Popstars (German TV series)

Popstars
Created by	Jonathan Dowling
Presented by	see below
Opening theme	Pop Muzik, (season 1) Das Leben, (season 2) Leb deinen Traum, (season 3) Come As You Are, (season 4) Daylight in Your Eyes (season 5) Hot Summer, (season 6) Strictly Physical, (season 6) Strike the Match, (season 7) Hit'n'Run, (season 7) No Smoke, (season 7) Last Man Standing, (season 8) This Is Me, (season 9) No Time for Sleeping, (season 9), Sunshine (Fly So High), (season 10)
Country of origin	Germany
No. of seasons	10
Production
Location(s)	Auditions: various locations Workshops: Majorca, Spain (season 1) Orlando, Florida (season 3) Locarno, Switzerl. (season 4) Ischgl, Austria (season 5) Füssen, Germany (season 6) Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (season 7), Las Vegas, Nevada (season 8) Nashville, Tennessee (season 9) Ibiza, Spain (season 2, 10)
Running time	60-100 min.
Release
Original network	RTL II (season 1-2) ProSieben (season 3-10)
Original release	November 14, 2000 – present
External links
Website

Popstars is a German reality television series that began its first installment on the RTL II network on November 14, 2000. Part of the international Popstars franchise, it originated from the same-titled New Zealand reality program.

The show accompanies the making of pop music bands whose members depend on the particular season's concept. In its ten seasons, it spawned musical acts No Angels, Bro'Sis, Overground, Preluders, Nu Pagadi, Monrose, Room 2012, Queensberry, Some & Any, LaViVe and Melouria.

Overview

The series follows a group of young contestants as they go through an audition process to join a pop group. The contestants, who also live together during the course of the series, are judged on their vocal and dancing ability. Outside of stage performances, the contestants experience choreography and song recording.

First-season winners No Angels (Sandy Mölling, Lucy Diakovska, Nadja Benaissa, Jessica Wahls and Vanessa Petruo) were set to be the new Spice Girls.

Second-season winners Bro'Sis (Hila Bronstein, Faiz Mangat, Ross Antony, Shaham Joyce, Giovanni Zarella and Verena "Indira" Weis) were meant to be more edgy than their predecessors. That season both sexes were allowed to participate in the competition.

Third-season winners Overground (Ahmet "Akay" Kayed, Ken Miyao, Marq Porciuncula and Meiko Reißmann) won over girl group Preluders that season after a boys vs. girls battle depending on record sales and telephone votes during a big live finale.

Fourth-season winners Nu Pagadi (Markus Grimm, Patrick Boinet, Kristina Dörfer and Doreen Steinert) were titled as the best group created by this format by the judges when they had been in the pre-making statues. However, they landed some hits, but disbanded shortly after the show due to arguments between the group members. Presented as being the last group to be created by this format, they were pushed in a glam rock–rock direction in a very early statues of the show.

Fifth season winners Monrose (Senna Guemmour, Bahar Kızıl and Mandy Capristo) were created with the aim to find the new angels in addition to No Angels and to find the best voices. Consisting of only three members they were very edgy with no blond girl inside and their very strong but different characters. And maybe because of their edginess they should be along with the No Angles the most successful band to be created by this show.

Sixth season winners Room 2012 (Cristobal Galvez Moreno, Sascha Schmitz, Julian Kasprzik and Tialda van Slogteren) were set to be the hottest live act in Germany. The group went on a tour directly after the show. This time the colour of the voice was less important than the ability to sing live in concert and get the keys. Dancers were also cast to support the final group in making a good live-show.

Seventh-season winners Queensberry (Leonore Bartsch, Victoria Ulbrich, Gabriella De Almeida Rinne and Antonella Trapani) were created with the aim to find Germany's next girl group consisting of four members. in contrast to season 5, the performance played an important rule again.

An eight season was planned for 2009 under the motto "Duo". The live semi-final on 8 December consisted of three duos. One was set to be eliminated, but the host announced that the audience could vote for their favorite duo until the final. The audience responded with heavy boos. The Final on 10 December was won by 18-year-old Vanessa Meisinger and the Brazilian-Swiss 20-year-old Leonardo (Leo) Ritzmann. They are the new Popstars-Duo Some & Any.

In 2010 the ninth season of Popstars will start. They search for a girlband like the No Angels in Season 1.

The only judge on the show to be at least on every season is Detlef Soost, who got to fame through this show and is famous for being very strict and hard to the contestants but outside of training and judging he treats them very respectfully. He is Germany's most famous choreographer.

There are some connections to its sister show Germany's Next Topmodel as the winning bands from the show perform on the big live finale of Heidi Klum's model show during the models running the catwalk.

Season synopses

Season 1 (2000): Popstars – Du bist mein Traum

Season 2 (2001): Popstars – Du bist mein Traum

Season 3 (2003): Popstars – Das Duell

Season 4 (2004): Popstars – Jetzt oder Nie!

Season 5 (2006): Popstars – Neue Engel braucht das Land

Season 6 (2007): Popstars on Stage

Season 7 (2008): Popstars – Just 4 Girls

Popstars: Just 4 Girls is the seventh season of Popstars, in which young aspiring female singers/dancers compete in order to claim their spots to become Germany's next girlgroup. The grand prize is a record deal with Warner Music as well as the opportunity to join the Pussycat Dolls on their next World Tour but there are only four spots. The finale was held on 18 December, concluding with the announcement of the fourth band member of the group Queensberry.

Season 8 (2009): Popstars – Du und Ich

Popstars: Du und Ich (You and I) is the eight season of Popstars, in which they are looking for a duo. The final combination which genders the band will consist of was open until the finals. The candidates can apply alone or together, but if they apply together it's unsure if both will survive the elimination. The judge panel changed. Michelle Leonard and Alex Christensen, who was already a member of the jury, joined the judge panel. The Final on 10 December was won by 18-year old Vanessa Meisinger and the Brazilian 20-year old Leonardo (Leo) Ritzmann. They are the new Popstars-Duo Some & Any.

Season 9 (2010) : Popstars: Girls Forever

Popstars: Girls forever was the ninth season of Popstars (Germany), in which young aspiring female singers/dancers compete in order to claim their spots to make it into the next girl group. The new Popstars band LaViVe consist of Katrin, Julia, Meike and Sarah.

Season 10 (2012): Popstars: Der Weg ist das Ziel

After a one-year break, Popstars returned to Germany. Popstars: Der Weg ist das Ziel (The way is the goal) will be the tenth season of Popstars (Germany). Boys and girls can participate in this competition. This season will focus on the experience rather on finding a long-successful band, that failed in the past seasons.

Season 11 (2015): Popstars 2015

After a three-year break, Popstars is coming back to TV and RTL2. The show is going back to its roots and is searching for an all female group. During an eight-week run candidates will live in the Popstars Academy and compete in different tasks to secure a spot in the future band. The casting phase was skipped this year, instead the production team searched for talented young women all around Germany, including talents from social media and YouTube. 27 girls entered the Popstars Academy. The season will premier on August 17, 2015 on RTL II.

Ratings

Music releases by Popstars winners

Albums

References

External links

• Popstars at the Internet Movie Database