Helene Fischer: Between pop and pop

Some people can't get enough of Helene Fischer, others don't understand the hype surrounding the German pop singer at all. Helene Fischer has made pop music interesting for the masses. That was hard work.

She is the most successful artist in Germany: Helene Fischer. The figures are impressive: a total of 1.2 million people attended the 22 concerts on her "Farbenspiel" stadium tour, she won 16 Echo Pop awards - more than any other artist. But for a long time it didn't look as if Helene Fischer would appeal to the masses. Schlager had slipped into a niche and was unattractive to younger audiences. That has changed with Helene Fischer, the boundaries between pop and Schlager are fluid with her.

As she said, she never wanted megastar status. In a report by Hessischer Rundfunk in 2003, the then 19-year-old Helene Fischer gives an insight into her life as a musical student. "It's not my goal to become a star and have people idolize me," she says in her room, which she has decorated with black, gothic figures. "Rather, if I want to pursue a musical career, I want to touch people with my lyrics and emotions."

Thirteen years later, Helene Fischer has reached the top. At the top of the hit parade with sold-out concert halls. Whether a young group of men, parents with their children or even grandparents: all generations are represented at her concerts. Everyone feels addressed, everyone is there for Helene.

She wanted to be in a musical at 19

Helene Fischer's mother Maria actually laid the foundations for Helene Fischer's pop career. After completing her musical training in 2003, Helene only wanted to apply to theaters with her demo CD, which contained "The Power of Love" by Céline Dion, in order to devote herself to acting and musicals. However, her mother approached music producers with the CD and ended up with Uwe Kanthak, who also manages Vicky Leandros and Michelle.

According to an article in the German newspaper "Handelsblatt", Kanthak had been thinking about modernizing Schlager with a younger star for some time. Schlager was no longer popular and the majority of listeners were already somewhat older. He had originally intended Michelle for the pop revolution, but her song "Wer Liebe lebt" did not become the hit he had hoped for, despite her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Helene had to come in.

Her manager had been planning to revive the hit for some time

Kanthak pulled out all the stops and arranged for Fischer's first TV appearance on Florian Silbereisen's show, with whom she entered into a relationship three years later. Together with him, she sang an operetta medley. A Saturday evening show on ARD to start with, not bad! A CD was needed. The successful pop composers Irma Holer and Kristina Bach, who incidentally also wrote "Atemlos", and the producer Jean Frankfurter were brought on board. All three are still part of the Fischer team today.

"I also had my prejudices and was afraid that I wouldn't be able to sing the beautiful ballads that I liked so much. I even cried on the drive home."

After recording two songs - "Auf der Reise ins Licht" and "Feuer am Horizont" - Fischer had to decide whether she wanted to stay on the pop track. "I was in my early twenties and wasn't much into pop music. But I thought I'd give it a go," she says in the documentary "Allein im Licht". "I also had my prejudices and was afraid that I wouldn't be able to sing the beautiful ballads that I liked so much," she continues. "I even cried on the drive home." Since then, however, she has enjoyed every moment in the pop scene. "I was warmly welcomed."

What followed was an impressive career that slowly built up. Helene Fischer's success didn't come overnight, initially she performed in shopping centers and at folk festivals: "My manager wasn't always there, I was independent and had a feeling of growing up," she recalls.

Diligence and patience paid off. Helene was frequently invited to TV shows, celebrated chart success and went on ever bigger tours. 2010 for the first time with dancers, 2013 for the first time in stadiums.

"Atemlos durch die Nacht" brought her her breakthrough with the masses

"I knew immediately that 'Breathless' would be a hit."

But in 2013, with the album "Farbenspiel", Helene Fischer made the leap from successful pop singer to Germany's most successful female artist at the time. The album moved more in the direction of pop music for the first time. The result: although the first single "Fehlerfrei" was quite successful, nobody in the German-speaking world could get past the second single "Atemlos durch die Nacht". "I immediately realized that this song was a hit," recalls Helene Fischer.

"Atemlos" not only became a carnival anthem in 2014, but was also played up and down at the Football World Cup, at the Oktoberfest, in countless TV shows and at all parties. The "Farbenspiel" indoor tour was so successful that a stadium tour was scheduled for 2015. Helene has won several awards, from Golden Hens to the Echo, and has not only hosted her own show since 2011, but also hosted the Bambi and Echo awards in 2013. She impresses at concerts with her music as well as with cover songs by other artists and musicals, with dance and acrobatics. In short: with her talent.

Helene Fischer is breaking records and constantly revolutionizing pop music. It remains to be seen in which direction she will take her music: pop or pop? Simply Helene.

HELENE FISCHER
24-29.10.17 Hallenstadion Zurich
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