Popstars (Germany)

infobox Television
show_name = Popstars


caption =
rating =
picture_format =
format = Reality Game Show
runtime = varies
creator = Jonathan Dowling
executive_producer =
director =
presenter = see below
judges = see below
location = Auditions:
various locations
Workshops:
Majorca, Spain (season 1)
Ibiza, Spain (season 2)
Orlando, Florida (season 3)
Locarno, Switzerland (season 4)
Ischgl, Austria (season 5)
Füssen, Germany (season 6)
country = Germany
network = RTL II (seasons 1, 2)
ProSieben (seasons 3, 4, 5, 6)
first_aired = November 14, 2000
last_aired = December 6, 2007
num_episodes =
list_episodes =
website = http://www.prosieben.de/music_cd/popstars_on_stage/
imdb_id = 0283779
tv_com_id =

"Popstars" is a German televised singing competition, which began its first season on November 14, 2000. Part of the "Popstars" franchise, it originated from the New Zealand reality program "Popstars".

The show accompanies the making of pop music bands whose members depend on the particular season's concept.

The judges make a majority of the decisions themselves, unlike other German singing competitions like "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" a viewers’ choice via televoting is possible only in the final show of a season.

eason synopses

eason 1 (2000): "Popstars – Du bist mein Traum"

*Title translation: “You Are My Dream”
*Judges: Simone Angel, Mario M. Mendryzcki, Rainer Moslener
*Winning Band: No Angels
*Coaches: Detlef Soost (dancing)

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

*Title translation: “You Are My Dream”
*Judges: Alex Christensen, Detlef Soost, Noah Sow
*Winning Band: Bro'Sis
*Coaches: Artemis Gounaki (singing), Detlef Soost (dancing)

Season 3 (2003): "Popstars – Das Duell"

*Title translation: “The Battle”
*Judges: Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Sabrina Setlur, Detlef Soost
*Winning Band: Overground
*Runner-up Band: Preluders
*Coaches: Artemis Gounaki (singing), Detlef Soost (dancing)

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

*Title translation: “Now or Never!”
*Jurdges: Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Lukas Hilbert, Sandy Mölling
*Winning Band: Nu Pagadi
*Coaches: Artemis Gounaki (singing), Detlef Soost (dancing), Arno Schmitt (sports), Robin D.

: The contestant became part of the winning band Nu Pagadi.: The contestant made it to the final six.

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

*Title translation: “The Country Needs New Angels”
*Judges: Dieter Falk, Nina Hagen, Detlef Soost
*Winning Band: Monrose
*Coaches: Arno Schmitt (sports), Julie Denise Hyangho (dancing), Stafano Maggio (singing), Rafael Antonio (dancing)

On August 10, 2006 ProSieben started airing a new installment of "Popstars" themed "Neue Engel braucht das Land" ("The country needs new angels"). The declared goal was to find the successor of the No Angels. For the first time since season one the judges were looking for an all-female group. Auditions were held in five German major cities. A total of 5189 girls auditioned. This season's judges were choreographer Detled "D!" Soost, punk singer Nina Hagen and music producer Dieter Falk.

The first part of the auditioning process (consisting of the first audition, a callback and a so-called "Re-Recall") was reviewed by the judges and a former member of the No Angels. A total of 20 contestants from all the auditioning cities continued on in "workshop weeks" in Ischgl, Austria. After four weeks, eleven contestants moved into the so-called "Bandhaus" in Germany.

"Popstars – Neue Engel braucht das Land" became the most successful installment of the series. It reached over five million viewers, so ProSieben decided to produce two additional episodes (and the spin-off "Popstars – Ninas Engel" later on). The judges called back contestant Nina (eliminated in the workshop weeks) who was then eliminated again a week later.

During the "Bandhaus" ("band house") eliminations, Nina Hagen was reported to be ill several times and was missing from the judges deliberations. Nina Hagen herself stated that she had concerts and was on promotion tour for the film "7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug" when missing from the show. [ [http://www.ioff.de/showpost.php?p=11226573&postcount=493 Nina Hagen posting] on a fan message board on December 21, 2006.]

The final six contestants performed Shirley Bassey's "History Repeating" at "Schlag den Raab" on November 18, 2006.

On December 16, 2006 the songs "Shame", "Diamonds and Pearls", "Do That Dance", "Kiss and Tell", "Even Heaven Cries" and "I'm Gonna Freak Ya" were performed by the seven remaining contestants on the show. On December 17, 2006, Amazon.de accidentally released a CD cover – which showed three of the six finalists, Katarzyna Zinkiewicz, Mandy Capristo and Bahar Kizil – and revealed both the name of the band and the first single, "Shame". [ [http://www.netzeitung.de/entertainment/music/453905.html Netzeitung.de] : "Mögliche Popstars-Gewinner im Web zu sehen."] While the accident raised public concern about the significance of the final band voting, the cover soon was replaced by apromotional artwork and "Popstars" broadcaster ProSieben released an official statement which confirmed both the single's title and the planned band name Monrose but also rejected reproaches of fraud. [ [http://www.ioff.de/showthread.php?t=264140 Fan message board] about the Amazon.de incident] ProSieben also published CD covers with many other possible contellations, two of them were of higher quality and richer in contrast – the one that was already leaked to "Amazon.de" and another one with Capristo, Kizil and Senna Guemmour. Some of the covers had serious flaws as to digital image editing. [ [http://www.prosieben.de/music_cd/popstars/artikel/32390/ ProSieben statement] with all possible CD covers; retrieved on August 11, 2008.] [ [http://splitscreenshot.livejournal.com/6436.html Summary of the tide of events] ]

On the season finale on November 23, the judges decided for contestants Senna Guemmour and Bahar Kizil to be part of the winning band. Mandy Capristo competed against Romina Reinhardt with the viewers choosing the third member via televoting. [ [http://www.prosieben.de/music_cd/popstars/artikel/32390/ Official statement by ProSieben, November 16, 2006] ]

After the season finale was broadcast several hints made fans believe that Katarzyna Zinkiewicz was originally planned to be a member of the group but after the "Amazon" incident" was replaced by Senna Guemmour. On November 27, the official Warner Music website for Monrose was released with pictures of Mandy Capristo, Bahar Kizil and Zinkiewicz instead of Guemmour. [ [http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?
] on November 27, 2006] A Sat.1 teletext program announcement on November 28 announced Zinkiewicz as a member of the group. [ [http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/384/monrosesat1ih2.pngScreenshot of the teletext message] on November 28, 2006]

The fifth season turned out to be very successful and highly popular with even about 5.83 million viewers on November 23, which is the highest rating in the history of "Popstars". [ [http://www.dwdl.de/article/news_7936,00.html DWDL.de: "ProSiebens "Popstars" machen Sat.1 und RTL das Leben schwer", September 29, 2006] ] [ [http://www.dwdl.de/article/news_8373,00.html DWDL.de: "ProSiebens "Popstars" legen immer weiter zu", November 3, 2006] ] [ [http://www.quotenmeter.de/index.php?newsid=17576 Quotenmeter.de: "Zwei Sieger: Promi-"Wer wird Millionär" und "Popstars" gewinnen am Donnerstag", November 24, 2006] ] About half of all people 20 to 29 years old watched the show. [ [http://www.dwdl.de/article/news_7481,00.html DWDL.de: "Jubel bei ProSieben: Spitzenquote für "Popstars"-Auftakt", August 11, 2006] ]

The show's spin-off "Popstars – Ninas Engel" was less successful and heavily criticized by Nina Hagen herself. On December 18, Hagen stated on her website that she did not agree on the way her friend Elvira Michieva was portrayed on the show and that she was disappointed with ProSieben that the show was not about her but mainly about Monrose. She described ProSieben as "inhuman" and "shitty television". [ [http://www.beepworld.de/members77/ninahagendas/index.htm Nina Hagen's official guestbook] , see post #19195 from December 18, 2006, 01:29 AM]

: The contestant became part of the winning band Monrose.: The contestant made it to the final six.: Reinhardt, Zinkiewicz and Guemmour were allowed to pause for the following week.: No contestant was eliminated. Contestant Nina was brought back to the competition.

Season 6 (2007): "Popstars on Stage"

*Judges: Jane Comerford, Dieter Falk, Nina Hagen, Marusha, Detlef Soost
*Winning Band: Room2012
*Coaches: Jane Comerford (singing), Stefano Maggio (singing), Rafael Antonio (dancing), Arno Schmitt (sports)

ProSieben started the sixth installment of the series on June 14, 2007 targeting to find the “Germany's hottest live act”. This time not only male and female singers were cast but also dancers who should be part of the band. Dancers and singers were sent to Füssen, Bavaria and took part in workshops to improve their dancing and singing skills. Four weeks passed before the producers decided to audition additional contestants in the Netherlands. All the singers (including the new contestants) went to Prague, Czech Republic while the dancers travelled to Brussels, Belgium for another so-called “Entscheidungsshow” (neologism, "“decision show”"). In October, singers and dancers reunited in a big mansion in Berlin. All contestants recorded the song “Never Give Up” that managed to reach #30 on the German Singles Charts. The album "All Stars" that combined songs of all previous shows reached #78 on the German Albums Charts.

After a few weeks in Berlin, the contestants moved back to Füssen where the dancers’ final show took place. Shortly before the finale, contestant Mehdi left the show and Armin Nezirevic, better known by his nickname “Shorty”, was brought back to the show. All of the five dancing finalists (Aziz, Darren, Raik Preetz, Armin Nezirevic, and Vika Ljacenko) won the dancing competition – the concept of a group with dancers and singers had been discarded in the course of the season – and formed the Popstars Dance Company.

On December 6, 2007 the singers’ final show took place in Cologne. The male group members were set by the judges. Cristobal Moreno, Sascha Schmitz, and Julian Kasprzik were chosen over Norman Ramazan. The viewers were able to vote for either Marcella McCrae or Tialda van Slogteren to be in the band. Van Slogteren got the majority of all telephone calls and became the fourth member of the band Room2012.

Season 7 (2008): "Popstars – Just 4 Girls"

*Judges: Detlef Soost, Loona, Sido

tatistics

* Most collective charting albums
**No Angels (8 albums)
**Monrose, Bro'Sis (3 albums)
**Preluders, Overground (both 2 albums)
**Nu Pagadi, Room2012 (both 1 album)

* Most collective charting singles
**No Angels (16 singles)
**Bro'Sis (8 singles)
**Monrose, Preluders (both 7 singles)
**Overground (5 singles)
**Nu Pagadi, Room2012 (both 2 singles)

* Average singles charts successes
**Monrose (#5)
**No Angels (#8.375)
**Bro'Sis (#9.875)
**Nu Pagadi (#11.5)
**Overground (#12.5)
**Room2012 (#31)
**Preluders (#35.83)

* Earliest Split-up: Nu Pagadi after only 9 months
*Sexes Statistics (original line-up)
**Male singers: 13 men
**Female singers: 18 women
*Line-up changes
**Preluders (-3, +1)
**No Angels, Bro'Sis, Nu Pagadi (all -1)
**Overground, Room2012, Monrose (0)

References