Judith Mahdavi Lefeber (born 14 March, 1981) is a German singer, who gained fame as a finalist of the first season of the television show ''

Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''P ...

'', the German version of '' Pop Idol''.

Biography

Lefeber was born in Manipal, Karnataka, India. At six months old, she was adopted by a couple from Germany and grew up in

Rheda-Wiedenbrück Rheda-Wiedenbrück (; Westphalian: ''Raie-Wienbrügge'') is a city in the district of Gütersloh, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography The twin community lies within the valley of the river Ems in the Westphalian Lowland south of the ...

near Gütersloh alongside her adoptive brother; who is seven years her senior. She started taking vocal, piano and ballet lessons at four years old, followed-up by joining the local girl's choir. After her high school graduation, Lefeber went on studying singing and piano at the conservatory in

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

. Shortly afterwards, she moved to

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

. In 2002, Lefeber participated in the first season of ''

Deutschland sucht den SuperStar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''P ...

''. Although she was widely considered as the favourite finalist right from the beginning of the show, she decided to leave ''DSDS'' after her second performance, explaining that personal issues that had arisen. However, after the final show it was revealed that Lefeber had received the highest percent of votes both during the top 10 and top 9 shows. Afterwards Lefeber signed a contract with

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

. Released in fall 2003, her debut album ''In My Dreams'' saw comparatively big success, peaking at number 17 on the German albums chart (almost two years after her quit from ''DSDS''), while the album's singles reached number 13 ("I Will Follow You") and number 70 ("Everybody Does") respectively on the national singles chart. In 2004, Lefeber was engaged for the leading role in the musical '' Aida'' in

. Simultaneously, she released her second album ''In My Room'' after a sudden label change to Zyx Music. Due to a lack of promotion, both the album and the same-titled single saw less to no commercial success. The singer has since focused on starring in stage musicals.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefeber, Judith 1981 births Living people People from Karnataka People from Rheda-Wiedenbrück Indian adoptees Indian emigrants to Germany German people of Indian descent Deutschland sucht den Superstar participants 21st-century German women singers Warner Music Group artists ZYX Music artists