Here you can download the .pdf:

1. participation in the competition

1.1 The talent contest “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” (“Contest”) is an interactive show produced by UFA SHOW & FACTUAL GmbH (“Producer”) and exploited by the broadcaster RTL Television GmbH (“RTL”), in particular on television and online on demand. By participating in the competition, the participant expressly agrees to these conditions of participation. If the participant is not yet 18 years old, it is necessary that both legal representatives sign these conditions of participation (in the case of sole custody, the sole legal representative must sign, see below).

1.2 The competition consists of online casting or open casting, jury casting workshop, jury casting, recall (consisting of several recall events), and one or more shows (as set out below) and will be broadcast on television, on the Internet and, if applicable, in other media (“Production”). Participation in the competition is subject to these conditions of participation and the participation agreement that may be signed later.

1.3 In order to take part in the jury casting and, if they progress to the recall, the participant must present two signed copies of the participation agreement at the jury casting.

1.4 Only persons who are allowed to live and work in Germany and who are at least 16 years old on 01.01.2026 may take part in the competition. For confirmation, the participant will present his/her identity card or passport and, if necessary, other relevant documents (e.g. residence permit).

2. castings

2.1 The participant is invited to take part in an online casting via the computer program “Short Audition” at their own expense at a time proposed by the producer. Participants will receive an invitation with a link by e-mail. The online casting begins when the link is opened. No prior installation or download is required. Participants must have a stable and secure internet connection to take part in the online casting. If the online casting cannot take place or cannot be completed due to connection difficulties or internet problems, the producer will endeavor to find an alternative date. However, the participant is not entitled to such an alternative date.
The participant will perform one or more songs of his/her choice with playback or with an instrument, in whole or in part, in front of a member of the Producer’s casting staff. The online casting will be recorded exclusively for internal audition purposes, provided that the participant gives his/her verbal consent to this at the beginning of the online casting. The participant will be informed as soon as possible whether he/she will be allowed to perform in front of a pre-selection jury in the next step.

2.2 As an alternative to online casting, the participant has the opportunity to take part in an open casting (with personal attendance).

2.3 After completion of the casting phase, the participant will be informed as soon as possible whether he/she will be allowed to take part in the jury casting with the prominent jury.

2.4 After the audition in front of the celebrity jury, the jury will inform the participant whether he/she may take part in the first part of the Recall (at a location to be determined by the producer).

3. the recall

3.1 The Recall consists of several parts. The participants selected in accordance with section 2.4 will perform songs of their own choice or of the Producer’s choice, either individually or in a group, in the course of the Recall. The Producer is responsible for putting together such a group. The Producer may also set the Participant further tasks during the Recall.

3.2 As soon as possible after the end of each part of the Recall, the Participant will be informed of who has been selected by the jury to continue in the Recall.

4th shows

4.1 The participants selected in the final phase of the Recall will take part in one or more shows.

4.2 If a participant has been selected to take part in the show(s), the conclusion of an exclusive artist contract, artist management contract and the signing of the participant contract for the show(s), for example, are prerequisites for further participation. Should a participant, for whatever reason, not have completed these contracts before the start of the recording of the first show, the Producer reserves the right to exclude the participant from the competition.

4.3 The winner (and, if applicable, the respective runners-up) will be selected by audience vote.

5. transfer of rights to image and sound recordings

5.1 The Participant agrees and hereby irrevocably authorizes the Producer to make image and/or sound recordings (“Recordings”) of him/her in the context of the casting and to use these Recordings in the context of and for the purposes of the Production. Against this background, the participant grants the Producer, free of charge, the exclusive right, unlimited in terms of content, location and time, to use these Recordings comprehensively in whole or in part in relation to the consumer, either himself or through third parties authorized by the Producer, for a fee or free of charge. The use and exploitation may take place for any purpose, in particular for commercial and non-commercial, public and non-public purposes, in particular for the purposes of

(1) broadcast as often as desired on television, the Internet and radio, irrespective of the technical transmission method, the type of receiver, the broadcaster, the legal relationship between broadcaster and recipient (free TV, pay TV, pay-per-view, video-on-demand, near-video-on-demand, TV to mobile, etc.) and the legal form of the broadcaster (including the right to broadcast to the public and the right to make the recordings available to a limited group of recipients (e.g. in hospitals, schools, airplanes, etc.).(1) the legal form of the broadcaster (including the right of public reproduction of broadcasts and the right to make the recordings available to a limited number of recipients (e.g. in hospitals, schools, airplanes, trains, motor vehicles, ships, hotels, etc. as well as in public places such as airports, train stations, streets, drive-in cinemas); (2) the filming and dubbing; (3) the making available for individual retrieval by means of a television, computer, mobile device or similar. (“on-demand”), including on social media channels; (4) non-broadcast audiovisual exploitation on analogue and digital image/sound/data carriers; (5) reproduction and distribution; (6) dubbing; (7) the exploitation of parts of clips and advertising, including with reference to third-party services that are made perceptible to third parties at the same time as the production (e.g. split screen); (8) merchandising (marketing of goods and services of all kinds); (9) reprinting (printed works and electronic media); (10) exploitation of sound recordings; (11) use for testing, teaching and research purposes as well as public festival and trade fair use; (12) archiving and (13) feeding into databases, in particular the Internet; (14) interactive use (in particular on the Internet, on social media platforms). on the internet, on social media platforms and on websites of the broadcaster); (15) use for NFT or blockchain-based technologies; and (16) use in the context of all technically as yet unknown types of use. In particular, this includes the right to produce and distribute the necessary reproductions itself or through third parties. This granting of rights also applies to press publications and promotional measures relating to the production. The recordings may be edited and the edited versions may be used just as extensively as the original recordings.

5.2 The Producer acquires ownership of the recordings (e.g. videos, photographs, DVDs, CDs) and any other material that the participant sends or hands over to the Producer as part of the casting; it will not be returned. The Producer is entitled to use this material within the scope of Clause 5.1 and the accompanying press, promotion and merchandising measures, in particular on television and on the Internet.

6. general conditions of participation

6.1 The participant may voluntarily end his/her participation at any time and thus withdraw from the competition. As long as the participant takes part in the competition, he/she undertakes to do so,

(1) to be available for the competition, in particular at the locations and times specified for the production, (2) to sign the respective participation agreements, (3) to observe the provisions of the participation agreements, including these conditions of participation and any other rules that apply in the studio or on location, (4) to participate in online/interactive activities that are related to the production and/or the competition, including the recording of webcasts, interviews (including with third parties) and participation in interactive chats, e.g. at and (5) to treat all information related to the production and/or the competition as strictly confidential.e.g. at www.rtl.de and (5) to treat all information in connection with the Production and its preparation as strictly confidential and not to disclose it to third parties.

6.2 The participant guarantees that – unless he has informed the producer in writing to the contrary – he has not currently concluded a management, merchandising, music publishing, modeling, advertising, sponsoring, artist exclusivity contract or any other contract for his musical and/or performing services and/or services on social media channels and will not conclude such a contract for the duration of his participation in the competition.

6.3 The Producer reserves the right to change the course of the competition, even at short notice. Such changes may take the form of additional auditions/rounds in the competition, or in the form of additional performances being requested from the participant, or changes to the planned recording schedule.
6.4 The Producer reserves the right to change the conditions of participation, giving reasons, or to terminate the competition at any time and without liability to the participant.

6.5 The Producer reserves the right to exclude the participant from the competition at any time. Exclusion may occur in particular if (1) the Participant is unable to provide proof of his/her identity or eligibility to participate within a reasonable period of time, (2) personal details and information (including on contracts pursuant to Section 6.2) provided by the Participant to the Producer are untrue, incomplete or misleading, or (3) the Participant breaches the second sentence of Section 6.1.

6.6 The Producer further reserves the right to replace a participant who, for any reason, is unable to participate or is excluded from the competition. The replacement may also be made by a participant who has previously withdrawn from the competition or been excluded.

6.7 The Producer is not obliged to inform rejected participants of the Producer’s negative decision or to give reasons for it. Decisions of the Producer, the jury and the viewers are final. The participant has no right to participate and contribute to the competition. A participant who is prevented from taking part in the competition (for whatever reason) has no right to make up for his/her performance. The participant is not entitled to any claims if he/she leaves the competition before the end (for whatever reason) or is excluded. The same applies in the event that the competition is terminated before the scheduled end.

6.8 The participant has no right to have his/her performance recorded and/or broadcast.

6.9 In the event of a disagreement about the course of the competition, a part of the competition or these conditions of participation, the Producer’s decision is final and binding.

6.10 The selection of music titles is always made jointly by the Producer and the Participant, taking into account the vocal capabilities of the Participant. The Producer reserves the right, after consultation with the Vocal Coach, to oblige the Participant to sing a specific song or to perform a song from a specific genre. At any stage of the competition, the producer reserves the right to refuse the selection of a song by the participant. The participant undertakes to perform only commercial music (registered with GEMA/GVL) during the castings. The performance of other, e.g. own musical works requires the prior agreement and consent of the producer by e-mail.

6.11 The “Data protection information in accordance with Art. 13 GDPR” has been sent to the participant, which contains more detailed information on the processing of the participant’s personal data.

6.12 These Terms and Conditions of Participation apply in addition to the Participation Agreement, which is signed by the participant if the participant has qualified for the jury casting (TV recording). In the event of a conflict between the Participation Agreement and these Terms and Conditions of Participation, the Participation Agreement shall take precedence.

IMPORTANT for minors:

We assume that your legal guardians agree with your application to DSDS (in particular with your participation in the online casting). If you pass the online casting, the document “Conditions of Participation” must be signed by both legal guardians and submitted to the jury casting workshop.

Here you can download the document “Conditions of participation”: