2005–2006: Deutschland sucht den Superstar After his graduation from
University of Salzburg, Regner auditioned for the third installment of the reality television program
Deutschland sucht den Superstar. He entered the competition with 14,000 others, and the judges
Dieter Bohlen, Heinz Henn and Sylvia Kollek were impressed with his voice and unconventional style. After several "re-calls" and week-by-week performances, Regner earned a position in the Top 10 finalists, eventually making it to the final two contestants on
Deutschland sucht den Superstar, and on 18 March 2006, he won the competition and earned 54.6% of the audience vote over
Mike Leon Grosch, making him the first rock artist to win the show, before
Thomas Godoj won the competition in 2008. Overwhelmed, Regner performed his "exclusive" song "
I Still Burn", a rock-ballad written by Peter Wright and
Jess Cates. When released as a single via
Sony BMG Domestic on 14 March 2006, it instantly entered the charts at No. 1 in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, simultaneously emerging as the biggest-selling single since 2004 within its first week of release. The song was eventually
certified platinum by the
IFPI for more than 300,000 copies sold. Following the successful release of "I Still Burn", Regner's full-length debut album
Straight was released on 28 April 2006. American producers
Max Martin and
Desmond Child consulted on the album which debuted at number one on the German
Media Control 100 and also peaked within the Top 5 in Austria, and the Top 20 in Switzerland. Eventually, the album was
certified gold by the IFPI for sales of more than 100,000 copies. Reviews for the album were generally favorable, with
LAUT's critic Dani Fromm praising the "versatile, powerful-voiced and likeable" character of Regner's music, and others calling it "unidirectional" but "positive", comparing it to
Jon Bon Jovi. However, further singles – "She's So" and the
Open Season theme song "Cool Without You" – failed to chart or sell noticeably. Regner was dropped eventually from his record label. ==Discography==