Overground

In late 2003 the reality program Popstars -- Das Duell assembled the boy band Overground before millions of German television viewers. The show's third season, which gave rise to Overground, matched that boy band against a girl band, both ensembles drawn from 10,681 contestants. Members Ahmet "Akay" Kayed, Ken Miyao, Marq Porciuncula, and Meiko Reißmann edged out their female counterparts with 51.8 percent of the vote on a cover of Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up." Once the competition ended, the group released its first single, "Schick Mir Nen Engel," which promptly became a German hit. Their debut album, It's Done, reached stores in time for the 2003 holiday season and was certified double-platinum soon afterward. A cover of Montell Jordan's hit "This Is How We Do It" preceded the arrival of the follow-up album 2.OG in late 2004.