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. It was stated that she withdrew, however as it turned out RTL took Richel out against her will. 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. Top 10 candidates Pietro Lombardi Pietro Lombardi (born in Karlsruhe). Sarah Engels Sarah Engels was born in Cologne on 15 October 1992. She had been taking vocal lessons for four years before participating in DSDS and took part in street festivals on many occasions. She was also on DSDS in season 6 where she was eliminated in the recall after a duet with Eugen Flittner. She was eliminated in the Top 10. However, on 10 March, Nina Richel had to leave DSDS as a result of bad health conditions, which resulted in Engels taking her place. Ardian Bujupi Ardian Bujupi was born in Pristina, Yugoslavia and lives in Heidelberg today. Marco Angelini Marco Angelini (born in Voitsberg, Austria). He completed his medical study shortly after the casting and is going to write his thesis after his departure from DSDS. He also planned to write a book about his time at the casting show and his impressions of it. He is lead singer of the Austrian-based rock band Black Balloon. Sebastian Wurth Sebastian Wurth was born in Wipperfürth on 24 July 1994. He is the youngest participant in this year's season. Dieter Bohlen saw great potential in him. Wurth is often compared with Justin Bieber because of their similar hair style. He is a fan