DSDS 2010 Finals Tonight

Tonight (April 17th) is the final and it boils down to Mehrzad Marashi and Menowin Fröhlich, who will be the German Superstar for 2010 (Season 7)?

I enjoy hearing good music and seeing musicians that are good at it. I'm not so much into the whole reality tv thing and the trumped up drama that goes along with it. I have to also say that I'm not really happy with the selection process. If the process were truly democratic it would be one person one vote, not whoever is willing to spend 50 cents per vote to vote. This is not democratic at all, only a matter of who's fans are willing to spend more to vote. Every season has some controversy, let's face it that is something that the networks and show producers want to see. They want to have people talking about their show and as the expression goes ever bad press is still press. This season I was disappointed to see Nelson Sangare didn't make it to the top 7, I had him pegged for the top 3. This season there seemed to be an awful lot of problems with the candidates remembering the text, even Menowin had some problems at Dieter Bohlen made a comment about "Ayo Technology" from Milow sounding like alphabet soup.

I'm not happy with the way that Menowin is being "pushed". Last year the Bild promoted Annemarie Eilfeld (wikipedia entry), there was almost a story about her every week. This season there seems to be an awful lot of coverage of Menowin. Watching the show last week it seemed like the jury was really pushing Menowin, almost will to give him the DSDS title then and there. I love a good Cinderella story, to see the underdog come out on top, but we've had a few other recent down on their luck Superstars (Thomas Godoj, and in particular Mark Medlock) and I want the music to be the story not promotion by the Bild or someone at RTL that thinks Meonwin is the person they want to hang the success of DSDS 2010 upon.

One thing that I've been disappointed with about the show, is that they don't really promote the winnners. With the exception of Mark Medlock, you almost don't hear anything at all about the past winners. One of the reasons that Mark Medlock has done so well is that he really learned how to "play" Dieter Bohlen (wikipedi entry), so he didn't have too many problems getting promoted. He and Dieter even went on tour together. When you think about how many people watch the show and are fans of this or that candidate, it seems hard to believe that it promoted properly, that more of the former winners and candidates wouldn't be doing better and be better well known.

Both Mehrzadt and Menowin can dance and have moves (this can't be said for all of the contestants this year). Menowin's voice is higher and more suited toward's Michael Jackson type songs. He sang Santana's Maria Maria with an intensity that I really liked. He did a good version of the Simply Red song "If You Don't Know Me By Now", since the lead singer for Simply Red has a higher voice, it matched pretty well. I also really liked the version of "We Are the World" that he did (but in the back of my mind I kept waiting to here the famous singers of that song chime it).

Mehrzadt can perform a variety of songs and can really give a song a lot of feeling. He gave the Lionel Richie song "Hello" more feeling that Lionel Richie himself gave it. Although Dieter Bohlen seemed to that that "Runaway (Del Shannon)" was too old for the audience, I wonder how many out in tvland were enjoying that golden oldie? I also thought that "Mr. Boombastic" (Shaggy) was fun, even if Dieter thinks Shaggy is one of the worst singers. Mehrzad seems like a class act. Last week, in his thrid song, Mehrzad proposed to his girlfriend, so regardless of if he wins or not, this show will always have a special memory for the two of them as a couple.

I've seen the set list for tonight...

Menowin will sing...

• That's What Friends Are For (Dionne Warwick)
• Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)

Mehrzat will sing...

• Endless Love (Lionel Richie)
• Fresh (Kool & The Gang)

Both will sing "Don't Believe" written by Dieter Bohlen. I would have almost bet that Menowin would do at least one Michael Jackson song (so not really a surprise here), while I'm sure that Mehrzat will give the Lionel Richie song a lot of feeling. Here's hoping for a good show. If you're a fan of any of the other candidates from this or any of the other past shows, it is worth having a look at the Wikipedia entry to see who has their own webpages and who is making a career post DSDS.

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Here are some links that you might want to check out.

• My post from last season's finals
• My post from 2008 season's finals
• DSDS Season 7 @ Wikipedia
• DSDS @ Wikipdeia
• DSDS @RTL
• DSDS Season 7@Twitter
• Tobias Regner's homepage
• Tobias Regner @ Facebook
• Tobias Regner @ Myspace
• Tobias Regner @ Twitter
• Thomas Godoj's hompage
• Daniel Schuhmacher's homepage
• Mark Medlock's homepage
• Bild's story about tonight's show
• Annemarie Eilfeld's homepage
• Annemarie Eilfeld@ Wikipedia

Photo credit: DJ Night 3 courtesy of fangol

Our Tenth Wedding Anniversary

April 7th war our tenth wedding anniversary, so before going any farther I'd just like to thank my wife saying "yes" and agreeing to share her life with me! While I wish to avoid the cliché about it seeming like only yesterday, it doesn't seem like we've been married for ten years! I don't claim to know all the secrets to a long-lasting and happy marriage, and while there are factors which are outside of our control, I can share what I know about my marriage.

I've found someone to share my life with and someone to share her life with me. I think that this is what most everyone is looking for, ultimately. Sure you might want this or that in your spouse or significant other, but you want to be able to share your happy moments as well as your sad ones, for better or worse as the vows often say.

In the beginning of most relationships there is the excitement of getting to know the other person, everything is new and exciting. While there is the honeymoon period to your marriage, you could also say that there is a honeymoon period to most of your relationships (regardless of if you are married or not). Some couples that have been married for a long time say that they do various things to keep the spirit of the honeymoon period alive and to keep their relationship exciting and new. Other couples do various things to rekindle the spirit of that honeymoon period. I think that you need to find some sort of balance so that this doesn't drive you and your spouse crazy with trying too hard and that you don't drown in the mundane parts of life or in all its tribulations.

I believe that common or shared interests are essential. Early in relationships you can have lots of differences, maybe even there is a spark or chemistry because you're so different than your significant other that drives your relationship, but later on it is helpful to have interests that you share. My wife and I both like to travel and learn about places that we haven't been before. We both get excited about visiting a new place that we haven't seen before, or going back to a place that we really enjoyed. Some couples have hobbies that they share together. The more things that you share that both enjoy, then this can also mean that more of your time together can be fun quality time that you both really enjoy.

Raising kids together can really help bring a couple together. In many marriages the children become the focus of our lives. When the kids are little there are the wonderful memories that you have of all the firsts and all the cute things that they do. Later on there is all the learning and development of your kids. A word of warning, while kids can bring couples closer together, they won't necessarily save a marriage. Not everyone wants kids and there is a lot of work and responsiblity that goes with having kids, so it is not a decission that should be made too lightly. It sure is hard to beat the satisfaction of seeing what good kids you have and somehow feeling somewhat responsible for that.

Mine is not a prefect relationship. In fact, if you were to ask my wife, I'm sure that she could list some things that I could do better in our relationship. What I think is important is to realize that nobody is perfect and not drive yourself crazy trying to find "the perfect relationship". On the other hand you also need to realize when you're not happy with the relationship and get out. If you're miserable now, why do you think that you'll be happy a year from now or farther down the road with your significant other. You also need to realize when you're in a toxic relationship and run. I've known lots of women who wanted to fix this or that guy, but it is really hard to change someone and being able to change someone into what you want sometimes makes them "unexciting" and "unattractive".

My wife has a German passport and nationality but she is American in her mind, soul, and heart. From early on she had an attraction to American things and people. She was an exhange student in high school and was able to spend some time in America. While she is German, she often felt herself being American. How does this lead to a successful marriage you might ask? It is hard to quantify, but this is one of those intangilbe things in our relationship that makes it work. I used to dream about living in Europe, and through my wife I've been able to do this. Through me, my wife was able to live in the U.S. for a year, have an American family that lovers her, and further cultivate her "Americaness". Maybe there is the secrete ingridient to marriage, that bonding or imprinting experience that draws the couple together. This might also be the "this is our story" component, every marriage and every relationship has its own "unique" story behind it.

I remember that my grandfather used to describe my grandmother as "good friend" when he talked about her to others. He used to say that talking to her about what happened to him during the course of his day was one of the things that bothered him the most after she died. I'd say that is one of the things that I was looking for, regardless of if I really knew it or not.

I remember before getting married having said that I thought that it should be harder to get married, to which one of my sisters said to be careful what you wished for. One of the things that I had meant by that statement was that was if people had to think more about marriage before getting married, there would be less divorces. When Christine and I said our wedding vows, we made a comitment to each other. While we've certainly been blessed, we both decided that that our vows meant something to us and that we were going to be there for each other

Couples need to find a way to disagree and to fight. This is one area where many marriages and relationships fall apart. It is darn near impossible that two people will ever agree on everything. You might be able to go a long time without finding and major disagreements but they are bound to happen and you need to be able to know that your relationship can survive the differences. How this is handled will vary with every couple and every relationship. If there are never any disagreements, you have to wonder if the relationship is in good shape, there might be warning signs. If one person is always going along with other person they might not care about all the small decisions but they might also be building up a resentment over always giving in.

Christine, thank you for taking me into your life and being my wife! I look forward to many more years to come. If you're interested you can read about how we met, the wedding, and another post that I wrote in honor our 7th Annivesary. I find it hard to believe that it has been ten years. When I think about couples celebrating 25 year anniversaries, that doesn't seem so far off now any more. I hope that everyone can find some to share their life with that makes them happy and is good for them.

Photo taken at the Wiesbaden Biebrich Schloss (castle) April 7, 2000.