“Your voice isn’t anything special. I’ll forget you the minute you leave the studio,” said Dieter Bohlen after Sven Lüchtenborg’s performance on the German talent show. This is the country’s biggest talent show on television (a format similar to ‘Britain’s/America’s Got Talent’), and our colleague had just performed the pop song “I Like Me Better,” a hit that’s currently on constant replay on the radio. Things weren’t looking for promising for the 21-year-old as he stood in front of the well-known judging panel and waited for feedback.

Decision by the Four Judges

“It was a strange feeling to be standing there in front of people whom I only knew from TV,” recalls Lüchtenborg three months after his visit to TV station RTL’s studios in Frankfurt. The fate of the candidates in this season of the program is being decided by a panel of judges consisting of singers Carolin Niemczyk and Ella Endlich, producer Mousse T. and, as mentioned above, the famous entertainer Dieter Bohlen. “I was as nervous as I would be during a test,” admits Lüchtenborg, a native of the German town of Astheim. And he’s familiar with those kinds of situations, but only in his professional and academic life before this. Lüchtenborg has been pursuing a dual course of study at Opel since September 2014. After completing a two-year training course as an industrial management assistant, he is now on the final stretch of his course in business administration and is hoping to receive his bachelor’s degree this coming summer.

At work Sven Lüchtenborg currently works on the Aftersales team in Building F at our headquarters in Rüsselsheim, Germany.

Broadcast dates for the current season of
the talent show (Saturdays at 8:15 p.m.):

Judging panel: 3 January – 10 March 2018
Recall: 17 March – 7 April 2018
Themed semifinals: 14 April – 28 April 2018
Final: 5 May 2018

The future business administration graduate has already learned about a wide range of areas at Opel’s headquarters in Rüsselsheim and has worked on the Aftersales team for two years now. “My job is to optimize the processes at the interface between IT and customer service, the European Customer Contact Center,” our colleague explains. “Ultimately, dealers and customers should always be able to get in touch with us if they have a question about their car.”

There’s not much free time left over between his job, studying, and training. And when he’s not driving to soccer practice or the gym in his Astra G convertible, Lüchtenborg is busy with music, working on improving his voice, and recording new songs for his YouTube channel. “Singing has become something I’m passionate about, and it just makes me happy when other people like my songs.”

A Talent Discovered at the Bar

Lüchtenborg’s singing talent lay hidden for 17 years and was only discovered by chance at a bar. “It was just before I finished high school. I sang along with a few songs and a friend asked me whether I might want to come along and try out for our class’s band,” says Lüchtenborg. “Everything just picked up pace from there.” After a performance at his senior class party, he started own productions, tried out new songs, and also picked up the microphone at a few weddings here and there. Last year, he then participated in the show “Unser Song 2017,” where viewers selected Germany’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. “I made it to the final 30 there, but didn’t end up on TV.”

“Sven is a very easy-going guy, he’s really friendly and seems to have quite a few female fans, too.“

– Ella Endlich –
Pop singer and judge on the talent show panel

But Lüchtenborg, who likes listening to music by Jason Derulo, Bruno Mars, and Chris Brown in his free time, has now achieved that in the 15th season of the popular TV talent show. “I want to gain new experiences there. Because if you make it to the Germany-wide recall, you receive professional vocal training,” explains the musician. But only 120 or so talented individuals are selected for that recall. Would Lüchtenborg make it past this hurdle?

Points for Likeability

After hearing producer/entertainer Bohlen’s harsh words, Lüchtenborg nodded and smiled, suppressing his frustration. “I completely understood his decision,” he says. “I just didn’t sing well enough and was disappointed myself because I can do better.” But the 21-year-old will soon have a chance to do just that, because after Bohlen’s initial feedback, Lüchtenborg did in fact ultimately get the green light from the judges on the show’s panel. “You’ve got the likeability factor,” Bohlen decided, and Lüchtenborg received the coveted ‘recall slip’ as his ticket for the next round. So keep your fingers crossed starting on 17 March: That’s when you’ll be able to watch live and see whether your colleague can take it a step further with his next appearances on Germany’s favorite talent show.