Tim Bendzko

Tim Bendzko came to music from an unexpected direction: a Berlin teenager from the Köpenick district who played football at youth level and only later committed to the guitar lessons he had begun at eleven or twelve. He wrote his first songs at sixteen. After studying Protestant Theology and non-Christian religions at the Free University of Berlin, he left after five semesters without a degree and worked as an auctioneer in the car trade.

The breakthrough came in 2009, when he won the talent competition Söhne gesucht run by Söhne Mannheims. That led to a summer performance before 20,000 people at the Berlin Waldbühne and a recording contract with Sony Music. His debut album Wenn Worte meine Sprache wären appeared on 17 June 2011, preceded by the single Nur noch kurz die Welt retten, which reached number two in Germany, and the album reached number four. The single was certified 3× Gold there. That autumn he won the Bundesvision Song Contest with the album's title track, and in November he took the newcomer Bambi. In 2013 he was one of three coaches on the first German season of The Voice Kids.