Now, dear friends of tradition and the immovable, the fun stops: Dieter Bohlen succumbs to a candidate’s begging for notes!
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What were those times when “Germany seeks the superstar” (RTL) still applied: one man, one word. In the wide TV world of Rumeierei you could always rely on one thing: if Dieter Bohlen put your thumb down, it was practically the law. And then it was “Out with the mouse in the spring air” and the candidate was eliminated. One remembers Amadeus Soszka, who in 2018 begged for a long but unsuccessful time for the blue recall slip. Dieter said “No” once more than Amadeus “But please give me a chance”.
Everything is different in 2023. Bohlen can hardly believe it himself. “I can’t do that anymore, I’m getting old.” Purely on the basis of merit, there really was no explanation as to why Rahman Hashempour Kargar made it to the next round. Sure, the 27-year-old has a tragic childhood, yes, music and DSDS watching (“Always believe in your dreams!”) helped him through the deepest depths. But: He can’t sing, he admitted that himself, and he is – contrary to his conviction – not an outstanding rapper, according to both Dieter Bohlen and Pietro Lombardi. Normally his casting fate would be sealed there.
Photo: RTL / Stefan Gregorowius
Please (r): Candidate begs recall note
But the new one, Leony (bourgeois: Leonie Burger), said: “I think you’re good” and gave a hesitant yes. And the other newcomer, Katja Krasavice, gave a “pity yes”. 2:2, a sensation in itself. Unfortunately, Rahman chose Pietro as his joker. But instead of taking the departure like a man, the begging started. “Give me one more chance to convince you,” barked the giant (he had already received two, one with “Filet Mignon” by KC Rebell and one with his own rap). And Dieter buckled, looked helpless and old and said: “Yes, take the note and go out.” A temporary happy ending for Rahman, which makes you wonder how he’s going to learn to sing in the short time before the recall.
But the worst thing: the buckling was contagious. And that’s why Pietro Lombardi became a brazen thief. When the fun guy got a bit bored, he leaned far out of the window: “It doesn’t matter who comes next, whether good or bad, he gets my golden CD!” He grinned boldly at Papa Dieter – but that passed him quickly.
Photo: RTL / Stefan Gregorowius
Pietro Lombardi steals his gold CD
When Pascal Paul (27) from Essen entered the casting room, he was still a lucky bag. Could have been. When he introduced his Pikachu stuffed animal as “my son Bobby,” Pietro’s smile slipped a little. When Pascal confessed that he had only been making music for a year and a half, it disappeared. Nevertheless, Pietro handed him the golden CD – the direct ticket to the recall in Thailand! – “at the probationary period”. But his plea “Hopefully you can sing” was not heard.
When Pascal started yelling “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart” (Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus), Pietro crept from the jury behind Pascal’s back and stole the golden CD from him. Apparently, Pietro has never heard of “a gift is a gift, repeating is stolen” or “a promise is a promise”. Pascal didn’t take it amiss, but accepted his four nos.
Photo: RTL / Stefan Gregorowius
Dieter Bohlen waves the white flag
Schilan Ahmad (25), Josephine Cammann (24), Linnea Jonasson (22) and An Bùi Ngoc (26) will also not return, but they all provided splashes of color. Schilan (as a magician’s magical assistant no wonder) enchanted the jury with a card trick, but was even beaten on her own terrain by Dieter, who “enchanted” Pietro into a unicorn. Unfortunately, Dieter Potter’s magical powers weren’t enough for Schilan’s singing skills to be sufficient.
Josephine was noticed because of her outfit (Dieter: “Why did you dress like a dancing girl?”), but not necessarily in a positive way. The same applied to her voice. Linnea also received four nos, and at least she can take home an award. Dieter: “Really, until now you were the worst. You are completely, completely, completely unmusical and talentless when it comes to singing.”
Last but not least, contestant An had three outfits for three songs and proved with each one a little bit more that singing doesn’t make sense. Dieter: “It will be a happy ending. You are happy and I am at the end.” He even waved the white flag!
Photo: RTL / Stefan Gregorowius
Bullying victim sings to defend himself
But then there are always those moments that make you believe in the good things in “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” as a casting show. Olga Levit (29) from Berlin appeared with a casual attitude that could easily be interpreted as arrogance, but then she blew the jury off the podium with an incredibly emotional “Run To You” by Whitney Houston. Dieter, built closer to the water as an oldie anyway, had to swallow. Not because Olga was so bad, but because she reminded him of “poor Whitney” and “that she’s not here anymore”. Suck how right he is. four times yes
Just as convincing: Melissa Bucan. Still a chick at 17, she already has a top voice, as she proved with “Anyone” (Demi Lovato). She was teased and ostracized at school. Hopefully all her haters saw her super performance and are ashamed. Especially since this will not have been Melissa’s last appearance. Dieter: “She can get far here, great.”
Photo: RTL / Stefan Gregorowius
Legends Shada Ali and Claudia Haas are back!
The soldier with the soft voice, Calvin Terrence (22), and Natalie Nock (29), the singing chatterbox from the Black Forest, made it through to the next round. As is Isa Berisha (22). He was already in recall in 2020 and failed there. If he wants to avoid this time, he has “prepared blatantly”. You could hear it in the beginning.
Speaking of comebacks: Shada Ali (25) and Claudia Haas (30), two “one-off” season 18 participants, are also back. This time they competed out of competition in the duet (“We Got Tonight”), but it’s to be feared they might want to do it again in the singles competition. Bohlen sees it with mixed joy: “Shada is like a musical Picasso. Nobody understood his art at the time.”