Popstars (2000-)

In fall 2000, German television network RTL2 started with the production of a German adaption of Popstars. Over the course of three month more than 4,500 hopeful female singers attended open television auditions in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Cologne, Oberhausen, Stuttgart and Munich. Judged by Dutch entertainer Simone Angel, booker Mario M. Mendryzcki and Rainer Moslener, a director of A&R, thirty-two out of two hundred pre-selected girls eventually made it from the local recall shows to Majorca, Spain to get trained in singing, dancing, and fitness. While the judges continued eliminating two or three girls each day with the help of choreographer Detlef "D!" Soost, eleven finalists remained and were sent home to prepare. In November 2000, Angel and Moslener visited each of the contestants at home to reveal whether or not they had been selected for the band. In the end five girls made it into the band: Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo and Jessica Wahls. With the final members of the group in place, Popstars continued tracking the development and struggles of the new band.