Germany is looking for the superstar: review of the most scandalous season of all time

Germany seeks the superstar
Review of the most scandalous season of all time

Since the first recall, the “DSDS” jury this year only comprised Mike Singer, Maite Kelly and Dieter Bohlen.

© TVNOW / Stefan Gregorowius

The 18th season of “DSDS” will end on April 3rd. No season before has been as eventful as this one – a look back.

On April 3rd it will be decided who will be the 18th winner of “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” (at 20:15 on RTL or via TVNow). However, the search for the best singer almost took a back seat in all the events surrounding this year’s season of “DSDS”. Because no other “DSDS” season could come up with as many surprises and twists as this year’s one – a look back.

Castings under corona measures

Even the castings of the 18th season of the search for Germany’s superstar were very different from the previous ones: After all, they were shot in the middle of the corona pandemic, which required a separate safety and hygiene concept. The jury auditions were recorded in September 2020 – on the ship “Blue Rhapsody”. The steamer stopped in the cities of Rüdesheim, Bacharach, St. Goar, Boppard, Braubach, Koblenz, Andernach, Linz am Rhein, Königswinter, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Duisburg. Around 100 candidates received a recall slip there. The recall then took place in Cologne, where 44 talents made progress. After the rerecall in Schloss Bronnbach, a former Cistercian abbey in Wertheim, due to the ongoing corona pandemic, it went to Mykonos, Greece instead of the usual on a tropical island.

Fuss about Michael Wendler

Even before the broadcast of “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” started on television at the beginning of the year, Michael Wendler (48) caused a scandal. This year he was to sit on the “DSDS” jury together with Dieter Bohlen (67), Maite Kelly (41) and Mike Singer (21). The pop star announced his exit in an Instagram story on October 8, 2021 – after the first casting round was recorded. Wendler named conspiracy theories about the corona virus as the reason for his immediate voluntary jury-out. RTL distanced itself from the singer’s statements and announced that he would only be seen on the show during the auditions. Out of respect for the candidates, however, they did not want to cut him out.

On January 5th, the start of the current season, Michael Wendler added it again. In the news app Telegram, he compared the corona protective measures of the federal and state governments with conditions like in concentration camps. RTL declared to “clearly and unambiguously distance itself from the current statements of Michael Wenders” and decided to remove the conspiracy theorist from already filmed material and cut it out with immediate effect. In the following episodes, Wendler was partly made unrecognizable or cut from the picture. Due to the resulting loss of material, the season was later even shortened by “two casting programs and one recall program”.

Controversial recall appearance

But not only parts of the jury caused a stir. In particular, an appearance in the recall on Mykonos split the minds of the remaining jurors as well as the audience. The four candidates Dominic Möws, Shada Ali, Kilian Imwinkelried and Steve Maco were supposed to sing “Tainted Love” and were apparently inspired by Marylin Manson (52) for their performance. An offensive dance performance followed, sometimes in skimpy costumes, in which the group whipped each other with a belt. In the end, one of the candidates was ripped off a strip of wax from his butt by his competitors. Viewers like Dieter Bohlen, Maite Kelly and Mike Singer reacted in shock. Despite vocal weaknesses and a polarizing appearance, however, all candidates were allowed to continue, which led to an uproar on social media.

Jury-out from veteran Dieter Bohlen

Hardly anyone would have expected that another jury member would leave his place at the podium in the course of the show – especially not that this person would be Dieter Bohlen. In mid-March it was surprisingly announced that the music producer would be leaving both “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” and “Das Supertalent”. A complete change in the jurors for both shows is planned in order to provide “fresh impetus”, according to a message from Henning Tewes, who has been the new Managing Director of RTL Television since March 1st. Thank you Bohlen for his many years of “clear judgments and a keen sense of musical mainstream in the best sense of the word”. However, “after almost two decades of mutual success, now is the right time for change and further development.”

Dieter Bohlen initially did not comment on the surprising end. Instead, a few days later the message followed that the musician would not be involved in the other live shows of “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” “due to illness” and so the planned departure of the chief juror in the final of the show would not take place. Showmaster Thomas Gottschalk (70, “Herbstbunt: Who only gets old, but not wiser, is pretty stupid”) stepped in as a replacement for the last broadcasts of the 18th season. Dieter Bohlen announced on Instagram on March 27th – during a “DSDS” live show – that he had received many new offers and was planning “big things”. “I am very satisfied with the situation at the moment. You know, a thousand new doors open when one closes again,” said the DSDS veteran.

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