X Factor: These are the bands and solo artists in the grand finale
Eight candidates competed against each other in the semi-finals of "X Factor". The viewers sent EES & the Yes-Yes! Band, Sheila Rothberg (29) and Jan-Marten Block (23) directly into the final. In a sing-off, the five boys from Wait Of The World were able to save the fourth place in the final with the voice of juror Jennifer Weist (31). On Friday, the big final show will start live on Sky 1 from 8:15 pm. Here you will find the most important information about the finalists in advance.
EES & the Yes-Yes! tape
Behind the stage name EES hides the German-Namibier Eric Sell, who was born in 1983 in Windhoek and moved to Cologne in 2004 to advance his music career. Nine years ago, he teamed up with the Yes-Ja! Band from Namibia and was spellbound by the extraordinary music genre "South-African Kwaito". The term "kwaito" consists of the two African words "kwait", which means "announced" and "to", which means "township". By analogy, the music is therefore trendy stuff from the black quarters of big cities in Africa. The music is a mixture of Afro-Pop, Reggae, Hip-Hop and House and has according to Eric Sell such a life energy, that it would be a pity not to make this music in Germany public. In Africa, EES is already a well known musician, filmed 45 music videos and won several awards. Under the direction of Jennifer Weist, EES made it to the final in the category "Bands and Groups" together with its partners.
Wait Of The World
Also in the category "bands and groups" Wait Of The World made it to the final round. The band consists of vocalist Ben Hutchison-Bird, guitarist, keyboardist and also singer Mike Sigl, bassist Tom Patchett, guitarist Marco Eckl and drummer Elias Bohatsch, every 22 years young. The five guys from near Munich have known each other for many years and have been making music together since 2013. They are a committed team and always rehearsed in the basement of Ben's childhood home, who was born in England. For performances, the mother of Elias provided them with a car. The five musicians used to play funk rock, but have been switching to rock music for some time. They were able to convince with "X Factor" especially with their own compositions. Singer Ben also has an extraordinary voice with great recognition potential.
Sheila Rothberg
Sheila Rothberg (29) is in the category "Soloacts from 25" and fought her way into the final with mentor Thomas Anders (55). She is a tattoo artist by profession. At the age of 16, she bought her first own machine and experimented on her friends. After two years of practice, she works since the age of 18 as a freelance tattoo artist in different studios. Her father is from Tunisia, her mother is from Germany. At 17, the musician became pregnant and at 18, her daughter Nala. Today she lives with her husband, her daughter, two dogs and a horse in the countryside - that gives her life a lot of support and structure, Rothberg says. With her smoky voice the 29-year-old reminds of singers like Amy Winheouse and Adele and was able to convince the jury and the audience.
Jan Marten Block
Actually Jan-Marten Block (23) started at "X Factor" as a duo together with friend Daniel. However, since the jury has voted it out, the musician beats himself solely through the casting show. In the category "boys to 24" with Mentor Sido (37) he made it to the finals. Daniel and Jan-Marten got to know each other when friends gave him a recording of a recording studio in Daniel's studio on Sylt for their birthday. Jan-Marten Block works as a warehouse worker in his parents' company and still lives at home. His deep, bass-heavy voice is reminiscent of Joe Cocker, whose song "Unchain My Heart" he performed in the first live show.
