Deutschland sucht den Superstar (season 12)

During the live-shows of season 11, it was announced that the castings for season 12 will start in August 2014. 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. He further explained that the live-shows will be cut to an "absolut minimum".^[1] In Fall 2014, RTL gave closer details to the changes of Season 12. The liveshows are replaced with pre-recorded concerts in clubs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Only the announcement of the results will be broadcast live. In contrary to the seasons before the final will not take place in a TV studio in Cologne, but in the ÖVB Arena in Bremen.^[2]

For the first time, auditions will be held in the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.^[3]

In October 2014, RTL announced that Marianne Rosenberg, Mietze Katz and Kay One won't return for the twelfth season. The new jury consists of Dieter Bohlen, Swiss discjockey DJ Antoine, Schlager singer Heino and singer Mandy Capristo.^[4]

Auditions und Recall

Start of the season was on Wednesday, January 7, 2015. In addition to duration juror Dieter Bohlen sit Popstars winner Mandy Capristo, DJ Antoine and pop singer Heino in the jury. So far there is no moderator, the contest announcements during the auditions were spoken by Menderes Bağcı. As a regular guest next Menderes also Heino's wife was seen. In the casting rounds each candidate selected before the show from a Golden CD with the name of the juror, whose voice should be the deciding factor for advancement or leaving a draw jury voting. Menderes reached the fourth time the recall. There is a "Quick Pick" was held where each candidate had to sing again. RTL did not send this Germany-Recall. Instead, only a short scene was shown in which piles announced that the 34 pre-worn Recall of the 110 candidates in Thailand recall were.^[5]

Re-Recall

The Recall in Thailand was reached by 16 women and 18 men. The contestants were separated in three to four groups by each gender for the first four performances. The theme for the first performances on the highest building in Bangkok was Black and White. After that performances the judes send four contestants home. For the next challenge which should be with a spectacular intro in the middle of a street in front of local inhabitants they sang again in groups with three of them leaving the competition after it. The third appearance in a historic temple district on the outskirts of Bangkok acknowledged the jury with seven return tickets and the advancement of 19 candidates. They had to go for the obligatory beach appearance on the island of Ko Hong Ko Hong archipelago in the south of the country. The location near Phuket, belonging to a national park island formed a picturesque backdrop for the resignation of five other superstar aspirants. The remaining 14 candidates sang seven same-sex or mixed-duets on a covered swimming pool with Plexiglas. Four of them then had to leave the show. After this the Top 10 was announced as follow:

Top 10:
Females:

• Laura Lopez (German-Jamaican)
• Jeannine Rossi (Austrian)
• Viviana Grisafi (Italian)
• Erica Greenfield (Dutch)
• Seraphina Überholz (German)

Males:

• Marcel Kärcher (German)
• Severino Seeger (Gypsy)
• Antonio Geradi (Italy)
• Leon Heidrich (German)
• Robin Eichinger (German)

Event-Shows

^[6]

Top 10 - Ischgl - "Top of the Mountain"

The first event show was held in Ischgl and was pre-recorded on 11th April 2015. The live result show in Cologne was aired directly after the event show. The two contestants with the fewest votes were eliminated.

Original airdate: 25 April 2015

Top 8 - Balver Höhle – "The Dome Of Stone"

The first event show will be held in the Balver Höhle and will be pre-recorded on 29th April 2015. The live result show in Cologne will be aired directly after the event show.

Original airdate: 2 May 2015

Semi-Final- Leipzig - Glass halle

The semi-final will be held in Leipzig at the Leipzig Trade Fair glass hall and was pre-recorded on 5th May 2015. The live result show in Cologne was aired directly after the event show.

Original airdate: 9 May 2015

Final- Bremen – ÖVB Arena

The Final will be held in Bremen at the ÖVB Arena in front of 10,000 people.

Original airdate: 16 May 2015

Elimination chart