Mark's Tracks: Ardian Bujupi

Now I know reality TV and talent search shows are this and that, and I am not the biggest fan of careers starting of from such shows, but this one is different:

Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar (DSDS), the German equivalant to Pop- and American Idol, has been running since 2002 on Europe's largest private TV broadcasting station RTL, and this year was no different. The show finished last night with Pietro Lombardi being the winner and Sarah Engels being the runner-up. Whilst Pietro won perhaps on popularity, Sarah Engels showed that there is huge singing talent in Germany. But it is the third through the finishing line that caught my attention for dedication, passion, talent and versatility:
Ardian Bujupi was born on 27 April 1991 in Kosovo. To escape the horrors of the Balkan War at the time, Ardian's family sought refuge in Germany and since the age of 1 lives in Heidelberg, Baden-Wuerttemberg. Having recently passed his A-Level, he decided to participate in this year's run of DSDS. Here are some of his stage performances, covering a wide repotoire ranging from current Bruno Mars' 'Grenade' to jazzy Michael Buble, from soulful James Brown to German Xavier Naidoo, the latter two of which gave me the serious goosebumps...