Deutschland sucht den Superstar

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions in which viewer voting determines the winner.

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.

[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.

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!

[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] Vanessa Struhler became the protégé of hip hop producer DJ Tomekk and saw solid commercial success with her first album, Ride with Me (2003).

[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.

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.

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?"

[8] Anke Wagner signed with independent label Perleberg, but neither her debut single nor her album magaged to enter any chart.

[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!

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.

[9] Läsker discovered and is the manager of Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four), and joined existing jury members Bohlen and Anja Lukaseder.

The seventh season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar was aired on German channel RTL from 6 January to 17 April 2010.

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.

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.

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.

"[15] RTL received a statement from the Office of Public Safety stating that Sebastian Wurth was not allowed to participate after 10 PM.

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.

[26] Hamburger Morgenpost stated that it should be "clear" for RTL that "Facebook is a power killer" for Deutschland sucht den Superstar.

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.

[38] In October 2014, RTL announced that Marianne Rosenberg, Mietze Katz and Kay One won't return for the twelfth season.

[39] The winner of the Deutschland sucht den Superstar 2015 was announced as Severino Seeger with Viviana Grisafi finishing as the runner-up.

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.

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.

[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.

[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.