Overground was a

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

from Germany. The original group comprised singers Akay Kayed, Ken Miyao, Marq Porciuncula and Meiko Reißmann. Created through the

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

talent show '' Popstars – Das Duell'' (2003) in which pop groups of both genders competed against each other, Overground won over girl band Preluders in a public vote. Their debut single " Schick mir 'nen Engel" became a number-one hit in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, while parent album '' It's Done'' (2003) reached the top spot in Germany and Switzerland and was eventually certified platinum by the

Bundesverband Musikindustrie The ( English: Federal Music Industry Association), or simply BVMI, represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 280 labels and music industry related enterprises, which comprise 90% of the music i ...

(BVMI). In 2004, Overground competed in the national final with " Der letzte Stern" for a chance to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. In fall, they released their second album '' 2. OG'' which underperformed on the charts, leading to their departure from Cheyenne Records. Their final single " Hass mich" was released on Velvet M-Pire Records in October 2005. After a relatively unsuccessful period, the quartet disbanded in 2008.

History

Formation

Overground were formed in September 2003 in front of millions of viewers on the

programme '' Popstars – Das Duell'' ("The Duel"). The concept of the programme was to form a boy group and a girl group who would be rivals and compete for winning the third installment of the reality television program. Following the success of ''

No Angels No Angels are an all-female Pop music, pop group from Germany, formed in 2000. Originally a quintet, consisting of band members Nadja Benaissa, Ludmilla Diakovska, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo, and Jessica Wahls, they originat ...

'' and '' Bro'Sis'', 12,000 applicants attended auditions in five German megacities in hopes of being selected for the show. Judged by rapper

Sabrina Setlur Sabrina Setlur (born 10 January 1974), formerly known as Schwester S., is a German rapper. Her debut was in 1995 under the guidance of 3p Records executive and mentor Glashaus, Moses Pelham, producer of her breakthrough single "Ja Klar". Followin ...

, choreographer Detlef "D!" Soost and producer Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, 27 out of 46 contestants made it from the local recall shows to

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

to get trained in singing, dancing and fitness. The judges continued eliminating two or three boys and girls each week, until a small group of finalists remained. In the end the four boys Ahmet "Akay" Kayed, Ken Miyao, Marq Porciuncula and Meiko Reißmann were chosen to form the group ''Overground''. While the show continued tracking the development and struggles of the new boy group and the final four members of the similarly formed girl group '' Preluders'', the judges decided to add a fifth member to both groups after failed recording sessions. Selecting from the semi-finalists, they chose Italian Fabrizio to 'complete' Overground. Their promotional debut single was a remake of Color Me Badd's 1991 hit '' I Wanna Sex You Up''. After three weeks of touring and promotional appearances across Germany, the season's finale was held on Wednesday, 3 November 2003, where the boys polled enough votes to win "the duel" against the girl group ''Preluders''.

Career

After weeks of recording Overground released their debut single, German-sung '' Schick mir 'nen Engel'' on 10 November 2003. Produced by Triple M, the song entered the charts at number one on the German, Austrian and Swiss singles charts and became one of the most successful (German-speaking) songs of 2003. Their debut album '' It's Done'' saw similar success, eventually receiving two

platinum certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

s. In 2004, the group followed-up with '' Der letzte Stern'' and '' Aus und vorbei'', two further top-10 single releases. They also began recording their second album '' 2. OG'', which spawned a collaboration with Montell Jordan and a remake of his 1995 hit '' This Is How We Do It''. Both, the single and the album, failed to continue from the previous chart successes and the group was released from its label Cheyenne Records, which reserved the possibility to release another single. After a longer absence the group returned in autumn of 2005 with their fifth single '' Hass mich''. After disbanding, Ken Miyao released a single ''Talk 2 Me'' with American rapper Fatman Scoop. This was regarded as a commercial failure, peaking at only #89 of the German charts.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

;As featured artist

Awards

2003

* Bravo Otto (Gold) – "Best Newcomer Band"

2004

* Bravo Otto (Silver) – "Best Band National" * Goldene Stimmgabel – "Shooting Star 2004" * Goldener Pinguin – "Best Newcomer 2004"

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control German pop music groups German boy bands