igor Barbosa, Anita Wiegand, Thomas Katrozan 10
14 4 January 2017 6 May 2017 22 Alphonso Williams Alexander Jahnke Matthias Bonrath, Angelika Ewa Turo, Mihaela Cataj, Armando Sarowny, Ruben Mateo, Ivanildo Kembel, Monique Simon, Sandro Brehorst, Chanelle Wyrsch, Noah Schärer, Duygu Goenel, Maria Voskania 14
15 3 January 2018 5 May 2018 19 Marie Wegener Michel Truog Emilija Mihailova, Isa Martino, Mario Turtak, Giulio Arancio, Mia Gucek, Lukas Otte, Janina El Arguioui, Michael Rauscher 10
16 5 January 2019 27 April 2019 21 Davin Herbrüggen Nick Ferretti Angelina Mazzamurro, Lukas Kepser, Jonas Weisser, Momo Chahine, Clarissa Schöppe, Taylor Luc Jacobs, Alicia Awa Beissert, Joana Kesenci 10
17 4 January 2020 4 April 2020 22 Ramon Roselly Chiara D'Amico Ricardo Rodrigues, Marcio Pereira Conrado, Lydia Kelovitz, Paulina Wagner, Joshua Tappe 7
18 5 January 2021 3 April 2021 19 Jan-Marten Block Karl Jeroboan Daniel "Ludi" Ludwig, Daniele Puccia, Jan Böckmann, Michelle Patz, Pia-Sophie Remmel, Starian Dwayne Mccoy, Kevin Jenewein 9
19 22 January 2022 7 May 2022 18 Harry Laffontien Amber van den Elzen Domenico Tarantino, Abi Nova Campos, Tina Umbricht, Din Omerhodzic, Melissa Turan, Dominik Simmen, Gianni Laffontien, Melissa Mantzoukis 10
20 14 January 2023 15 April 2023 20 Sem Eisinger Monika Gajek Natalie Nock, Rose Ndumba, Aileen Sager, Lawa Baban, Peris Achilleas Grigoriadis, David Leischik, Kiyan Sepehr Yousefbeik, Lorent Berisha 10
21 18 September 2024 9 November 2024 15 Christian Jährig Philip Matas Tom Mc Conner, Nissim Mizrahi 4

Formats

[edit]
Season Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
1 Auditions Recalls Top 30 Top 11 Final 2
2 Top 50 Top 13
3 Top 20 (Boys)
Top 20 (Girls)
Top 11
4 Top 10
5 Top 15
6
7
8
9 Top 16
10 Top 10 Final 2
11 Top 12 Final 3
12 Top 10 (Event Shows)
13
14 Top 14 Final 4
15 Top 10
16
17 Top 7
18 Top 9
19 Top 10
20
21 Final 4

Judges and hosts

[edit]

Judges

[edit]

DSDS

[edit]
Seasons Judges
1 Dieter Bohlen6 Thomas Bug Shona Fraser Thomas M. Stein
2
3 Sylvia Kollek Heinz Henn
4 Anja Lukaseder
5 Andreas "Bär" Läsker
6 Nina Eichinger2 Volker Neumüller1
7
8 Fernanda Brandão Patrick Nuo
9 Natalie Horler Bruce Darnell
103 Bill Kaulitz Tom Kaulitz Mateo Jaschik
11 Kay One Mieze Katz Marianne Rosenberg
12 Mandy Capristo DJ Antoine Heino
13 Michelle Vanessa Mai H.P. Baxxter
14 Shirin David
15 Ella Endlich Carolin Niemczyk Mousse T.
16 Pietro Lombardi Oana Nechiti Xavier Naidoo4
17
185 Maite Kelly Mike Singer
197 Florian Silbereisen Ilse DeLange Toby Gad
20 Dieter Bohlen Pietro Lombardi Katja Krasavice Leony
21 Loredana Beatrice Egli

Annotations

  • 1 Max von Thun was replaced by Volker Neumüller during the auditions of season 6.
  • 2 Sylvie Meis stepped in for Nina Eichinger in the final of season 7.
  • 3 Andrea Berg was a guest judge on the seventh "Mottoshow" of season 10.
  • 4 Florian Silbereisen replaced Xavier Naidoo from the second "Liveshow" until the final of season 17.
  • 5 After the filming the auditions of the 18th season, Michael Wendler decided to leave the jury.
  • 6 Thomas Gottschalk replaced Dieter Bohlen in the "Liveshows" of season 18.
  • 7 There were different guest judges on the season 19 "Liveshows": Thomas Anders on the first show, Sarah Engels on the second show, and Joachim Llambi in the semi-final and final.

DSDS Kids

[edit]
Season Judges
1 Dana Schweiger Dieter Bohlen Michelle Hunziker

Presenters

[edit]

DSDS

[edit]
Seasons Presenters
1 Michelle Hunziker1 Carsten Spengemann
2
3 Tooske Ragas Marco Schreyl
4
5 Marco Schreyl
6
7
8
9
10 Nazan Eckes2 Raúl Richter
11
12 Oliver Geissen
13
14
15
16
17 Alexander Klaws
18 Oliver Geissen
19 Marco Schreyl
20 Laura Wontorra
21

Annotations

  • 1 Yvonne Catterfeld stepped in for Michelle Hunziker in the third "Top-50-Show" of season 2.
  • 2 Daniel Hartwich stepped in for Nazan Eckes in the semi-final of season 11.

DSDS Kids

[edit]
Season Presenter
1 Daniel Aßmann

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Lange, Nicole. "Steiniger Weg zum Popstar-Erfolg". Rhein-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  2. ^ Michaelis-Ugwonno, Ina (5 May 2009). "Wer besiegte wen – beim Kampf um den "Superstar"-Titel?". Bild-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 23 July 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Winglecharts – Jahrescharts 2003". Mix1.de (in German). Retrieved 17 April 2010.
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  5. ^ "Kennen Sie DIESE "Superstars" noch?". Bild-Zeitung (in German). 3 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  6. ^ a b DDP staff. "Erste Motto-Show brachte wenig Neues". Rhein-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  7. ^ a b Hasse, Marc (16 November 2005). "Gewinner und schräge Vögel: Was DSDS-Kandidaten heute machen". Stern.de (in German). Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Gewinner und schräge Vögel: Was DSDS-Kandidaten heute machen". RP-online.de (in German). 25 October 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  9. ^ DSDS: Staffel 5 wieder mit Bohlen » news.idealo.de Archived 9 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
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  11. ^ Kuschel, S.; Cremer, D. (6 June 2010). "Nina Eichinger fliegt bei DSDS raus!". Bild. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  12. ^ "Dieter Bohlen: Es wird eine neue DSDS-Jury geben". Bild. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  13. ^ "Patrick Nuo ist der Neue bei "DSDS"". Bild. 31 July 2010. Archived from the original on 2 August 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
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  19. ^ a b c "Aus Rache: Pietros Bruder postet Nacktbild von Sarah". Bild (in German). 18 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  20. ^ a b c d e Peters, Bernd (2 April 2011). "Superstar-Eklat! Schreyl vertauscht Voting-Nummern". Hamburger Morgenpost. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  21. ^ a b "Bewerbungen für neunte DSDS-Staffel laufen". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 4 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  22. ^ a b c D. Kylla; B. Peters (2 March 2012). "Kölner Beamte wollen DSDS-Bühne räumen". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  23. ^ a b "Dritte DSDS-Show: RTL muss 15.000 Euro zahlen". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 13 March 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  24. ^ "DSDS schafft Entscheidungs-Show ab". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  25. ^ a b Trzeciak, Matthias (5 March 2012). "DSDS-Fans ahnten schon vorher, dass Thomas fliegt". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  26. ^ a b c ""Facebook-Orakel" hat wieder zugeschlagen". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 11 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  27. ^ a b c Kylla, Denise (15 April 2012). "Ist DSDS bald am Ende?". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  28. ^ a b "Absolutes Zuschauer-Rekordtief für DSDS-Finale". Die Welt (in German). 29 April 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  29. ^ ""DSDS" wird trotz sinkender Quoten fortgesetzt". Die Welt (in German). 30 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  30. ^ "Tokio-Hotel-Zwillinge in DSDS-Jury!". Bild-Zeitung (in German). 14 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  31. ^ ""DSDS" mit schwächstem Start seit erster Staffel" (in German). 6 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  32. ^ "RTL will DSDS trotz Zuschauer-Schwund fortsetzen". derwesten.de (in German). Cologne. 13 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  33. ^ ""DSDS" wird trotz schlechter Quoten fortgesetzt". schwarzwaelder-bote.de (in German). 13 March 2013. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  34. ^ Alexander Krei. "Schwächster DSDS-Start macht "Biggest Loser" platt" (in German). DWDL.de. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  35. ^ Timo Niemeier. "Dschungel zeigt "Wetten, dass..?" die Rücklichter" (in German). DWDL.de. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  36. ^ Marcel Pohlig. "Hoffmann hält an "DSDS" fest, keine Gameshows" (in German). DWDL.de. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
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  38. ^ Uwe Mantel. ""DSDS": Deutschland ist längst nicht mehr genug" (in German). DWDL.de. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  39. ^ Marcel Pohlig. "Jury komplett: Bohlens Neue heißt Mandy Capristo" (in German). DWDL.de. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  40. ^ "Auf der Suche nach echten Rohdiamanten". rtl.de (in German). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  41. ^ ""Deutschland sucht den Superstar" 2019: Jury mit Oana Nechiti und Xavier Naidoo". AugsburgerAllgemeine.de (in German). Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  42. ^ a b c "TV Casting Show Accused of Damaging Germany's Youth". Deutsche Welle. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  43. ^ "Elli Erl: "RTL bat um erfundene Geschichten"". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  44. ^ a b c d "Fälschte RTL Hass-Zitat?". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  45. ^ a b c "RTL schickt jetzt Kinder auf die "Superstar"-Bühne". Die Welt (in German). 13 March 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
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