The eighth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar was broadcast on German channel RTL from 8 January to 7 May 2011.^[1] The winner got a recording contract with Universal Music Group.^[1] Nina Eichinger and Volker Neumüller were removed from the panel^[2][3] and were replaced by Fernanda Brandão^[4] and Patrick Nuo.^[5] Marco Schreyl returned as the host. DSDS has extended participation privileges to Austria and Switzerland.^[1][6] Pietro Lombardi won the competition.^[7]

Sixty people were injured on 27 March in a stampede when a large crowd showed up for an autograph session with this season's participants at CentrO in Oberhausen.^[8] More than two dozen people were hospitalized.^[8] The victims of the injuries were between 12 and 17 years old and injuries include broken bones, shock, and loss of consciousness.^[8] Emergency treatment tents to handle the crowd.^[8] The organizers were only expecting 5,000 fans to show up, but an estimated 19,000 people attended.^[8] There were no charges laid after the investigation was completed in July.^[9]

The Hamburger Morgenpost questioned whether RTL misquoted DSDS Top 10 candidate Anna-Carina Woitschack.^[10] In an interview, Anna-Carina was quoted as saying "It was cut together all wrong. I never said that I hate Sarah - but on the contrary, I do not hate Sarah Engels. That is what I said. But it was cut this way by RTL, because it looks good for the show."^[10]

RTL received a statement from the Office of Public Safety stating that Sebastian Wurth was not allowed to participate after 10 pm.^[11] RTL was also fined €15,000 for the incident.^[12]

The Hamburger Morgenpost questioned whether the liveshows were actually live broadcast.^[13] In the third "Mottoshow", Marco Angelini slipped up in his performance and forgot to sing at the correct time.^[13]

Pietro Lombardi's brother posted nude picture of Sarah Engels after she used Pietro's cell phone to talk to girls.^[14] The hardcore fans of Pietro Lombardi told his brother Marco about this and he was not happy about this. So, he decided to take "revenge".^[14] Pietro's brother also wrote "Everyone knows how cheap Sarah Engels is. She is sneaky. A liar."^[14]

DSDS host Marco Schreyl mixed up the phone numbers for candidates Zazou Mall and Marco Angelini.^[15] A camera shot of Marco Angelini showed him enraged towards the lens.^[15] A reporter for the Hamburger Morgenpost, who was present, reported there were chaotic scenes shortly before the end of the recording.^[15] Dieter Bohlen mentioned the mistake and Marco Schreyl replied that "It could be made easier for the host".^[15] RTL decided that no candidate would be eliminated and the final show has been pushed back a week and is now scheduled to air on 7 May.^[15]

On the sixth Mottoshow, Sarah Engels had two wardrobe incidents, when dancing to "Walking on Sunshine", where she began dancing too close to one of the cameras, causing two upskirts. This was eventually shown to the studio audience during the recap of her performance and was noted by the judges.

As with season 7, an audition truck, in which the candidates can qualify for the televised auditions, stopped in various cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland between August 2010 and October 2010.^[1] Open auditions took place in September 2010 in Cologne, Munich, Hamburg and Berlin.^[16] 34,956 people auditioned throughout the 35 cities that hosted auditions.^[1] 135 candidates advanced to the Recall.^[17] Menderes Bagci, who failed in the auditions in the previous 7 seasons, advanced to the recall.^[18]

The first "recall" show aired on 2 February. The 135 candidates who advanced to the Recall were split up into groups where the judges picked 60 candidates for the next round.^[17] The 60 candidates who advanced participated in groups and duets.^[17] Nico Raecke, who originally was one of the participants advancing to the Top 35, was thrown out of Deutschland sucht den Superstar because of his arrest for robbery and assault.^[19] Menderes Bagci was one of the candidates eliminated on 5 February Recall show.^[20] The Top 35 went to the Maldives.^[1]

(Ages stated at time of contest)

Original airdate: 19 February 2011

Advancing to Top 10 (Public votes): Norman, Marvin, Marco, Sebastian, Pietro, Ardian, Anna-Carina

Advancing to Top 10 (Jury selection): Sarah, Zazou, Nina

• Top 15: "Higher" by Taio Cruz ft. Kylie Minogue
• Top 10: "Club Can't Handle Me" by Flo Rida ft. David Guetta
• Top 9: "The Time (Dirty Bit)" by The Black Eyed Peas
• Top 8: "Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" by Flo Rida
• Top 7: "Yeah 3x" by Chris Brown
• Top 6: "On The Floor" by Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull
• Top 6: "Who's That Chick" by David Guetta ft. Rihanna
• Top 5: "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas
• Top 4: "Crying at the Discoteque" by Alcazar
• Top 3: "When Love Takes Over" by David Guetta ft. Kelly Rowland
• Top 2: "We've Got Tonight" by Ronan Keating ft. Jeanette Biedermann
  "The Time (Dirty Bit)" by Black Eyed Peas
  Top 10: "Higher" by the Taio Cruz ft. Kylie Minogue (without Pietro and Sarah)

• On 19 February it was intended that the viewers would choose 7 and the judges 3 finalists. The judges, or mostly Dieter Bohlen, however chose not to decide and therefore the three people with the next highest votes made it through to the finals automatically. They were Sarah Engels, Zazou Mall and Nina Richel.
• On 10 March, Nina Richel was taken out of the competition due to her numerous breakdowns.^[31] It was stated that she withdrew, however as it turned out RTL took Richel out against her will.^[32] She was replaced by Sarah Engels who returned after a one-week absence since her original elimination - finishing 2nd instead of 10th, Engels became the most successful replacement candidate in the history of the show.
• On 2 April RTL switched the numbers of Zazou Mall and Marco Angelini several times during the recap. The voting was therefore stopped at the beginning of the results and it was announced that no one would get eliminated that week and that the series will be extended with a one-week delay for the final. All votes that came in before the first mistake, were included in the result of the following week, people who called later got a refund.