One more Indonesian talent shines brightly abroad, and we’re here for it. Claudia Emmanuela Santoso, 19-year-old singer from the port city of Cirebon in West Java, was named winner of the ninth season of talent show The Voice of Germany on Sunday.
Coached by German-British singer Alice Merton, Claudia beat four other finalists in the final round with I Have Nothing by the late Whitney Houston, accumulating the highest vote at 46.39 percent. She became the third foreigner, the first Asian winner – and along with Merton – they’re the first all-female team to win in the show’s history.
The video of her winning performance has topped YouTube’s trending videos since yesterday, and back on her home soil, netizens have flocked to social media to express their pride in Claudia.
https://twitter.com/aMrazing/status/1193771109482582017
Where the hell have I been OMG… I cried just by watching this incredible performance.
https://twitter.com/poetryppe/status/1193958689436098561
Claudia’s success didn’t happen overnight, as she had gone to singing courses at a young age and joined three different talent shows while in Indonesia: Akademi Fantasi Indonesia (AFI) Junior in 2008, Idola Cilik in 2011, and Mamamia Show in 2014. Aside from the televised talent shows, Claudia also tried her luck in other singing competitions and uploading her song covers online.
Claudia has been living in Germany since 2018 and is currently enrolled at Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich, one of the country’s top universities. Earlier this year, she came across an ad for The Voice of Germany and decided to join the audition in Munich before making it to Berlin for the televised Blind Audition in September.
There, Claudia sang Never Enough from the 2017 musical drama The Greatest Showman. Her voice made all four judges turn their chairs even before she finished performing, and moved Merton to tears.
She had quite a smooth journey throughout the competition, where she continued to mesmerize both judges and viewers with a slew of cover songs: from Say Something, originally performed by American musical duo A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera in the Battle session; Run by Northern Irish rock band Snow Patrol in the Sing-offs; and, Listen by Beyonce, from the 2006 musical Dreamgirls, in the semifinal.
In the season finale, Claudia performed duets with English singer Freya Ridings and Merton. With the latter, she also sang an original song titled Goodbye, written by the coach herself.
Claudia took to Instagram yesterday to express her gratitude to everyone who has supported her career thus far, and encouraged her fans to stream her single Goodbye.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4urrsqqYKB/
Enjoy Claudia’s performances in The Voice of Germany below. Herzlichen Glückwunsche, Claudia!
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