The finale of The Voice of Germany is here. Many people know by now the many emotional phases the I’ve gone through regarding this show, but for all the ups and downs I’ve experienced, I’m filled with a sense of pride that one of my best friends and musical twin sister, Kim Sanders, has made it to the place I once hoped to be. For me, Kim embodies what the “Voice of Germany” is (or should have been) all about. Here’s why.

I’ve known Kim since 1995, when we were both active in the Eurodance scene. We met one night at a Sony label party in Krefeld (we were label mates at that time); I was with my project The Free, she was performing her first solo single. As most lasting friendships go, we did not hit it off immediately, but we both knew even then that our paths would always cross. Sure enough, it would be another two years before we would meet again. We had always been very friendly towards each other, but we wouldn’t become musically involved with each other until 2004, when I contacted her about performing with me.

It was at this show that Kim and I discovered how similar we were, both musically and personally. We talked for hours about our experiences in the German music business; our decisions to leave our home country to persue our dreams; the setbacks, disappointments and failures we’ve both experienced, the fierce determination we both shared to make our mark on the music world in general, as well as our love for cooking, family, science fiction (Kim is a nerd, just like me) and all things silly. Later on that year she called me for a job as background singer with a well known German pop / classic duo, and we spent four days together preparing for the show, simultaneously laying the foundation for what would become a deep, lasting friendship. That bond became even stronger three years later, as I was recording my first album with ‘iO’ (my band with the three musicians from the German rock band Guano Apes); I had written the song “The Last To Know” as a duet, and Kim was the only singer I wanted for this track. My dream to finally record a song with her became reality, and the process brought us even closer together.

When Kim called me and informed me about The Voice of Germany, I was very reluctant to be a part of it, based on my previous experiences with casting shows. It was only when she said to me, “I don’t want to do this alone” that I realized that this was our chance to show Germany what we were all about, together. We went through the audition phases, the Blind Auditions and the Battle phases together, always pushing each other to be better, to not give in to doubt or fear, to be the best we could be and still stay true to who we were. 

When Rea Garvey sent me home in the first live show, I was of course hurt, but Kim was devastated. It was hard for me to witness how much my exit affected her, but as it was during the whole process, I tried to keep her spirits up and her focus on the task at hand. As the show progressed, all of the rage, disappointment and sadness I felt disappeared with each round Kim came further. Every time she is on stage, I truly feel like it’s me up there, and it feels good. The emotion she pours into every performance is a testament to her will to succeed, her passion as an artist and her beauty as a human being. We are mirror images of each other, as she always says; I’m the ‘male’ Kim, and she’s the ‘female’ Charles. 

I will not be in the audience to support her on the final leg of her journey through The Voice of Germany, but I know that whatever the outcome, she has already won. Millions of people now know what only a handful of people have been aware of all along; that Kim Sanders is a creative force, a very gifted artist and a special human being. Words really can’t describe how proud I am of this amazing woman, and to be her friend is an honor. She’s the last of us pros in this show, and to me she personifies what is best about our business, and what it means to live out your dreams.

Kim Sanders, if anyone deserves to be proclaimed “The Voice of Germany”, it’s you. It’s within your reach, so take it, sis. For both of us.

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[DISCLAIMER: these are my personal views and do not reflect any insider information about "The Voice of Germany".]

“I thought it was a singing competition, but in the end it’s just a television show”, Butch Williams proclaimed after his departure from “The Voice of Germany”. Back then I thought his statement was just a case of sour grapes; only later did I realize the wisdom of his words.

His opinion resonates with the majority of the pro and semi-pro musicians who were a part of the show who, like me, asked the question: is this finally a talent show “for us”, or are we pawns in a game designed to boost the credibility of yet another new casting show? As many who watched the show in the beginning recognized, a little less than half of the talents in the show were “professional” singers; people who either earned their living making music or had some form of stage experience. Many of the talents were personal friends or colleagues of mine, and we all rejoiced in the possibility of finally being able to show our talent to a national television audience. Germany would finally get to see some “real” talent. It was glorious.

The Blind Auditions began, and the ratings went through the roof. People were (and still are) talking about “us”. We were in the spotlight; people were excited by the prospect of having a talent show on German TV with such amazing singers. “Where did all of these great singers suddenly come from?” was the question everyone was asking. We were filled with pride, because millions of people who would have never otherwise paid attention to us were on our side. Maybe this is the start of something special.

Then came the Battle Rounds, and with them the slow transformation from something new and exciting to something known and predictable. One by one, the number of pros were slowly, methodically started to dwindle. In hindsight, it was almost scientific how selective the process was. Some of the choices made then are to this day still controversial, but television thrives on controversy. One by one, old and new friends were picked off, until there were only 24 of us left. I was lucky enough to be one of the few pros left standing.

What started in the Battle Rounds was carried over to the live shows. It seemed to many of us to be systematic, precise, almost surgical in its execution. Some had questionable songs but still sang fantastic. Some were not 100 per cent fit vocally, but gave great performances. With every live show, another pro was sent home by his or her coach, for reasons that were hard to understand for many. Some talents were kept because of their “improved artistic development” (so they said), which is an odd justification to those who thought the show was about finding the best singer. To many of us, what started out as a search for “The Voice” became something else entirely.

“That’s the game” many would argue, correctly so. The problem was, many of us (audience included) assumed that this game would indeed be different. For a time, it was. Was it naive to go into it thinking otherwise? Perhaps. Others will say that those who appeared on the show at all have already won, due to the exposure that was gained. The reality, however, looks different for many of us. Some are able to capitalize on their new found notoriety; others are not.

The point, however, lies somewhere else. Given how it all started and how it seems like it will end (Kim, Mic and Ole are the last three pros left in the competition, and I really hope they make the final cut), I and many other former candidates can’t help but feel that this format – as great a showcase for true talent as it is here in Germany – has built its reputation at our expense. Without question, there are still fantastic singers in the competition. That said; if it really was about “The Voice”, the talent pool in the final two rounds would have looked dramatically different.

There’s no business like show business.

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It’s been two weeks now since my departure from the casting show “The Voice Of Germany”, and a lot has gone through my mind in that time. I’ve gone through many different stages of dealing with the situation: denial, sadness, anger, depression, and acceptance, all finally helping me come to the conclusion that maybe it wasn’t meant to be after all. Strangely, it was this conclusion that lead me recently to revisit one of those stages: the anger stage. Here’s why.

I’ve been trying to break into the German music scene since 1989. The main reason I came back to Germany was to persue my dream of being in the music business and becoming a star. I have done everything one could possibly do to break into the business. I’ve made many fans, a little bit of money, and gained a lot of experience. I’ve done a lot; I was (and still am) a talented, reliable music industry workhorse.

What I never had was support from anyone within the industry itself. I’ve never had a record label who knew how to “market” me. I never had a manager who knew how to – or had the balls to try to – manage my talent. There was always something or someone standing in the way of my “big break”, or some lame excuse for not wanting to invest the time or the effort. I’ve never had anyone who was willing to take a risk on me, even though I’ve always been praised for my “amazing” voice. My break never came, due to circumstances that were beyond my control.

These are the reasons I wanted to appear on “The Voice of Germany”. Of course I knew going in that it was a game, and like in any game the chances of failure are just as high as the chances of success. When I made it through the Blind Auditions, I chose a coach who I thought understood my struggle and would really help me to finally reach a level of notoriety that I could finally have the breakthrough that I always dreamed of.

With nine words (“I’m gonna have to go with Jasmin and Benny”), my fate was again taken out of my hands. In that moment, all of anger about my failures, doubts about my abilities, fear for the future, and confusion about where my life’s journey has taken me had come to a head. Yet, I was strangely calm, almost at peace with myself, perhaps because it was clear to me where things were going from the beginning, due to the events that lead up to that fateful moment. As the days went by, however, the anger grew, because for whatever reason, the one person who was in the position to help me reach my long sought after dream had taken it away from me, like so many others before him. I was pissed.

With time, the anger subsided and I briefly returned to the acceptance stage, which is where I continue to hang out today. Eventually this phase will also pass, leaving me with many lasting memories, great new friends and contacts, and a renewed hunger to make it in this weird, wonderful world known as the music business. Many say to me “you don’t need a casting show to make it. You will go your own way!” After twenty years of ‘going my own way’, I could have really used the boost that this show could have given me. Instead, I’m left to fend for myself. Again. That is by no means a reason to give up. Quite the opposite is true; I will now try harder than ever to make my life’s dream come true. It just might take a little longer.

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C’est la Vie. It just goes like that sometimes. As quickly as the opportunity came, it was gone again. Sadly, my trip through reality TV has come to an end; last night I was voted off of The Voice Of Germany by my coach Rea Garvey. On the show the night before there were two very “questionable” decisions. Little did I realize the same would happen to me last night.

The show itself was amazing. The atmosphere was tense, but very friendly, and everyone was on edge after the technical problems that occurred on the night before (the TV sound was apparently spectacularly bad). Happily, last night’s show ran without incident. My first performance of the night was the Team Rea group song “Can’t Stand The Silence”, which I pulled off very well. My solo performance came a few minutes later. I performed the song “Closer To The Edge” from one of my favorite bands, 30 Seconds To Mars. Although I was not 100% happy with my performance – the air in the studio was very dry, sucking all of the moisture out of my throat, and I was slightly hoarse – I thought I performed quite well. That line of thinking would in the end prove to be wrong, unfortunately.

As mentioned before, there were quite a few controversial decisions in the show so far, but one thing must be made clear: EVERYONE performed amazingly last night. The competition was always going to be hard, I knew that going in to it. Everyone who made it into the next round deserved to do so, so there are no hard feeling towards my fellow Talents at all. They are all exceptional singers and I congratulate them, especially my friends Kim Sanders (Team Nena) and Mic Donet (Team Xavier). I wish them all the best for the coming shows.

After reading some of the feedback on Facebook and Twitter, I see that the song I sang last night is causing a (surprisingly) little controversy, with some saying that I chose the wrong song to sing in the first live show. I’d like to address this here and now. First off: the song I sang was MY suggestion, of course after consultation with my coach. It was important for me to let the viewers know that I am more than just another black man who sings ballads. Casting shows are notorious for sticking talented people into stereotypes, and I didn’t want to be another stereotype. My coach agreed with me (at the time) and supported me. I refuse to be told by a television show who I am supposed to be! I knew from the beginning it would be a risk performing such a song after performing two pop ballads in a row, but it was a risk I was willing to take. Unfortunately, that risk didn’t pay off, as I was voted off of the show by my own coach, which was disappointing, but not unexpected, based on the comments he made after I performed my song. There were other things going on behind the scenes that gave me an uneasy feeling, but by that time it was too late to change anything.

If the decision to sing that song was right or wrong is irrelevant; if I have to choose between being Charles Simmons and expressing myself or being just another casting show contestant, I will pick Charles Simmons every time.

My good friend and ex – TVOG Talent Butch Williams said, “you play to win the game”. I honestly believe, though, that if you have to change who you are just to win a game, then it’s not a game worth playing. I took a chance, and I stand behind my decision. I said to myself long ago that I would never again change who I am just to be someone else’s image of who I should be. That’s not who I am as a musician or as a person. Now Germany knows what I can do, and that I’m a fighter. In that respect, I’ve already won.

The madness has begun! I’m here in Berlin at the studio, preparing for my first live show, and this week is of course very crazy. For me especially, because I have to do a LOT of traveling between the practice days; I’ll be rehearsing today, then tomorrow I’m off to my New Years Eve gig in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Very exciting, since I’ve never been to Dubai before. But I digress…

Today was the first rehearsal of my live show song with the TVOG band. The band has gotten bigger, with background vocalists, horns, and for some songs there are live strings. The studio is also bigger. Much bigger. The stage is something I’ve never seen before. Amazing! From a technical standpoint, everything is as close to perfect as I have experienced so far. Great sound, wonderful crew. And my song…I got chills on stage in the rehearsal, something that never happens to me.

Although the day was somewhat chaotic (I was actually scheduled to rehearse with my team tomorrow), I was very pleased with how the day went, and that much more excited about the days to come. Germany has no clue what’s about to hit them!