Archive: September 2010
7 years ago I produced a documentary in Zambia “Confused Marriage”, the story of a mixed African-German marriage in a little village in the African desert. (You can watch an excerpt on this site) At that time a young woman was jumping, laughing and singing around, Candy Hammerschmidt. Nobody saw her because she enjoyed the village life so much, where her mother originally came from. Candy and the entire team enjoyed the life in Chipata and didn’t want to go back to Berlin, where we came from.
3 years ago I wrote a blog down below on this site about a new Hip Hop group by Okan&Essa, whose music I enjoyed a lot. I made a film about them and how they mix African and Turkish rhythms with Hip Hop and Soul. They reminded me of the times, when I discovered Hip Hop in New York in 1982. At that time when I was a kid, this music expressed my spirit and way of living. Still later in the 90′ies I wrote a film script with Hip Hop music.
During the last years Candy did a lot of hard work. She took singing and acting classes; she was a great dancer by nature. Apart from starting an acting career in theater and film (Résiste - the revolt of trainees), Candy Hammerschmidt sang in various groups in different styles and worked together with her brothers Bryan and Barry. Bryan Hammerschmidt composes and writes music, makes music for films and videos as his brother Barry is in beat boxing. His music inspired us for a great scene in the above mentioned film “Résiste” by Jonas Grosch.
So from the little girl in the Zambian and Berlin desert, slowly a talented and creative singer emerged. During the years she developed her own style and aura, which is particular to her. She attained a foundation to become a singer and performer on an international level.
Yesterday we could watch Candy in the casting show X-Factor at Vox, where she presented a great performance together with her colleagues Roman Schwitalia and Marc Marcowski. They started not long ago as a group, created by Georges Glueck, a well-known and very interesting music producer, who created Falco, Sarah Connor and other stars for the European and international market. It must have been a tough work for all participants to get together as a group in such a short time. But it shows their talent and future.
You may watch and vote again for “Urban Candy” next week on Tuesday the 5th of October on Vox at 20h15. Have fun and enjoy!