Claudia Emmanuela Santoso moved from Indonesian city of Cirebon to Germany in Summer 2018. The talented singer has just won the German reality talent show "The Voice of Germany."
All four coaches turned around in their swivel chairs to check out the singer during the blind audition phase of the most recent casting for The Voice of Germany — and that is unusual. Prominent musicians themselves, the coaches try to win young talents for their respective teams to win the show. In the first rounds, the jurors sit with their backs to the participants; the singers' voices alone are to convince the jurors to pick a singer for their team.
At her first appearance a few weeks ago, Claudia Emmanuela Santoso got to choose which team she wanted to join, each headed by a star. Rea Garvey, Sido, Alice Merton and Mark Forster all hit their buzzers when the 18-year-old sang "Never Enough" from the film The Greatest Showman. Her vocal power convinced them all. "We can go straight to the finale," said Rea Garvey. In the end, Santoso chose the team headed by pop musician Alice Mertons ("No Roots"). "You rock my world," an emotional Merton said, as quoted by dw.com.
Is she a robot or a machine?
A video of her first performance on The Voice of Germany garnered her more than 21 million views on YouTube. Round after round, she cemented her great talent. "I have the feeling that you are a robot or a machine ... How can you sing so perfectly? It's unbelievable," said German rapper Sido. The young singer — who laughs with glee when showered with praise, flashing her braces — has certainly won the hearts of the coaches and the audience alike.
People in her hometown of Cirebon flock to public venues to watch her performances in the German casting show. The Indonesian daily Kompas reported about Claudia Emmanuela Santoso, and the Indonesian Consul General in Frankfurt congratulated her on Twitter on her success.
Selamat! Claudia Emmanuela Santoso, pelajar Indonesia di München berhasil melangkah ke babak final di ajang The Voice of Germany 2019 di Berlin, 03.11.2019 pic.twitter.com/hDLmRIF7wU
— Indonesian Consulate General Frankfurt (@kjrifrankfurt) 3 November 2019The applause for Claudia was so overwhelming that Alice Merton -the German-British country singer and songwriter who coached Claudia in the contest- went on stage to hug her.
Claudia, or Audi to those close to her, has been training since 4 years old. “I enrolled Audi in singing schools in Cirebon and outside Cirebon since she was 4 years old,” Christin Gunawan, Claudia’s mother said as quoted by kompas.com.
Christin also said Claudia had shown extraordinary vocal talent since she was a little girl.
“She trained for around 11 or 12 years at music schools,” Christin went on to say, adding that Claudia often competed in singing contests and won.
As a child, she also had competed in televised singing competitions in Indonesia, such as Mamamia, AFI Junior and Idola Cilik. After graduating from BPK Penabur Cirebon high school, Claudia went to Germany to study at the University of Munich.
"I hope to learn a lot by participating in The Voice of Germany," the young talent said, adding she hopes to make new connections, meet people and get to know the entertainment industry. "The most important thing for me is to create something, my own song or a single," she said. "I want to give my own concerts — but I also want to continue my studies." Santoso studies music in Munich.
In Munich, the young woman is active in an Indonesian community — that helps against feeling homesick. She moved to Germany alone, without her family. They watched her first performances from home via video messenger, but for the finals on Sunday, the family was headed to Germany to support Claudia Emmanuella Santoso, hoping for a great triumph.
They weren't let down, as Santoso won with 46% of the audience vote. She and the other finalists will start at tour of Germany on December 6.
