The singers Leony, 25, and Katja Krasavice, 26, are on the DSDS jury for the first time this year. They have known each other privately for a long time. In a double interview with the star, they report on how they were bullied at school, how they get by with little sleep and what they plan for the future.
Katja, you revealed on Instagram that you often only sleep three hours at night. How do you deal with that? Katja: When I’m free, I sleep all the time. At first my friends always wondered why I didn’t do anything when I was free. But because I usually work like an animal, I need some peace and quiet. When I work, I’m there 100 percent and disciplined, like with DSDS. Sometimes I’m surprised by myself how disciplined I can be. I make sure I get at least half an hour of sleep a night. If we start at 8 a.m., I have to get up at 2 a.m. I need five to six hours in the mask. But I enjoy it and I’m so grateful, I just had such a dirty life before and can now live my dream. And as long as I have the energy for it, I use it
So, on average, do you get a good amount of sleep? Katja: When I have time, I sometimes sleep ten hours straight. I have some free time too, so it’s not like that.
Leony, is it similar with you? Leony: When I work, I switch to a different mode. It’s like I’m no longer a real person, I’m just functioning. Being a musician was my childhood dream and now I’m soaking it all up. When the shoot is over or the festival summer is over, I sometimes need two days of rest. Then my body shuts down immediately. I’m actually never sick during the year, but when I have a week off, my body recovers everything it couldn’t afford to do last year. Otherwise it doesn’t work. I always want to be there and deliver and pull myself together for the people. After all, they spent money to see me at a performance, for example. Being on stage and delivering on time, fit and happy is very important to me. And being kind to people.
And what do you do when you do get sick? Leony: Then I drink ginger tea with honey and freshly squeezed lemon and try all sorts of home remedies. Otherwise, I really just lie on the couch for two days and watch some series. Although that’s really bad for me, I don’t usually like watching series. I always have to have something going on and after two or three days I quickly get bored.
Katja, you recently said that you could now buy the entire shopping center in Leipzig, where you used to shop a lot. He used to be hard to have the money for single clothes. How much did that and your music shape you? Katja: I have very unpleasant memories of the center. I had a Michael Kors watch. But it was fake because I couldn’t afford a Michael Kors watch, I was still underage. My mom gave it to me and I was very, very proud of the watch and happy with it. Then it broke and I had to have it repaired. I went to one of those shops in the center and gave the watch to a saleswoman. And then she said: “I’ll write “fake watch” on the piece of paper. And I thought so mean of her. She saw that I didn’t have much money and was so happy with my watch. That still pisses me off to this day. And that’s what I had to think about the other day when I passed the center again.
Katja, in your book you also reported on bullying experiences that you cannot let go of. If you met these people again today, how would that go? Is there anything else you would like to tell them? Katja: They would all ask me for an autograph now. Because their sister, aunt or friend are celebrating me. But I’m human, I forgive but I don’t forget. But what I see is that people who used to bully me are now celebrating my songs, they tag me more often on Instagram. And then I think to myself: At school you called after me that I was cheap and should go die. Funny that you think my song is cool now, in which I sing about being emancipated.
Leony, did you also have negative experiences at school? Leony: Not on the same level as Katja. But kids can be so cruel. They don’t even know what they’re doing. But that can be really bad and it always was for me. That ran through my entire school career. I had friends, I couldn’t have gotten through it without them. There were many who said: You can’t do it with singing anyway and you’ll come back to the village humbled because you’ve failed. There were also rumors for others to bully me about it. For example, that I insured my vocal cords for a million euros in seventh grade or that I have a list of people who can be friends with me. If you don’t like it, you can’t be friends with me. That was of course complete nonsense. Now I’m thinking: maybe that wasn’t so bad after all, because it prepared me for life now. Today, hate comments just bounce off me. I made something good out of the bad and got stronger as a result.
Leony, you made a breakthrough in the pandemic. Can you also take something good from this stressful time?Leony: One advantage of the pandemic was that I was able to lock my team in the studio for what felt like two years. We couldn’t go anywhere. Good and important songs came out like “Remedy” and “Faded Love”. The downside is of course: many people don’t know my face and angry tongues ask: who is that? But I didn’t have the opportunity to play live during the pandemic. Everything was cancelled. But I also see that as positive: I already had musical success during the pandemic, my songs were and are being played on the radio. And I’ve had two years to prepare myself mentally for everything that’s to come, like my first tour. The pandemic period was like a ramp.
Leony, compared to Katja’s texts, yours are more romantic. Would you like to be more provocative in the future? I don’t think so. That’s not in my nature. I still have that Bavarian feeling in me that it’s best not to attract attention, best not to offend. For me, the most important thing is the music and not standing out. And that has worked well in recent years, that I let the art speak for itself. I think there’s a fine line between: Is it already offensive when I’m on stage in a short outfit or because I feel so comfortable? Do I do it because I want to attract attention or because I think I’m so beautiful. A nice outfit can boost self-confidence. But I wouldn’t dye my hair pink right now. That wouldn’t be me. I like to just be at home, I don’t go to parties. I like this normal life that will not change.
Katja, how about you: Would you like to be less provocative in the future?Katja: Provocative has always been my protective shield and I love to provoke. It got me through my tough times. Whenever someone said or did something bad to me, I always thought to myself: Now more than ever. I’m just the way I am. I do what I feel and love. Just like you said, Leony. I love having colorful hair and wearing a lot of make-up and when I’m feeling different I also wear something with little or no cleavage. I’m just being myself and that’s always been the reason why people have heart attacks. And then at some point I realized: OK, if I can provoke people like that, then even more so. And in the end I was accepted like that. You have to do your thing until nobody says anything against it.
Leony: And I think that’s what makes us both special. We just stayed the way we are. With you, people said you were too much. For me it was always the case that people said the opposite: do your hair pink or you need some kind of scandal. They wanted to put me in a box I didn’t want to be in. I was always so nice and not the one who now goes out with pink hair, I also go out without make-up because I don’t give a damn. It’s important to me that I’m authentic and that I just stay myself. That’s also what appeals to people. The most important thing is that you feel good about yourself and don’t play just any role, the others notice that. And neither of us do that, Katja
Katja: My managers used to tell me that I would only be successful and that people would only want to work with me if I was normal and didn’t attract attention. And I said: Well, then I don’t want to work with these people either. If they don’t want to work with me, that’s bad luck for them.
Leony: There you see it again: No matter how you do it, you’re doing it wrong. They said exactly the same thing to me. I was exactly what you should have been. And you were exactly what I should have been. And we didn’t let anyone tell us anything and just both stayed the way we were. One must not bend in this world and above all not for success or money. One must never allow that. Because sooner or later you’ll get mental problems if you’re just pretending to be someone you’re not.
