Popstars (German TV series)

Popstars
Created by	Jonathan Dowling
Presented by	see below
Opening theme	Pop Muzik, Das Leben, Leb deinen Traum, Come As You Are, Daylight in Your Eyes, Hot Summer, Strictly Physical, Strike the Match, Hit'n'Run, No Smoke
Country of origin	Template:Germany
No. of seasons	8
Production
Production locations	Auditions: various locations Workshops: Majorca, Spain (season 1) Ibiza, Spain (season 2) Orlando, Florida (season 3) Locarno, Switzerl. (season 4) Ischgl, Austria (season 5) Füssen, Germany (season 6) Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (season 7)
Running time	60-100 min.
Original release
Network	RTL II (season 1-2) ProSieben (season 3-7)
Release	November 14, 2000 – present

Popstars is a German reality television series that began its first installment on the RTL2 network on November 14, 2000. Part of the international Popstars franchise, it originated from the same-titled New Zealand reality program.

The show accompanies the making of pop music bands whose members depend on the particular season's concept. In its seven seasons, it spawned musical acts No Angels, Bro'Sis, Overground, Preluders, Nu Pagadi, Monrose, Room 2012 and Queensberry.

Overview

The series follows a group of young contestants as they go through an audition process to join a pop group. The contestants, who also live together during the course of the series, are judged on their vocal and dancing ability. Outside of stage performances, the contestants experience choreography and song recording.

First season winners No Angels (Sandy Mölling, Lucy Diakovska, Nadja Benaissa, Jessica Wahls and Vanessa Petruo) were set to be the new Spice Girls.

Second season winners Bro'Sis (Hila Bronstein, Faiz Mangat, Ross Antony, Shaham Joyce, Giovanni Zarella and Verena "Indira" Weis) were ment to be more edgy than theire preceders. This season both sexes were allowed to participate in the competition.

Third season winners Overground (Ahmet "Akay" Kayed, Ken Miyao, Marq Porciuncula and Meiko Reißmann), won over girlgroup Preluders this season after a boys vs. girls-battle depending on record-sales and telephone-votes during a big live-finale.

Fourth season winners Nu Pagadi (Markus Grimm, Patrick Boinet, Kristina Dörfer and Doreen Steinert) were titled as the best group created by this format by the judges when they had been in the pre-making statues. However, they landed some hits, but disbanded shortly after the show due to arguments between the groupmembers. Presented as being the last group to be created by this format, they were pushed in a glam rock/rock direction in a very early statues of the show.

Fifth season winners Monrose (Senna Guemmour, Bahar Kızıl and Mandy Capristo) were created with the aim to find the new angels in addition to No Angels and to find the best voices. Consisting of only three members they were very edgy with no blond girl inside and their very strong but different characters. And maybe because of their edginess they should be along with the No Angles the most successful band to be created by this show.

Sixth season winners Room 2012 (Cristobal Galvez Moreno, Sascha Schmitz, Julian Kasprzik and Tialda van Slogteren) were set to be the hottest live-act in Germany. The group went on a tour directly after the show. This time the colour of the voice was less important than the ability to sing live in concert and get the keys. Dancers were also cast to support the final group in making a good live-show.

Seventh season winners Queensberry (Leonore Bartsch, Victoria Ulbrich, Gabriella De Almeida Rinne and Antonella Trapani) were created with the aim to find Germany's next girlgroup consisting of four members. in contrast to season 5, the performance played an important rule again.

An eight season is planned for 2009 under the motto "Duo".

The only judge on the show to be at least on every season is Detlef Soost who got to fame through this show and is famous for being very strict and hard to the contestants but outside of training and judging he treats them very respectfully. He is Germany's most famous choreographer.

There are some connections to its sister show Germany's Next Topmodel as the winning bands from the show perform on the big live-finale of Heidi Klum's model show during the models running the catwalk.

Season synopses

Season 1 (2000): Popstars – Du bist mein Traum

Title translation: You Are My Dream
Winning band: No Angels
Judges: Simone Angel, Mario Mendryzcki, Rainer Moslener
Coaches: Detlef Soost (dancing)

In fall 2000, German television network RTL2 started with the production of a German adaption of Popstars. Over the course of three month more than 4,500 hopeful female singers attended open television auditions in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Cologne, Oberhausen, Stuttgart and Munich. Judged by Dutch entertainer Simone Angel, booker Mario M. Mendryzcki and Rainer Moslener, a director of A&R, thirty-two out of two hundred pre-selected girls eventually made it from the local recall shows to Majorca, Spain to get trained in singing, dancing, and fitness. While the judges continued eliminating two or three girls each day with the help of choreographer Detlef "D!" Soost, eleven finalists remained and were sent home to prepare. In November 2000, Angel and Moslener visited each of the contestants at home to reveal whether or not they had been selected for the band. In the end five girls made it into the band: Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo and Jessica Wahls. With the final members of the group in place, Popstars continued tracking the development and struggles of the new band.

Season 2 (2001): Popstars – Du bist mein Traum

Title translation: You Are My Dream
Winning band: Bro'Sis
Judges: Alex Christensen, Detlef Soost, Noah Sow
Coaches: Artemis Gounaki (singing), D. Soost (dancing)

In summer 2001 the German version of Popstars returned with a second installment of the series, this time searching for a mixed-gender musical R&B group. More than 11,000 hopeful singers attended open television auditions in Frankfurt, Cologne, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Munich, conducted by choreographer Detlef "D!" Soost, producer Alex Christensen, and singer and radio host Noah Sow. Over the course of several recalls and re-recalls the three judges and vocal coach Artemis Gounaki reduced the contestants to a group of 32 who immediately travelled to Ibiza, Spain to get trained in singing, dancing, and fitness. In the end three females and five males remained who again moved into a loft in Munich to start working on their performance and publicity skills.

During a special episode on 11 November 2001, judges Soost and Christensen eventually disclosed that Ross Antony, Hila Bronstein, Shaham Joyce, Faiz-Kevin Mangat, Verena "Indira" Weis, and Giovanni Zarrella were chosen to become part of the multicultural group Bro'Sis.

"Bandhaus" Contestant	Elimination broadcast on
Ross Antony	11 November 2001
Hila Bronstein
Shaham Joyce
Faiz-Kevin Mangat
Verena "Indira" Weis
Giovanni Zarrella
Darja	4 November 2001
David

     The contestant became part of the winning band Bro'Sis.

     The contestant made it to the final eight.

Season 3 (2003): Popstars – Das Duell

Title translation: The Battle
Winning band: Overground
Judges: Sabrina Setlur, Detlef Soost, Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen
Coaches: Artemis Gounaki (singing), D. Soost (dancing)

Season 4 (2004): Popstars – Jetzt oder Nie!

Title translation: Now or Never!
Winning band: Nu Pagadi
Judges: Sandy Mölling, Lukas Hilbert, Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen
Coaches: Artemis Gounaki (singing), Detlef Soost (dancing), Arno Schmitt (sports)

Female	Male	Elimination broadcast on
Kristina Dörfer	Patrick Boinet
Doreen Steinert	Markus Grimm
Katrin Feist	Richard Mantarliev	8 December 2004
Kristina Neuwert	Stefan	1 December 2004

     The contestant became part of the winning band Nu Pagadi.

     The contestant made it to the final six.

Season 5 (2006): Popstars – Neue Engel braucht das Land

Title translation: The Country Needs New Angels
Winning band: Monrose
Judges: Dieter Falk, Nina Hagen, Detlef Soost
Coaches: Robin D. (singing), Detlef Soost (dancing), Marilena Grafakos (dancing), Arno Schmitt (sports)

Following a two-year hiatus, ProSieben started airing a new installment of Popstars themed Neue Engel braucht das Land on 10 August 2006. A pen on the show's original winners No Angels, who had disbanded in 2003, the declared goal of the season was to find their successors. While Detled "D!" Soost returned to judge status, punk singer Nina Hagen and music producer Dieter Falk became new additions.

Auditions for the show were held in five German major cities, including Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hanover, Munich and Dortmund with a total of 5,189 girls auditioning. The first part of the auditioning process (consisting of the first audition, a callback and a re-recall) was reviewed by the judges and a former member of the No Angels each. Eventually, a total of twenty contestants from all the auditioning cities continued on in workshop weeks in Ischgl, Austria, where the group was reduced to elven conestant. After four weeks, the goup moved into a bandhouse in Pullach near Munich, Germany, where another contestant, Nina (eliminated in the workshop weeks), was re-added to the finalists. On the season finale on 23 November, the judges decided for contestants Senna Guemmour and Bahar Kizil to be part of the winning band. Mandy Capristo competed against Romina Reinhardt with the viewers choosing the third member via televoting.

Controversy

On 16 December 2006 the songs "Shame", "Diamonds and Pearls", "Do That Dance", "Kiss and Tell", "Even Heaven Cries" and "I'm Gonna Freak Ya" were performed by the seven remaining contestants on the show. On 17 December 2006, Amazon.de accidentally released a CD cover – which showed three of the six finalists, Katarzyna Zinkiewicz, Mandy Capristo and Bahar Kizil – and revealed both the name of the band and the first single, "Shame". While the accident raised public concern about the significance of the final band voting, the cover soon was replaced by apromotional artwork and Popstars broadcaster ProSieben released an official statement which confirmed both the single's title and the planned band name Monrose but also rejected reproaches of fraud. ProSieben also published CD covers with many other possible contellations, two of them were of higher quality and richer in contrast – the one that was already leaked to Amazon.de and another one with Capristo, Kizil and Senna Guemmour. Some of the covers had serious flaws as to digital image editing.

After the season finale was broadcast several hints made fans believe that Katarzyna Zinkiewicz was originally planned to be a member of the group but after the "Amazon incident" was replaced by Senna Guemmour. On 27 November, the official Warner Music website for Monrose was released with pictures of Mandy Capristo, Bahar Kizil and Zinkiewicz instead of Guemmour. A Sat.1 teletext program announcement on 28 November announced Zinkiewicz as a member of the group.

During the "Bandhaus" ("band house") eliminations, Nina Hagen was reported to be ill several times and was missing from the judges deliberations. Nina Hagen herself stated that she had concerts and was on promotion tour for the film 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug when missing from the show.

Reception

The fifth season turned out to be very successful and highly popular with even about 5.83 million viewers on 23 November, which is the highest rating in the history of Popstars. About half of all people 20 to 29 years old watched the show. The show's spin-off Popstars – Ninas Engel was less successful and heavily criticized by Nina Hagen herself. On 18 December, Hagen stated on her website that she did not agree on the way her friend Elvira Michieva was portrayed on the show and that she was disappointed with ProSieben that the show was not about her but mainly about Monrose. She described ProSieben as "inhuman" and "shitty television".

"Bandhaus" Contestant	Elimination broadcast on
Senna Guemmour
Bahar Kızıl
Mandy Capristo
Romina Reinhardt	23 November 2006
Katarzyna Zinkiewicz
Arjeta Zuta
Leonore Bartsch	16 November 2006
Nina	9 November 2006
	2 November 2006
Vanessa Kanapin	26 October 2006
Kristina Neuwert; Selma Adžem	19 October 2006
Elvira Michieva	12 October 2006

     The contestant became part of the winning band Monrose.

     The contestant made it to the final six.

     Reinhardt, Zinkiewicz and Guemmour were allowed to pause for the following week.

     No contestant was eliminated. Contestant Nina was brought back to the competition.

Season 6 (2007): Popstars on Stage

Winning band: Room2012
Judges: Jane Comerford, Dieter Falk, Nina Hagen, Marusha, Detlef Soost
Coaches: Comerford (singing), Stefano Maggio (singing), Rafael Antonio (dancing), Arno Schmitt (sports)

On 14 June 2007, ProSieben started the sixth installment of the series, targeting to find the “Germany's hottest live act”. This time not only male and female singers were cast but also dancers who should be part of the band. Dancers and singers were sent to Füssen, Bavaria and took part in workshops to improve their dancing and singing skills. Four weeks passed before the producers decided to audition additional contestants in the Netherlands. All the singers (including the new contestants) went to Prague, Czech Republic while the dancers travelled to Brussels, Belgium for another so-called “Entscheidungsshow” (neologism, “decision show”). In October, singers and dancers reunited in a big mansion in Berlin. All contestants recorded the song “Never Give Up” that managed to reach #30 on the German Singles Charts. The album All Stars that combined songs of all previous shows reached #78 on the German Albums Charts.

After a few weeks in Berlin, the contestants moved back to Füssen where the dancers’ final show took place. Shortly before the finale, contestant Mehdi left the show and Armin Nezirevic, better known by his nickname “Shorty”, was brought back to the show. All of the five dancing finalists (Aziz, Darren, Raik Preetz, Armin Nezirevic, and Vika Ljacenko) won the dancing competition – the concept of a group with dancers and singers had been discarded in the course of the season – and formed the Popstars Dance Company.

On 6 December 2007 the singers’ final show took place in Cologne. The male group members were set by the judges. Cristobal Moreno, Sascha Schmitz, and Julian Kasprzik were chosen over Norman Ramazan. The viewers were able to vote for either Marcella McCrae or Tialda van Slogteren to be in the band. Van Slogteren got the majority of all telephone calls and became the fourth member of the band Room2012.

Season 7 (2008): Popstars – Just 4 Girls

Winning band: Queensberry
Judges: Detlef Soost, Loona, Sido
Coaches: Kate Hall (singing), Detlef Soost (dancing, sports)

Popstars: Just 4 Girls is the seventh season of Popstars, in which young aspiring female singers/dancers compete in order to claim their spots to become Germany's next girlgroup. The grand prize is a record deal with Warner Music as well as the opportunity to join the Pussycat Dolls on their next World Tour but there are only four spots. This is the format for the seventh season of the Popstars series, focusing mostly on female dancers/singers, looking for fame in the music industry. It premiered on Thursday, August 28, 2008. Under the motto "Just 4 Girls", ProSieben started a seventh installment of the series on 28 August 2008, once again searching for an all-female group, consisting of four members. Leonore Bartsch, who failed to qualify for the finale of the 2006 season of Popstars, became the first band member of the group to announced on 20 November 2008. The finale was held on 18 December, concluding with the announcement of the fourth band member of the group Queensberry.

Elimination's call-out order

Judges’ Call-Out Order

Order	Episodes
	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
01	Diyana	Leo	Nina	Leo	KayKay1	Patricia2	Diyana	Leo	KayKay3	Vici3	Lea	Anto	Anto	Anto
02	Anto	Patricia	Virginia	Patricia	Lea	Nina2	Vici1	Anto	Diyana	KayKay	Diyana	Patricia	Patricia	Patricia
03	Gabby	Lea	Vici	Diyana	Leo	Sheila2	Leo	KayKay	Patricia3	Lea3	Anto	KayKay	KayKay
04	Anja	Jill	Lea	Anto	Nina	Gabby2	Anto	Diyana	Gabby3	Annemarie	KayKay	Lea
05	Taschira	Diyana	Leo	Latoya	Patricia	Jill	Jill	Annemarie	Vici	Patricia3	Patricia
06	Marcella	Nina	Diyana	Lea	Sheila1	Leo	Lea	Patricia	Annemarie	Diyana	Gabby4
07	Nina	Latoya	Jill	Nina	Ina	Diyana	Gabby	Gabby	Anto	Gabby
08	Vici	Ina	Anto	Virginia	Annemarie1	Virginia	Patricia	Vici	Ina	Anto3
09	Desiree	Virginia	Ina	Jill	Virginia	Annemarie	Nina	Lea	Leo3
10	Karmina	Laura	Roya	Ina	Gabby	KayKay	KayKay	Ina	Lea
11	Leo	Marcella	Latoya	Gabby	Jill	Ina	Ina	Jill
12	Latoya	Vici	Gabby	Vici	Christin1	Lea	Annemarie
13	Laura	Roya1	Patricia	Roya	Anto	Anto	Sheila
14	Roya	Gabby			Diyana
15	Virginia	Anto
16	Jill	Desiree
17	Catherine	Anja
18	Ina
19	Patricia
20	Lea
21	Ivana
Notes: The contestant was brought back to the show after being eliminated The contestant was band-leader but not safe from elimiation The contestant had the chance to become a groupmember this week The contestant became a groupmember the next week

  The contestant was eliminated

  The contestant was eliminated outside of the judging panel

  The contestant won the reward challenge

  The contestant won the reward challenge, but was eliminated

  The contestant quit the competition

  The contestant was band-leader and as such is safe from elimination

  The contestant was band-leader and as such is safe from elimination and won the reward challenge

  The contestants were safe from elimination and not called by their names

  The contestant won the competition

Season 8 (2009): Popstars – Du und Ich

Popstars: Du und Ich (You and Me) is the eight season of Popstars, in which they are looking for a duo. The final combimation which genders the band will consist of is still open. The candidates can apply alone or together, but if they apply together it's unsure if both will survive the elimination. The castings through big cities will run for 4 episodes. The contestens take a seat in a big hall and have to step forward to the judges in groups of 4(2+2 if they apply as duos) and sing one song in front of them. They lern from the judges decision directly after their performance. One day later, the winners of the first day have to prepare two songs and get to the judges alone (or as a duo) and perform both songs without forgetting any lines of the lyrics. The few contestants that get through this round continue their journey at a big decision-show in Stuttgart where they can qualify for the workshop. The Workshop-Phase in America lasts until the big Live-Finale back in Germany (10-12 weeks) in December 2009, in which they finally crown the new Popstars.

Television ratings

Germany

Episode	from 3 years		14- to 49-year-old
	Viewers (in millions)	Share (in %)	Viewers (in millions)	Share (in %)
0	1,39		1,13	10,8
1	2,08		1,75	16,9
2	2,20		1,83	17,4
3	2,41			16,5
4	2,34			17,1

Music releases by Popstars winners

Albums

Band	Studio albums	Other albums
No Angels	Elle'ments (2001) Now... Us! (2002) Pure (2003) Destiny (2007) Welcome to the Dance (2009)	When the Angels Swing (2002) The Best of No Angels (2003) Acoustic Angels (2004) The Very Best of No Angels (2008)
Bro'Sis	Never forget (2002) Days of Our Lives (2003) Showtime (2004)
Overground	It's Done (2003) 2. OG (2004)
Nu Pagadi	Your Dark Side (2005)
Monrose	Temptation (2006) Strictly Physical (2007) I Am (2008)
Room2012	Elevator (2007)
Queensberry	Volume I (2008)

External links

• Popstars at IMDb