The seventh season of ''

Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''P ...

'' was aired on German channel RTL from 6 January to 17 April 2010. The season marked a new national record with more than 35,000 participants. The season's winner was

Mehrzad Marashi Mehrzad Marashi (born 20 September 1980) is a German singer of Iranian descent and the winner of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' season 7. Early life Born in Tehran, Iran where his father was in the military profession during the Shah's r ...

Way to the Top 15

Auditions

The seven Audition episodes were shown every Wednesday and Saturday from 6 January 2010 until 27 January 2010. Open auditions were held in the five cities

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and in September and October 2009, an auditions truck visited the fifteen cities

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, Halle,

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

and

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

"Recall"

The recall had 3 phases. The first phase was shot in a theater in

. The 120 singers were split into 2 groups: Boys and Girls. Then every singer sang his favorite song. After that 55 singers were eliminated and the remaining singers sang in groups to get one of the 35 tickets for the next phase. The second phase was shot in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. The 35 singers sang three times: unaccompanied, in groups and in duos. The Top 25 came into the third phase. The third and last phase was shot in the

Schlosstheater Schwetzingen Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (Schwetzingen palace theater) is a court theater in Schwetzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The historic building, opened in 1753, is part of Schloss Schwetzingen and since 1952 the principal venue of the Schwetzing ...

. The singers sang one song on their own. Then the jury decided which 15 singers came into the Top 15 live-show. In this season, some of the contestants that had made it to the Top 15 had featured in previous seasons. Helmut Orosz made it to the Top 50 in season two but missing out on the Top 10 during the public vote. Menowin Fröhlich made it to the Top 20 shows in season 3 but was disqualified after being arrested and serving a two-year jail sentence. Kim Debkowski made it to the recall of the previous season but was eliminated after the group performance.

Songs in "Recall 3" by the Top 10

– "

She's Like the Wind "She's Like the Wind" is a 1987 song by American actor and singer Patrick Swayze from the soundtrack to the film ''Dirty Dancing''. The song features additional vocals from singer Wendy Fraser. The ballad reached number three on the US ''Billbo ...

" *Menowin Fröhlich – "

I Just Called to Say I Love You "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a ballad written, produced, and performed by American R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder. It was a major international hit, and remains Wonder's best-selling single to date, having topped a record 19 char ...

" *Manuel Hoffmann – " Get Here" *Kim Debkowski – "

If I Ain't Got You "If I Ain't Got You" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album ''The Diary of Alicia Keys'' (2003). Inspired by the 2001 death of singer Aaliyah, the September 11 attacks, and other events in the ...

" * Thomas Karaoglan – " Stand by Me" *Helmut Orosz – " Back to You" *Ines Redjeb – " Release Me" *Nelson Sangare – "

U Got It Bad "U Got It Bad" is a song by American singer Usher, released through Arista Records as the second official single from his third studio album '' 8701'' (2001). It was written by the rapper/producer Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, and co-pro ...

" *Marcel Pluschke – "

Blowin' in the Wind "Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962. It was released as a single and included on his album ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' in 1963. It has been described as a protest song and poses a series of rhetorical questions about ...

" *Steffi Landerer – "

Because the Night "Because the Night" is a rock song written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith that was first released in 1978 as a single from the Patti Smith Group album, ''Easter''. This version rose to No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, as well ...

Finalists

(Ages stated at time of contest)

Live shows

Top 15 – "Jetzt oder nie" (Now or Never)

:Original airdate: 13 February 2010 ''Advancing to Top 10 (Public votes):'' Thomas, Nelson, Menowin, Kim, Mehrzad, Helmut, Manuel ''Advancing to Top 10 (Jury selection):'' Marcel, Ines, Steffi In this season the Top 10 was supposed to be formed by the Top 7 of the viewers vote plus 3 candidates picked by the jury (from the remaining 8 contestants). As a tribute to the viewers' support and the great success of the season the jury denied to choose advancing candidates. Instead they sent the 8th, 9th and 10th of the public vote. That also explains the gender ratio of the Top 10.

Top 10 – "Die Megahits von heute" (Today's Megahits)

:Original airdate: 20 February 2010 *''Jury Elimination Forecast: '' Steffi Landerer or Marcel Pluschke *''Bottom 4:'' Ines Redjeb, Steffi Landerer, Helmut Orosz and Nelson Sangare *''Eliminated:'' Steffi Landerer

Top 9 – "Die größten Pop-Hymnen aller Zeiten" (All Time's Greatest Pop-Hymns)

:Original airdate: 27 February 2010 *''Jury Elimination Forecast:'' Marcel Pluschke or Ines Redjeb (Nina), Ines Redjeb (Volker), Ines Redjeb, Marcel Pluschke or Kim Debkowski (Dieter) *''Bottom 4:'' Kim Debkowski, Ines Redjeb, Marcel Pluschke and Nelson Sangare *''Eliminated:'' Marcel Pluschke

Top 8 – "Happy Holiday Hits"

:Original airdate: 6 March 2010 *''Jury Elimination Forecast:'' Manuel Hoffmann (Nina, Volker), Kim Debkowski or Manuel Hoffmann (Dieter) *''Bottom 4:'' Ines Redjeb, Nelson Sangare, Manuel Hoffmann and Kim Debkowski *''Eliminated:'' Nelson Sangare

Top 7 – "80s"

:Original airdate: 13 March 2010 *''Jury Elimination Forecast:'' Manuel Hoffmann or Ines Redjeb *''Bottom 4:'' Helmut Orosz, Ines Redjeb, Manuel Hoffmann and Kim Debkowski *''Eliminated:'' Ines Redjeb

Top 6 – "Deutsch vs. Englisch" (German vs. English)

:Original airdate: 20 March 2010 *''Jury Elimination Forecast:'' Helmut Orosz *''Bottom 3:'' Helmut Orosz, Manuel Hoffmann and Thomas Karaoglan *''Eliminated:'' Manuel Hoffmann On the following day, Helmut Orosz was disqualified from the competition after admitting to taking drugs during the competition. Just as done in season 4, the person who was eliminated the past week would be brought back into the competition; in which Manuel Hoffmann advanced to the top 5.

Top 5 – "Balladen & Ballermann" (Ballads & Ballermann)

:Original airdate: 27 March 2010 *''Jury Elimination Forecast:'' Manuel Hoffmann, Kim Debkowski or Thomas Karaoglan *''Bottom 3:'' Manuel Hoffmann, Kim Debkowski and Thomas Karaoglan *''Eliminated:'' Thomas Karaoglan

Top 4 – "Neue Hits & Alte Hits " (New Hits & Old Hits)

:Original airdate: 3 April 2010 *''Jury Elimination Forecast:'' Menowin Fröhlich or Kim Debkowski (Nina & Volker), Kim Debkowski (Dieter) *''Bottom 2:'' Kim Debkowski and Manuel Hoffmann *''Eliminated:'' Kim Debkowski

Top 3 – Semi Final (Boygroups, Music Hero & Number 1 Hits)

:Original airdate: 10 April 2010 *''Live-Act:'' "Real Love" by

Mark Medlock Mark Leon Medlock (born 9 July 1978) is a German singer and the winner of the season 4 of '' Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (DSDS), the German version of ''Pop Idol''. Early life Medlock is the elder of two siblings, born to an African-Americ ...

*''Jury Elimination Forecast:'' Manuel Hoffmann (Nina), No Forecast (Dieter & Volker) *''Bottom 2:'' Manuel Hoffmann and Mehrzad Marashi *''Eliminated:'' Manuel Hoffmann

Top 2 – Final (Contestant's Choice, Highlight Song & Winner's Single)

:Original airdate: 17 April 2010 ''Judges' forecasts of who would win:'' Menowin Fröhlich ''Winner:''

''Runner-up:'' Menowin Fröhlich

Group song

*Top 10: "

I Gotta Feeling "I Gotta Feeling" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album ''The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by the group members with the song's producers David Guetta and Frédéric Riesterer. The song was rel ...

" by

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...

*Top 9: " The Final Countdown" by

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

*Top 8: "Ritmo de la noche" by Chocolate *Top 7: "

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified pla ...

" by

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

*Top 6: " Let Me Entertain You" by

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

*Top 5: "

Hey! Baby "Hey! Baby" is a song written by Margaret Cobb and Bruce Channel, first recorded at Clifford Herring Studios in Ft. Worth Tx, and recorded by Channel in 1961, first released on LeCam Records, a local Fort Worth, Texas label. After it hit, it was ...

" by

DJ Ötzi Gerhard "Gerry" Friedle (born 7 January 1971), better known by his stage name DJ Ötzi (), is an Austrian pop and Schlager singer. Successful mainly in German-speaking countries, he is best known in the English-speaking world for his 2000 single ...

*Top 4: "

Crying at the Discoteque "Crying at the Discoteque" is a song by Swedish band Alcazar from their debut studio album, ''Casino'' (2000). The track samples Sheila and B. Devotion's 1979 hit "Spacer". Alexander Bard produced the song and can be heard in the middle of thi ...

" by Alcazar *Top 3: "

Love Is Gone "Love Is Gone" is a song by French house music, house disc jockey, DJ David Guetta and American singer Chris Willis. It is the second single from Guetta's third studio album, ''Pop Life (David Guetta album), Pop Life''. The single was released ...

" by

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

*Top 2: "

" by

– performed by all Top 10 contestants (with the exception of Helmut Orosz) and "I Came for You" (performed by the two finalists) by

The Disco Boys The Disco Boys are a German house music DJ and production duo from Hamburg, which consists of Raphael Krickow (* 1966) and Gordon Hollenga (* 1969). They play a mixture of disco classics and modern house songs. The Disco Boys have played at the ...

Elimination chart

*On 13 February, it was supposed that the viewers would choose seven finalists and the judges three. The judges, or better said Dieter Bohlen, however chose to not decide and therefore the next three highest vote getters made it through to the finals automatically. They were Ines Redjeb, Marcel Pluschke and Steffi Landerer. *Helmut Orosz was expelled from the competition due to his drug abuse shown in a video. Therefore, Manuel Hoffmann, who was voted off the last in the competition, was brought back as the replacement.

References

{{DSDS Season 07 2010 in German music 2010 German television seasons