Entertainment

“I’m just gettin’ started, bitches!” – Dave Chappelle, from his legendary impersonation of R&B icon Rick James After reading through my last few blog posts, I came to realize that the tone of my writings had become somewhat negative when describing my experiences of the past few months. Based on the feedback that I received, many people seem to have gotten the wrong impression from my post “Game Over”; some assumed that I was going to completely give up making music. Let me assure you: nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I’m about to become more active than I’ve ever been. One of the most important realizations I’ve had in a long time occurred at the time that I wrote “Game...

Last night, I had an epiphany. It hit me quite suddenly, although the signs were there for many years. I’ve decided to give up my lifelong quest for fame and fortune and ‘retire’ – at least partially – from the music scene here in Germany. Here’s why. It came during my weekly teaching session. During my break I received a call that I had been waiting on for some time. As is so often the case in life , one prays for the best but expects, even counts on, the worst; my gut feeling told me that even though previous conversations with this person were from my perspective very promising [wishful thinking?], this conversation would have a negative outcome. Unfortunately, my gut was right. For many artists, especially in the performing...

I HATE carnival. Maybe I’m too old. Perhaps I’ve experienced too many of them here in Germany, or maybe the notion of getting obnoxiously drunk while looking like a complete idiot singing soccer hymns and ‘Seven Nation Army’ is no longer my idea of fun. This year’s Fasching Torture Tour is different, though; this time, people armed with cameras want to take pictures with me. There are double (often triple) takes when I walk down the street. Total strangers call out to me, “Are you him?” or “I called for you!” People, even in a state of drunken semi-consciousness, recognize me. What do I do with this new-found notoriety? It’s been six weeks now since I last appeared on television. I was only on...

Last night at the Voice Of Germany finale, something wonderful happened; Ivy Quainoo won the competition, and Kim Sanders came in second. With their respective victories, my belief in the old saying “quality counts” was restored. Here’s why. The concept of “quality” is, of course, a matter of individual taste. That concept was tested a number of times in this show, starting in the Battle Rounds with the exit of many fantastic singers such as Butch Williams, Pamela Falcon, Giovanni Costello and others, and continued during the live shows with the highly questionable departures of Rüdiger, Percival, Rino, Ramona and yours truly. Indeed, many in Germany – rightly so, in my opinion – questioned the credibility of the show,...