Daniel Küblböck


Daniel Dominik Kaiser-Küblböck was a German singer, best known for placing third in the television talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar in 2003. In the years that followed, she remained present in the media through work as a jazz singer and entrepreneur, as an actor and narrator in films and audio books, and by taking part in reality shows.
In September 2018, Küblböck went missing at sea off Canada while travelling on a cruise ship, and was declared dead on 10 March 2021. Shortly before the disappearance, Küblböck is reported to have privately expressed a desire to assume a female identity with the name Lana Kaiser in a barroom conversation with another passenger.

Career

Küblböck rose to stardom in late 2002 when she participated in the first season of German talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar. She gained the most viewer votes in three of the nine rounds of the competition and received the second-most votes in a further three rounds. Together with other participants, Daniel recorded the album United which included the number 1 single "We Have a Dream". She finished the season in third place overall.
After DSDS, Küblböck signed a contract with BMG. In March 2003, she released her debut solo single, "You Drive Me Crazy", which topped the German sales chart. The follow-up single, "Heartbeat", and Daniel's debut album Positive Energie both reached no. 2 in Germany and achieved major success in Austria and Switzerland. In September 2003, she launched a perfume line for children in three fragrances under her name. She also released an autobiography Ich lebe meine Töne. Küblböck invested the proceeds from her album Positive Energie amounting to around one million euros in a solar plant in Lower Bavaria, which would bring her high monthly profits.
In early 2004, she participated in Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, the German version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, where she came third. She then released a cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" which reached the top 10 in Germany and the top 40 on the Austrian and Swiss charts. Her next single, the ballad "Teenage Tears", sold 10,000 copies. In August, Küblböck's biographical musical film Daniel – Der Zauberer was released, in which she played a fictionalized version of herself. The film was critically panned and bombed at the box office. At the end of 2004, she released the charity single "Don't Close Your Eyes" with three others DSDS participants under the moniker 4 United, in support of Ärzte ohne Grenzen. It was a moderate chart success.
In 2005, Küblböck launched her own marketing company Positive Energie. In November 2005, she released her second album, Liebe Nation, recorded in German. It only reached no. 54 in Germany, and the accompanying single "König von Deutschland" was a moderate chart success. The next single, country-inspired "Born in Bavaria", was her last ever to chart. Küblböck's subsequent albums were released independently. 2009 saw the release of the jazz album Jazz Meets Blues... Wenn zwei sich verlieben and her first Christmas CD Leise rieselt der Schnee. The following year, she released Schrebergarten and a two-disc compilation Best of 2003–2010. None of these albums managed to enter any sales charts.
In 2011, she started hosting her own talk show Daniels Bistro. In 2012, she released the album Diez años Kúblbóck – Ich versteh’ nur Spanisch which included some material recorded in Spanish and influenced by Latin pop. As Daniel Kaiser she submitted the song "Be a Man" to the German national pre-selection for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, but it was rejected by the jury. In spring 2015, she took part in the eighth season of the German dance show Let's Dance, where she finished sixth, together with her dancing partner Otlile Mabuse. In early 2016, she released her final album, Jesus Is My Lover.

Personal life

Family

Küblböck's parents were Günther, a German, and Bianca, a woman of Italian descent. She had four brothers: Andreas, Michael, Günther and Dennis, and one sister, Jasmin.
While living in Mallorca, she met and befriended German millionaire Kerstin Elisabeth Kaiser who would later officially adopt her. Daniel subsequently adopted the double-barrelled surname Kaiser-Küblböck.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

In 2010, Küblböck came out as gay, after previously describing herself as bisexual.
Just prior to her disappearance, Küblböck privately discussed wanting live out a female identity under the name "Lana Kaiser". She said in September 2018 that she would have a gender reassignment surgery to become a woman and that her hormone therapy had already started. Shortly before the disappearance, Küblböck created an Instagram account with the name "Rosa Luxemburg", on which she described herself as "transsexual".
In 2020, artist Philipp Gufler created a 13-minute short film and a magazine about Lana Kaiser. The film was shown, among others, at the 67th Short Film Festival in Oberhausen and in the group exhibition Sweat in the Haus der Kunst, Munich.

Legal trouble

On 24 February 2004, Küblböck was injured when she collided with a truck while driving a car without a licence near Pfarrkirchen. She was fined €25,000 and sentenced to eight hours of community service.

2018 disappearance

Küblböck was a private passenger on the cruise ship AIDAluna that left Hamburg on 29 August 2018, bound for New York City. At around 5 a.m. on 9 September, she jumped overboard. The vessel was in open waters about 185 km north of St. John's in the Labrador Sea. The water temperature was about.
The Canadian Coast Guard launched a search operation, assisted by the cruise ships AIDAluna and MS Zuiderdam. On 10 September, the search was abandoned, because the maximum survival time in cold water was exceeded. Under German law, a person missing at sea can be declared dead after six months have elapsed and a motion is filed by an eligible party. In August 2020, an application was submitted to declare Küblböck dead or to present evidence by 30 September 2020 that she is alive. On 10 March 2021, the Amtsgericht Passau declared Küblböck dead, setting her death date as 9 September 2018, 8:55 a.m. local time.
In the weeks leading up to the disappearance, Küblböck's friends noticed changes in her personality and signs of psychological problems, unsuccessfully trying to dissuade her from going on the cruise. Other passengers on the ship also reported Daniel's erratic behaviour, mood swings, and psychological problems.

Discography

Studio albums

Christmas albums

  • 2009: Leise rieselt der Schnee
  • 2010: Küblböckische Weihnacht – 24 Dates
  • 2011: ''Küblböckische Weihnacht – Ruhe vor dem Sturm''

    Live albums

  • 2008: Zero to Sexy – Live
  • 2011: Schrebergarten – Live
  • 2012: El tiempo – Live
  • 2013: Diez años Kúblbóck – Ich versteh' nur Spanisch – Live
  • 2014: ''Die Küblböck Live Show''

    Compilations

  • 2010: ''Best of 2003–2010''

    Singles

Other appearances

DVDs

  • 2004: Live on PE Tour 2003
  • 2004: My Life Is Magic
  • 2007: Jazz Night
  • 2008: Back to the Roots
  • 2009: Jazz Meets Blues... Wenn zwei sich verlieben
  • 2011: Schrebergarten Berlin
  • 2013: ''Diez años Kúblbóck – Ich versteh' nur Spanisch – Live in Berlin''

    Filmography

  • 2003: St. Angela
  • 2004: Daniel – Der Zauberer
  • 2004: ''Crazy Race 2 – Warum die Mauer wirklich fiel''

    TV shows

  • 2002–03: Deutschland sucht den Superstar
  • 2004: Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!
  • 2005: Big Brother
  • 2011–14: Daniels Bistro
  • 2015: ''Let's Dance''