her professional music career in 1998, forming indie pop duo STiLL with songwriter Bernd Klanke. They released an extended play, STiLL, independently, as they failed to sign a record contract. Career 2000–2003: Popstars and No Angels In 2000, Petruo auditioned for German reality television program Popstars. She entered the competition with thousands of other women, and the judges Simone Angel, Rainer Moslener and Mario M. Mendryzcki were impressed with her performance of Bill Withers' hit single "Ain't No Sunshine". She earned a position in the top 30 finalists and travelled to Mallorca, Spain, to join her competitors for a workshop there. In the end Petruo made it to the final ten on the show, and during a special episode in November 2000, jury member Moslener disclosed that Petruo was chosen to become part of the final girl group, later called No Angels, along with Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling and Jessica Wahls. The five signed a record contract with Polydor Records. No Angels released their debut single "Daylight in Your Eyes" on 5 February 2001. The song topped the Austrian, German and Swiss Singles Charts, making it one of the most successful debuts of the year. The album Elle'ments mirrored the success of "Daylight in Your Eyes", selling one million units and earning triple platinum and septuplicate gold certifications. The second album Now... Us! followed the success of Elle'ments, and included the single "Something About Us", written by Petruo. Incorporating autobiographical features, it was inspired by Petruo's experiences with the media the year before. "I recalled the past year, the good and the bad times, and I built my own personal resume", she stated. In the following years, the band released four more albums, including the number 1 charting studio albums Now... Us! and Pure, a live album and a successful swing album title When the Angels Swing. Altogether the albums spawned twelve singles, including four number 1 singles and ten top 10 hits, making No Angels the most successful European girl group of their era with more than 5 million singles and albums sold. On 5 September 2003, the group announced that they would no longer be performing together after three years of continual touring and increasing cases of illness. The release of The Best of No Angels in November of the same year marked the end of the band, whose members each went their separate ways. While