Mark Leon Medlock (born 9 July 1978) is a German singer and the winner of the

season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also * ...

of '' Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (DSDS), the German version of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

''.

Early life

Medlock is the elder of two siblings, born to an African-American father from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Larry Medlock, and a German mother, Monika, in

Frankfurt am Main 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 ...

. Mark and his brother Larry were raised in a semi-poor home in the Lohwaldsiedlung neighborhood of Offenbach am Main during their formative years, before eventually moving to the Lauterborn neighborhood in 1997. At the age of 6, Medlock began singing

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

, widely influenced by his father and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

singers such as James Brown and

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

. At the end of the 1990s, his mother fell sick with cancer. Medlock subsequently left school and cared for her until her death in 2000. Two years later, his father died of a heart attack. In the meantime Medlock made a living with various jobs, including employment as a

geriatric Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros ...

orderly In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. The highest ro ...

, gardener, swamper, and garbage remover.

''Deutschland sucht den Superstar''

Medlock was one of the favorite contestants right from the beginning of the competition. He had wowed the audience and the judges with his first performance in the Top 20 motto show and so on to the final. Medlock eventually won the competition with 78.02% of the votes against Martin Stosch who originally placed fourth but returned because of Max Buskohl's withdrawal. Medlock is next to season five winner

Thomas Godoj Tomasz Jacek Godoj (born 6 March 1978) is a Polish-German rock-pop singer and songwriter. He was the winner of the fifth season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (2008), the German version of ''Pop Idol''. Early life Godoj was born on 6 Ma ...

the second contestant of all German seasons who always gained the majority of vote calls during any of the nine theme shows and the two Top 20 shows. He is also one of two winners who was revealed to have never been in the bottom three during the competition, as well as being the first multiracial winner.

Performances

Discography

upMedlock performing in 2008 *''Mr. Lonely'' (2007) *''Dreamcatcher'' (joint album with

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen, 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous German a ...

; 2007) *''Cloud Dancer'' (2008) *''Club Tropicana'' (2009) *''Rainbow's End'' (2010) *''My World'' (2011) *''Im Nebel'' (2014) *''Zwischenwelten'' (2017)

References

External links

Official site of Mark Medlock

Radio Comedy at 1live.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medlock, Mark 1978 births German people of African-American descent People from Offenbach am Main Deutschland sucht den Superstar winners 21st-century German male singers German LGBT singers German gay musicians Gay singers English-language singers from Germany Living people