From Beatrice Egli to Luca Hänni They sang their way to victory in Germany - how they are doing today

The 21st season of the TV show "DSDS" comes to an end this year. To mark the start, blue News takes a look back and sees what has become of the Swiss winners of German music shows.

After supposedly coming to an end last year, the TV show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" is now going into extra time after all. RTL will show the first episode of the 21st season on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, from 8.15 pm.

This time, the German TV channel is bringing in reinforcements from Switzerland for "DSDS": pop singer Beatrice Egli and rapper Loredana will join "DSDS" veteran Dieter Bohlen and Pietro Lombardi on the jury.

Over the past 20 years, singers from Switzerland have also repeatedly caused a stir on stage in German music shows.

blue News looks back and tells you how the seven Swiss winners of German music shows fared.

2020: Paula Dalla Corte wins "The Voice of Germany"

On December 20, 2020, the then 19-year-old cantonal school student Paula Dalla Corte from Tägerwilen TG won the 10th season of "The Voice of Germany" on SAT.1 with 44 percent of the public vote.

After her victory, things quickly became quiet again for Dalla Corte. The Thurgau native kept her feet on the ground, finished school and then moved to Los Angeles for three months.

The singer took two years before releasing her first single "Good Girl Killer". The song sounds like melodramatic indie pop, while the smoky voice is reminiscent of US singer Lana del Rey.

"I make pop punk with a bit of glamor and extravagance - just the way I like it," says Della Corte, describing her musical work. She has lived in Berlin since the beginning of 2023. "I can concentrate fully on my music there," she says in an interview with the Tagesspiegel.

She continues: "I'm more accessible in Berlin than in Tägerwilen. But I always like to come back to Switzerland to catch my breath." Dalla Corte promises that she won't let another two years pass before her next song. "I have lots of great things in the drawer."

2013: Beatrice Egli wins "DSDS"

Beatrice Egli was the first pop singer to win the music show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" in 2013 - with a whopping 70 percent of all audience votes.

Since then, some have claimed that the singer from the canton of Schwyz saved German pop music with her victory. "Watson" journalist Simone Meier asked herself three years ago: "Was it Egli's attack on the emotional coronary arteries of millions that paved the way for Helene Fischer's mega success?"

The fact is: it was only six months after Beatrice Egli's "DSDS" victory that Helene Fischer's "Atemlos durch die Nacht" soared to the top of the charts.

Egli, now 36, has released ten studio albums to date and has always occupied the top spots in the charts - not only in Switzerland, but also in Germany and Austria. For some years now, she has been considered the most successful Swiss artist ever.

2013: Michèle Bircher wins "The Voice Kids"

When Michèle Bircher won "The Voice Kids" in 2013, she was twelve years old. In an interview at the time, she said that if her singing career didn't work out, she wanted to become a psychologist.

Bircher has since trained as a hairdresser and continues to perform on stage. She experienced a setback in 2017: the singer was diagnosed with a tumor on the right side of her thyroid gland, which was surgically removed.

For weeks afterwards, Bircher was hoarse and had to rest her voice. The singer was lucky: her vocal cords were not affected, leaving only a scar on her throat.

Bircher now performs under the stage name Elle. She publishes songs on her YouTube channel with over 6800 subscribers and proves time and again what a great voice she has.

"She is the most up-and-coming singer in Switzerland", commented "Schweizer Illustrierte" last year after the now 23-year-old performed at "Art on Ice".

2012: Luca Hänni wins "DSDS"

"With every autograph, his fame lives a little longer." Luca Hänni had to put up with a lot of ridicule after his victory on "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" twelve years ago. It seemed as if nobody believed the then 16-year-old Giel from Thun could have a career in show business.

Today we know: The envious people were wrong. Since then, Hänni has not only been successful as a singer and influencer, he is also a regular guest on a wide variety of TV shows - from "The Masked Singer" to "Dein Song".

In 2019, Luca Hänni also brought Switzerland back into the spotlight at the Eurovision Song Contest with his song "She Got Me". He sang and danced his way to fourth place with his performance.

Two years ago, Hänni also took part in the TV show "Let's Dance". He did not win the dance competition on TV channel RTL either. But he did meet his current wife, dancer Christina Luft, there. The couple recently became parents to a daughter.

2010: Edita Abdieski wins "X Factor"

Edita Abdieski from Bümpliz BE won the first season of "X Factor", the music show on the TV channel "Vox", 14 years ago. She was 25 years old and had a great soul voice with which she could effortlessly interpret songs from Aretha Franklin to Rihanna and Beyoncé.

Some people thought that Abdieski's successful path in show business was already mapped out. But things turned out differently - and her fame was short-lived.

In 2017, the Bernese singer made a comeback after having to take a longer break from singing due to a brain haemorrhage. But even at her second attempt, it didn't work out with the big success.

A year later, the singer, who has lived and worked in Cologne, Germany, for several years, gave birth to a son. Last spring, she appeared in the new edition of the TV show "Hast du Töne?" on SAT.1 with the cover band "Tönlein Brillant" and performed songs that a guessing team had to recognize.

2009: Leo Ritzmann wins "Popstars"

"Popstars" was the first ever casting show on German TV in 2000. "DSDS" came two years later, and it was another decade before "X Factor" and "The Voice" were launched.

The Swiss Leo Ritzmann, 20 years old at the time, took part in the eighth season of "Popstars" in 2009, where for the first time a duo was sought instead of a music group. Together with Vanessa Meisinger, he was crowned the winner at the end of the season.

The duo released the studio album "First Shot" under the name "Some & Any". This was so unsuccessful that the duo announced their break-up after just a few months.

Ritzmann later appeared as a solo singer, tried to conquer Brazil under the name Leo Matos and tried his hand at acting. The 35-year-old is currently on stage as a pop singer.

Last spring, he performed the song "Was wär' Liebe" on Swiss television SRF in the TV show "Musicstar - Die Revival Show".

2008: Stefanie Heinzmann and "SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD"

And then there's Stefanie Heinzmann. In 2008, Stefan Raab, presenter of "TV total", launched a casting show with the impossible title "Stefan is looking for the superstar, who should sing whatever they want and be allowed to perform on RTL!".

What started out impossible became a Swiss success story: suddenly an 18-year-old girl from Valais was rocking out in the TV studio.
Heinzmann progressed round by round and the nation sat in front of their TV sets in amazement - until Stefanie Heinzmann was crowned the winner at the end.

At first, Raab didn't even want to listen to the Valais native. "Stefan Raab said I was too young," Heinzmann told blue News in an interview five years ago .

Over the past 16 years, the now 35-year-old musician has released six albums and has long been considered one of the most successful female singers in the country.

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