Freddy Şahin-Scholl

Freddy Şahin-Scholl — Biography

Freddy Şahin-Scholl, born Freddy Scholl on 21 December 1953 in Heilbronn, Germany, is the son of a Turkish German mother and an African-American soldier; he was raised by a foster mother in Wüstenrot who noticed his musical gift. Alongside German citizenship he also holds Turkish and American citizenship, and spent years working as an anesthesia assistant while living in Karlsruhe.

At forty, despite having no vocal training, he discovered he could switch his voice quickly between baritone and soprano, a trait behind his stage name Galileo. In 2010 he won the fourth season of Das Supertalent and its €100,000 prize, and was in contention to represent Austria at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. He had earlier won a 1980 Baden-Württemberg cabaret award.