It was close, but it’s over. Opel employee Sven Lüchtenborg was eliminated when the group was cut back to 16 contestants for ‘Deutschland sucht den Superstar,’ a German reality talent show. As a result, the 22-year-old missed his chance to be included in the live shows of RTL’s casting show, in which the top 10 come together starting next Saturday to fight for the title.

The decision was made based on eight direct duels, in which the contestants had to sing a song together in front of an audience for the first time, during the third and final recall from South Africa. Lüchtenborg had a formidable adversary in Michel Truog and earned a lot of praise following the performance of ‘Here Without You’ from 3 Doors Down. For example, talent show judge Dieter Bohlen said “Sven, you really pleasantly surprised me.”

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„No one can take this experience from me.“

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It wasn’t enough to make the cut in the end. But when speaking with Opel Post, the employee from the German town of Astheim focused on the positive side of things. “No one can take the experience from me. I met some great people and made a lot of contacts,” reports Lüchtenborg, for whom the omnipresent cameras were an entirely new situation. “Participation in the show, especially the last performance, shows whether you’re just someone who can sing, or someone who can also handle the whole sideshow – how you react to audiences, camera teams, and all the other events,” says Lüchtenborg. “The stress I felt was positive, however, and I realized that it’s totally my thing.”

After the broadcast, Lüchtenborg received further encouragement from talent show veteran Dieter Bohlen: “He said I should keep working on myself and try again next year.” But before he commits to that, Lüchtenborg plans to finish his two-track degree program for a bachelor’s degree. “It would be great if I were done with it in July.”

Plans to release an EP album after graduation

The musician is not yet sure how his career will develop after graduation, however. “Perhaps I’ll go on to earn a master’s degree, but either way I’ll definitely keep singing,” says Lüchtenborg, who plans to release his own EP “very soon.” The new songs will cater to his growing community; his Instagram account already has more than 12,000 followers, and his YouTube channel has more than 1,600 subscribers.

“I’m really happy that so many people are following my progress and supporting me,” says Lüchtenborg. His progress at the talent show may have come to an end, but Lüchtenborg is sure to continue along his own path on the other side of the RTL cameras. “It’s a dream of mine to make money from music at some point, of course.”