Do you really idolize David Hasselhoff?

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t_maia2000

I hope you are really interested in the answer, because otherwise I just wasted 30 min writing this:

David Hasselhoff was big in the early and mid-90's in Germany. And one word should be noted in this sentence: was.

To understand his has-been-fame you need to understand that in the late 80's and early 90's K.I.T.T. (the car from Night Rider) was a kid's idol in Germany. Every 8-14 year old loved K.I.T.T. and consequently they loved David Hasselhoff. The show was on during day-time, when kids got home from school they switched on TV - and there was Knight Rider along with McGyver saving the world. If you did not watch the show you were uncool.

David Hasselhoff managed to capitalise on this - he was at the right place at the right time. He started his career as a singer and by the time he hit it big his second show Baywatch was on air in Germany. Most important for his fame was probably the fact that at this point most of the 8-14 year old girls (and boys) who had watched Knight Rider had grown up into 12-16 year olds. It was these girls and boys who watched Baywatch and who bought David Hasselhoff's albums. His biggest live TV appearance in Germany was not at a big Saturday evening show but at 10 am Sunday morning in Disney's Micky Mouse Club Germany with his song "Hands up for Rock'n'Roll". His biggest award in Germany was not the Echo or the Bambi (the big prices in Germany for musicians or actors), but the Otto, a price which is handed out by the teen magazine BRAVO based on a popularity vote by its readers.

Now you can say a lot about 12-year old girls, but you can't blame them for having unrefined tastes when it comes to music and men. At the early and mid-90's David Hasselhoff was this cool, 40-something good-looking guy from Hollywood, an actor and a some-what rockstar. So if you weren't into "New Kids On The Block" you weren't cool, but you could be reasonably hip if you had his poster on the wall. The teen magazine Bravo also was quite important in this success story - they always had to bring interviews, pictures and news from American musicians and actors to keep their readers interested. A small-ham-and-egg starlet like David Hasselhoff was usually willing to talk to the Bravo reporters and pose for their photographers anytime, so everytime they had a few pages to fill there was David.

The sad thing about David Hasselhoff was that he and his management never fully caught on to the dynamic. I'll never forget the total disaster that struck when (out of misguided intentions) he started to sing "schmaltzy schlager-style" in German in the late 90's. (Boooooh! Uncool! Die, David, die!) At the time even the most die-hard fans (like me *blush*) who hadn't outgrown their obsession with him yet took his posters off the wall. He hasn't been forgiven ever since.

So to sum it up: He never was very popular in Germany in general, only with the German 10-16 year old crowd in the early 90's. That time is long past and only lives on in the legacy of a few David Hasselhoff albums that gather dust in some corner.

Rick the psycho

Nope just a myth

Bam Bam

Umm...That would be a resounding NO!

Simone

Not at all, and I really have no idea why so many people from other countries think so. At least I don't know anybody who is crazy about him. In my opinion he is as interesting as the rice bag that has fallen over in China yesterday. ;-)

Sauerkraut

NOT !

Alwin E

We idolize cars and their drivers, so back in the 1980ies, David Hasselhoff was a big star when he played the driver of K.I.T.T., the robot car. But I seriously doubt if any people beyond 40 years of age can remember the "Knight Rider".

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edit:
I actually wanted to say "below" 40 years, not "beyond".

And the guy who stole my name can believe me that I have a tail and a life, and I also have guts. Maybe more than guys stealing other people's screen names. Dunno. I never did it, and I was an AOL customer once.

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@maia:
> you can say a lot about 12-year old girls, but you can't blame them for having unrefined tastes when it comes to music and men

Oh yes, WE CAN! Ask any 13 year old boy...

btw, I recently found the "K.I.T.T. vs C.A.R.R." episode on Google Video in English. Maybe worth watching?

Rena

My husband loves him music. I make fun off him all the time for it.

Ridin The Storm Out

Yes, especially in the "Spongebob Squarepants" Movie a few years back....He got Spongebob & Patrick Starfish back home, and saved the day...His ABS were awesome! ;-)

K E L L Y Mrs. Stern

you bet your FahrvergnÃ¼gen I do

AlwinE Koenig no balls/life

Answer is no most do not except some like Alwin I heard loves him, has all his LPs.

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