DSDS
Having lived in Hamburg for only 10 months, upon insistence from his friends, he auditioned for the German reality show Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS, the German version of Pop Idol or Superstar) in autumn 2007. He reached the finals of the show, where on 17 May 2008 he competed against Thomas Godoj in finale where Maalouf received 37.8% of the public votes finishing in the second place.
The song "Blessed" was written for Fady by Jörgen Elofsson and Peer Åström, to be released as the winning song in case Fady won. Elofsson and Åströma were a songwriter team of international standing, who have worked with such names as Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Madonna, Britney Spears, Cyndi Lauper, Il Divo, and especially Céline Dion. The song was produced by Alex Christensen, who has worked with artists such as Justin Timberlake, Tom Jones, Paul Anka or Michael Bolton.He sang the song on May 17, 2008, in the final showdown between him and Thomas Godoj who eventually won.
Read more about this topic: Fady Maalouf