Tim Bendzko (born 9 April 1985) is a German singer-songwriter. He achieved nationwide recognition with his song "Nur noch kurz die Welt retten" and becoming the winner on the
Bundesvision Song Contest
The Bundesvision Song Contest (often shortened BSC or BuViSoCo) was a song competition held annually between the sixteen states of Germany. Created by German entertainer Stefan Raab and aired live on ProSieben, the show was loosely based on t ...
.
Career
Bendzko grew up in the
Köpenick
Köpenick () is a historic town and locality (''Ortsteil'') in Berlin, situated at the confluence of the rivers Dahme and Spree in the south-east of the German capital. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopt ...
region of
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 ...
.
As a teenager, he attended a
sport gymnasium and played with the
FC Union Berlin club football up to the "B" age level, around 16. His musical career began with guitar lessons, which he decided to start taking when he was 11 or 12 years old. At age 16, he wrote his first songs. After taking his
Abitur
''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
, he studied Protestant Theology and non-Christian religions at the
Free University of Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
. He ended his studies after 5 semesters without getting a degree.
He then worked temporarily as an
auctioneer
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
in the car trade.
[ :de:Tim Bendzko]
In 2009, he registered for the talent competition ''Söhne puta
gesucht'' of
Söhne Mannheims
Söhne Mannheims (German: zøːnə ˈmanhaɪms ''Sons of Mannheim'') is a German pop and soul band founded 1995 in Mannheim by Xavier Naidoo and others.
History
The Group was founded in 1995 by Xavier Naidoo, Claus Eisenmann, Robbee Maria ...
. As a winner of the talent competition, he performed in the summer of 2009 before 20,000 spectators at the Berlin
Waldbühne
The Waldbühne (''Woodland Stage'' or ''Forest Stage'') is a theatre at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was designed by German architect Werner March in emulation of a Greek theatre and built between 1934 and 1936 as the Dietrich-Eckar ...
, one of Europe's largest concert venues. Then he devoted himself entirely to his music. He received a recording contract with
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
and performed as an opening act for
Silly on their 2010 tour.
On 17 June 2011, he released his debut album ''Wenn Worte meine Sprache wären'' ("If words were my language"), from which the single ''Nur noch kurz die Welt retten'' ("Just quickly save the world") was released on 27 May 2011. The album reached number four in the German charts and the single number two.
The single, written by Tim Bendzko,
Mo Brandis
Mo or MO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Mo, a girl in the ''Horrible Histories'' TV series
* Mo, also known as Mortimer, in the novel ''Inkheart'' by Cornelia Funke
* Mo, in the webcomic ''Jesus and Mo''
* Mo, the ...
and Simon Triebel, was certified 3× Gold in Germany for sales of more than 450,000 copies. It was also awarded Platinum status in Switzerland and Gold in Austria. The music video was produced by Hagen Decker in Los Angeles. The album, which sold over 500,000 copies in Germany alone, was certified 5× Gold in Germany, Platinum in Switzerland and Gold in Austria.
Bendzko performed as the opening act in Cologne and Leipzig on Elton John's tour of Germany, as well as being the support act for Joe Cocker during his Hard Knocks tour. On 29 September 2011, he came back to his hometown of Berlin for the
Bundesvision Song Contest 2011
The Bundesvision Song Contest 2011 was the seventh edition of the annual Bundesvision Song Contest musical event. The contest was held on 29 September 2011 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, following Unheilig's win in the 20 ...
with the title track of his Album, ''Wenn Worte meine Sprache wären'' and won the competition. On 10 November 2011 he won the newcomer
Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. ...
award.
Tim was one of the three coaches in the first season of
the German version of ''The Voice Kids'', which aired in 2013.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bendzko, Tim
21st-century German male singers
German male singer-songwriters
1985 births
Singers from Berlin
Living people
Participants in the Bundesvision Song Contest
People from Treptow-Köpenick