“Maybe we won’t find a Superstar”
“DSDS”-Jurors Bill and Tom Kaulitz open up about secrets, bad ratings, their band Tokio Hotel and give young musicians some tips.
Bill and Tom Kaulitz, what’s harder for you: Making music or talking about music as “DSDS”-Jurors?Then you chose the wrong job…?
TOM: Judging the candidates isn’t that hard, because it wasn’t our goal to be super nice or extremely strict before the show started. Our goal was to judge the candidates like we would do it at home, sitting on our couch and watching the show. What I had to get used to was being filmed the whole time. I really don’t like that. I like it as much as I like hearing my voice or seeing pictures of myself. It was already like that for me when I went to school. I hate it.
TOM: Videoshoots and Photoshoots are definitely part of that, but playing live and producing music is more my thing. With Bill it’s completely different…
BILL: I don’t really think about the fact that a lot of people are watching “DSDS” or about the way I should phrase my sentences…
TOM: … but you should.
BILL: My strategy is being as honest as possible.
What else is new? Every “DSDS”-winner ended up in the Charts, but none of them are Superstars.
As part of the jury you’re in charge of finding Germany’s next “Superstar”. What does being a “Superstar” mean to you?
BILL: Precisely, the things that you can’t explain. That feeling, that you can’t get enough when the person gets off the stage, that this person stays a mystery to you. This special kind of charisma.
TOM: A lot of candidates come to us and say: “Please give me another chance, I can work on it.” But that’s often what doesn’t help them at all. There is a certain level of potential and talent that you can’t teach someone. I also think that there are less people who already carry that talent around with them their whole life. That’s why it could happen that we won’t find a Superstar at the end of the show – but the chances of finding one aren’t that bad!
TOM: For the winners it is of course difficult, because there’s a new season every year and therefore also a new “Superstar”.
BILL: and luck plays a big role as well. In the end, it’s also all about which candidate the viewers choose as the winner. Maybe a lot of the decisions made in the past years were just the wrong ones.
It is also possible that a casting show that follows the candidates every move takes a lot of the things away that make a “Superstar”: the secrecy, the things that don’t get documented?
BILL: I think that casting shows are pretty good at teaching someone how to present themselves and how to handle the media. There are candidates who can handle that pretty well. Whereas there are others, whom I can only advise to just keep their mouths shut.
Bill, when you were twelve, you yourself participated in the Sat-1-Show “Star Search”, but you didn’t make it to the finals. Was that your big lucky moment?
BILL: This at least shows that getting kicked out also presents you with a new chance. We were extremely lucky that someone discovered us as a band and that we got to experience a type of cinderella story.
So, your career with Tokio Hotel is therefore the best example that a Superstar doesn’t necessarily have to be found in a casting show?
TOM: In the US casting shows like “American Idol” have indeed found a few stars that were extremely successful and who, like Kelly Clarkson, won a few Grammys. But to be real, here in Germany – and it doesn’t matter which casting show we’re talking about – no successful artist ever came out of one.
Why? Is the quality of the candidates in the US better?
TOM: The US has a whole other music market. Here, in Germany, we have very few new artists that are able to have a career in the long run.
But you managed it. Would you advise a young musician to go and take part in a casting show?
TOM: A lot of candidates come to the casting and don’t really have anything to do with music. They might like to sing and think that they’re pretty good at it, but there are very few candidates who really put their heart and soul into it.
Did that surprise you?
TOM: Most of them only want to try it out and aren’t very serious about it. That’s why I would ask a young musician first: What have you done for yourself? What did you invest into your musical career? And then you really have to look into it – if a casting show really is the right path for him or her. Then again, finding another path it also getting considerably hard these days.
Why?
TOM: Because the music industry has lost a lot of money in the past few years. The record labels have less money and they don’t invest in newcomers anymore.
Not only the music industry, but also casting shows have to report a drop in ratings. “DSDS” has been pulling in pretty bad ones, some which the show the last time had when it first aired ten years ago. Is the “Casting-Show-Boom” in Germany over?
BILL: You always have to look at this in relation to the other casting show. “DSDS” still has the best ratings. That’s the reason why I wouldn’t generalize that casting shows don’t have a future on TV anymore. It always depends on the candidates.
And on the entertainment value of the jury. Why did you decide to be a part of “DSDS”?
BILL: We were always in the mood for watching new talents. We’ve also been getting requests from all possible casting show formats for years, but we just didn’t have the time. “DSDS” just came in at the right time.
Do you plan on taking part in other TV-Formats after „Deutschland sucht den Superstar“ or is that enough for now?
BILL: Next to working on “DSDS”, we are currently in the studio, working on our new Album which is set to be released this year. I’m already getting jittery when I see all the candidates making music and not us as a band. We really want to start again.
SOURCE
Translation by: Icey @ LoveTH-Music.com
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