Dieter Bohlen
His greatest successes and most memorable moments with “DSDS”
Dieter Bohlen will leave the “DSDS” jury.
© TVNOW / Stefan Gregorowius
Dieter Bohlen will not return as a “DSDS” juror. Those were his ups and downs at the casting show.
Dieter Bohlen (67, “Nothing but Truth”) said goodbye to “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” shortly before the finale of the 18th season, which will end on April 3rd. The pop titan has seen a lot with the RTL casting show in almost 20 years. A look back at unforgettable moments in his jury existence.
The beginnings
It all started in 2002: Bohlen was next to Thomas M. Stein (72), Shona Fraser (45) and Thomas Bug (50) a juror for the RTL casting show, an offshoot of the British talent show “Pop Idol”. The musician, composer and producer who grew up in the 80s and 90s through Modern Talking caught the eye with his sayings right from the start.
“You sing like a garden gnome to ecstasy”, “Do you suffer from an intelligence allergy or what did you not understand about three times ‘No’?”, “We are talent scouts and not garbage sorters” or “Your voice sounds like a shredded cat”, he replied the candidates who couldn’t stand up to him with their singing talent. Aside from youth protection criticism, the viewers usually did not take it amiss, but soon celebrated him as a crowd favorite. Some candidates, however, could not handle Bohlen’s harsh criticism. In 2009, Annemarie Eilfeld (30), who made herself the favorite of the tabloid press with the ongoing dispute with the pop titan, made the headlines. In the semifinals she finally had to go.
Bohlen was not only the tough juror, candidates could also soften his heart. Just like Mandy Mettbach, who was able to draw a few tears from the “Germany is looking for the superstar” primeval rock in 2018. With Marianne Rosenberg’s “Love can hurt so much” she fascinated Bohlen with her performance. Some winners of the casting show in particular benefited from Bohlen’s goodwill in the long term …
The successes
Bohlen’s legacy of the casting show is mainly the songs he contributed. For the very first “DSDS” winner Alexander Klaws (37) he wrote the successful winning song “Take Me Tonight” and the single “Free Like the Wind” reached platinum status and number one in the German charts. At the beginning of 2003, Bohlen also recorded the single “We Have a Dream” with the ten “DSDS” finalists, which became the best-selling single of the year in Germany. The Swiss Luca Hänni (26), who won in 2012, also landed a number one hit with the song “Don’t Think About Me” written by Bohlen.
Prince Damien’s winning song “Glücksmoment” penned by Dieter Bohlen reached number one in the 2016 download charts. Ramon Roselly (27), “DSDS” winner from 2020, was last able to enter the German charts with Bohlen’s hit “Eine Nacht” and won gold with his first album “Herzenssache”, also produced by the “DSDS” jury . The winners Mark Medlock (42) or Beatrice Egli (32) and the runner-up Sarah Lombardi (28) or Daniele Negroni (25) have already benefited from Bohlen’s hit talent. However, not all winners or “DSDS” candidates wanted to work with the pop titan in the long term. After the winning song “This Is My Life”, singer Elli Erl (41) ended her collaboration with Bohlen.
With Mark Medlock and Pietro Lombardi, Bohlen remained musically and amicably connected even after “DSDS”. In the 16th and 17th seasons of “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” Lombardi even took a seat as a juror next to Dieter Bohlen, who wrote numerous songs for the singer. Lombardi said on Instagram about Bohlen’s “DSDS” exit: The juror was the one who believed him from the start: “Over ten years of friendship, over ten years of a team! It was an honor for me! You are and will remain one Legend.”
The jury
Until his departure, Bohlen was a constant on the “DSDS” jury. So he experienced numerous changes and unsightly exits on the chairs next to him. Xavier Naidoo (49) caused a stir with a video from 2018 in which, among other things, he sings about alleged dangers posed by migrants. In a statement, Naidoo then rejected “racial hatred and xenophobia”, but RTL split from the juror prematurely in the 17th season. Michael Wendler (48) said goodbye in the 18th season before the castings were broadcast and drew attention to himself with questionable Corona statements. The broadcaster censored the already wacky episodes with the musician. Bohlen reacted with his usual clear words. The “bad, bad Wendler” is now gone, he said via Instagram and quoted his mother’s words: “The biggest problems often take care of themselves.”
How much influence Dieter Bohlen had on the selection of the jurors remains unclear until the end. He is said to have personally brought musicians friends like HP Baxxter (57) or Michelle (49) to the jury in 2016, but in 2018 he wanted to select Mousse T. (54), Ella Endlich (36) and Carolin Niemczyk (30) have had nothing to do as he explained to the “Bild” newspaper at the time.
The good bye
RTL announced that Bohlen is now clearing his jury chair himself. On March 11th, the broadcaster announced that the pop titan would hand over the jury scepter “to strong successors who will be announced in time for the coming season”. Dieter Bohlen will no longer be part of the jury for the “Supertalent” either. Bohlen himself said about his surprising TV-off at RTL: “It was never about the money. That wasn’t the point at all. No, I didn’t freak out. I wasn’t angry. Nothing at all”. Thomas Gottschalk (70) replaced him at the first of the two live shows. Chief juror Bohlen had “unfortunately canceled at short notice due to illness,” reported RTL on March 24th.