The sixth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar was aired on German channel RTL from January to May 2009. The season's winner, Daniel Schuhmacher, was awarded a contract with Sony BMG. The judges in this season were Dieter Bohlen, Nina Eichinger, and Volker Neumüller. It was hosted by Marco Schreyl. The viewers chose the contestant's fates as they were able to call for their favorite contestant.
As with season 5, the "Top 10" was created by the Top 5 contestants with the most telephone and SMS voting and the other five were selected by the jury.
Annemarie Eilfeld demanded a redo after she was eliminated in the Top 3 show.[1] RTL admitted that a speaker in the "reminder" trailers following the show had told viewers to vote 03 for Eilfeld and 02 for Daniel Schuhmacher.[1] She called this problem a "scandal".[1] The mistake was not considered big enough for RTL to bother with. After the initial show, Eilfeld had 19.3% of the vote and ended up with 19.8% with the second place contestant receiving a much higher total.[1] Angry DSDS fans complained and demanded either a repeat of the Top 3 show or a three-way final between Eilfeld, Schuhmacher and Sarah Kreuz.[1] Eilfeld's father was outraged over the error and reportedly considering taking legal action against RTL.[1]
Advancing to Top 10 (Public votes): Vanessa N, Daniel, Sarah, Dominik, Holger
Advancing to Top 10 (Jury selection): Marc, Annemarie, Cornelia, Vanessa C, Benny
Although Florian and Tobias were eliminated, they both ranked within the top 10 in the phone voting with Florian placing 9th and Tobias placing 7th, ahead of Marc, Benny, Vanessa C., and Cornelia.
Judges' forecasts of who would win: Daniel or Sarah (Nina, Volker & Dieter)
Winner: Daniel Schuhmacher
Runner - Up: Sarah Kreuz
Top 10 contestants
Michelle Bowers
Michelle Bowers (born 6 August 1992 in Frankfurt am Main) was the youngest participant in the Top 10. She was originally eliminated in the "Top 15" show when both the viewers and jury did not put her into the next round. However one day before the first theme show, contestant Vanessa Civiello quit the competition bringing Bowers back into the Top 10. Although with only one night of rehearsal, the judges praised her comeback and believed it would allow her to go further in the competition. However, she was eliminated.
Dominik Büchele (born 23 February 1991 in Herbolzheim) has been voted off the competition after theme show 7, finishing in the Top 4. He was known for his comparison and looks of James Blunt. He was a fan favorite among the girls.
Vanessa Civiello (born 7 May 1991 in Stuttgart) was a jury selection for Top 10 after participating in the Top 15 liveshow. One day before the first theme show, Civiello voluntarily withdrew. Michelle Bowers was recalled to replace Civiello.
Holger Göpfert (born 13 May 1981 in Würzburg) worked as an administration employee in Würzburg and is a soccer player. He auditioned in season 3 but did not make it through to the recall. At 13, Holger began to teach himself keyboard and to sing pass after songs. He also taught himself to play piano and guitar. He is a huge fan of the Beatles, Queen and Elvis in which he had sung songs in the show by these artists. His favorite song is "Oh Darling!" by the Beatles, in which he sang on the "Top 15" show and was selected further by call in votes. He was a fan favorite due to his excellent performing and entertainment rather than his voice. Although considered a joke contestant, he was well known for being a favorite and possible winner of the competition until his elimination.
Benny Kieckhäben (born 11 February 1990) is known for his unexpected audition due to way he looked. He was put through by all three judges after singing "If I Ever Fall in Love". Since, he has become somewhat of a favorite in the competition, although has been in the bottom every week, due to his good-sounding voice and his use of props (such as a cage in his performance of "Don't Cha"). He is openly gay. Throughout the competition, he was known to sing songs by female artists.
Sarah Kreuz (born 27 July 1989 in Bergheim) lives in Poppenhausen near Schweinfurt. She has consistent high placings in the show and has been a contest winner.
