Pietro Lombardi Says DSDS Prize Money Is Lower for Current Winners

Fifteen years after winning Deutschland sucht den Superstar, Pietro Lombardi revealed that winners today take home only 20,000 to 30,000 euros net after taxes and management fees, telling Blick that launching a lasting music career from the show has become impossible.

Financial Reality of the DSDS Prize

When Lombardi claimed the title in 2011, the victory brought a 500,000 euro prize and a recording contract, setting off a first-year earnings wave of several million euros, Blick reported. Today, the cash prize sits at 100,000 euros, but the take-home amount shrinks rapidly. In addition to the financial award and recording deal, participants are lured by the prospect of a music career, according to BUNTE.

“Davon geht die Steuer weg, davon geht Management weg. He noted that in the year following his own victory, winners earned enough to theoretically purchase real estate, an option no longer available today, according to GMX.”

That initial sum covers basic needs, but it leaves winners without the capital required to build a sustainable music career, according to BUNTE. During his tenure as a judge across four seasons, Lombardi watched every winner return to ordinary jobs, with the single exception of Ramon Roselly, gmx.ch reported.

The Shift in Television Talent Searches

Lombardi contrasted modern broadcasts with his own season, noting that viewers no longer get the chance to truly know the participants before the finale arrives, gmx.ch noted. He recalled that his own journey was a multi-month experience.

“Du siehst den DSDS-Gewinner vier Mal im Fernsehen, dann ist vorbei,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi pointed out that winners from recent seasons, such as the 20th-season champion Sem, have gone back to working in fitness studios, according to GMX.

Early Wealth and Sudden Decline

Lombardi faced his own severe financial reckoning following the initial flood of wealth after his 2011 victory, experiencing an abrupt drop in performance bookings from up to 80 down to just three or four in the second year, Joyn reported.

In his first year, he earned millions through his music, landing directly at number one on the German charts with his song “Call My Name,” before facing the reality that interest in him quickly faded and he was virtually gone the following year.

“Es gibt keine schlimmere Karriere, die man sich vorstellen kann, weil du fängst deine Karriere am Peak an,” Lombardi told the podcast host, according to BTS – Behind the Screens. He admitted to spending 30,000 to 40,000 euros a month on club alcohol despite not drinking, driven by youthful bravado before running into sudden existential dread.

He acknowledged that at 18 years old, upon winning the casting show, he simply did not know how to handle money responsibly and lived without paying attention to anything while in boastful mode.

Financial management and tax obligations caught up with the singer quickly during that period, leaving him with little of his early millions until he rebuilt his standing through television appearances and his podcast with Oliver Pocher, Berliner Zeitung noted.

Before his breakthrough, he had left secondary school without a degree, started and abandoned an apprenticeship as a painter and varnisher, earned his school-leaving certificate in a vocational entry year, worked as a pizza baker and a Swarovski crystal setter in a jewelry workshop on a minor wage basis, and played football for Karlsruher SC before an injury ended his professional football dreams at age 16.

“Und auf einmal hast du Existenzängste in so jungem Alter,” Lombardi said.