Alexander Klaws

Alexander Klaws
Klaws in 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Alexander Klaws
Born	(1983-09-03) 3 September 1983
Origin	Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor
Years active	2002–present
Labels	SonyBMG
Website	alexanderklaws.de

Alexander Klaws (born 3 September 1983) is a German singer, songwriter, and actor. Born and raised in Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia, he came into prominence after becoming the winner of the debut season of the television series Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of Idol series, in 2003 and as a participant in the television special World Idol the same year.

Klaws was immediately signed to SonyBMG after winning DSDS, and released his debut single "Take Me Tonight" in 2003. Upon its release, the single topped the German and Swiss Singles Chart, eventually becoming one of the best-selling singles of 2002 in German-speaking Europe. The same year, Klaws released his album Take Your Chance, which contained elements of a pop and became a major commercial success. The following year, his second album Here I Am reprised this success. In 2005, Klaws parted ways with his management and musical mentor Dieter Bohlen and developed a more rock-oriented sound with the release of his third album, Attention!.

Early life

Alexander had a typical childhood growing up in Sendenhorst, Germany with his parents Richard and Hildegard and older sister Melanie (born 1980). He was an avid soccer player, and still plays soccer on charity teams whenever he finds the time. Alexander's musical gifts became apparent when he was still in elementary school. He made his first television appearance at the age of 10, performing Haddaway's "What Is Love" on a national TV show for children. By the time he was 13, Alexander was already taking vocal and piano lessons to strengthen his voice.

Career

2002–03: Deutschland sucht den Superstar

In 2002, Klaws was encouraged by his family and friends to audition for the debut season of the reality television series Deutschland sucht den Superstar. Although he was considered as one of the more inconspicuous top ten finalists at the very beginning of the show, he was able to boost his popularity constantly with standout performances of Robbie Williams' "Angels" or Michael Sembello's "Maniac". Klaws went on to win the competition on 8 March 2003, earning 70.1% of the votes against runner-up Juliette Schoppmann and without being sent into the bottom three throughout the season. Immediately after winning DSDS, Klaws was signed to a record deal with SonyBMG, while jury member Dieter Bohlen was consulted to produce his debut album on the company. On 17 March 2003 his debut single, "Take Me Tonight" was released. The song was performed by Klaws during the season finale of DSDS. The song subsequently debuted at number 1 in Germany and Switzerland. It eventually went on to become the second best-selling single of 2002 behind "We Have a Dream" and was certified quintuple gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI). In May he followed-up with his debut album Take Your Chance, which saw similar success and spawned a second single "Stay with Me". At the end of a year he entered the top of the charts again with "Free Like the Wind", the soundtrack to the German TV movie Held der Gladiatoren.

On 25 December 2003, Clarkson participated in the television special competition World Idol in London along the inaugural winners of the several Idol television series around the world. He was contractually obligated to participate, and performed Michael Sembello's "Maniac". On 1 January 2004 he finished ninth in the competition.^[1]

2004–present: Here I Am and subsequent releases

In 2004 Klaws returned with his second album Here I Am. Like its predecessor, the album debuted at number 1 on the German charts, but it ultimately failed to live up to the overwhelming success of his debut album. In spite of this, the album managed to snag Klaws another three top-20 hits with "Behind the Sun", "Sunshine After the Rain" and "Here I Am". He went on to record and release a duet with German singer Sabrina Weckerlin, "All (I Ever Want)", the theme song to the musical The Three Musketeers.

After a brief absence from the limelight Alexander returned in early 2006 with the single "Not Like You" and his third album Attention!. Both the album and the single barely made it to the top 20 on the German charts. As a result of Attention!'s relatively weak showing, SonyBMG opted not to release another single from the album.

From January 2007 until late March 2008, Alexander Klaws played Alfred in the musical Tanz der Vampire in Theatre des Westens, Berlin. He remained with the musical until Tanz der Vampire was replaced by the musical Elisabeth. His fourth album was released in early April 2008. It is the first album that Klaws has done that is completely in his native language of German. In March 2010 it was announced that Alexander will be playing the title character in the Hamburg production of the musical Tarzan after successfully auditioning for the show's composer, Phil Collins.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

• Official site
• Alexander Klaws in the German National Library catalogue
• MySpace