Shopping Queen Vol. 1 - DVD

Content: Guido Maria Kretschmer and his Shopping Queens have long been a cult. Since the beginning of 2012, the show has been a reliable ratings guarantor in the afternoon program of VOX. The concept of the reality show is very simple: Every week, five women in a city have to put together an outfit on a certain theme, which is then judged at the end of the show by the fellow contestants and at the end of each week still by juror Guido Maria Kretschmer. The sometimes very idiosyncratic contestants, who under the pressure of time (each of them has four hours to shop for the perfect outfit) and budget (500 euros for clothes, shoes, accessories and hair / make-up) are sometimes on the verge of a nervous breakdown - much to the delight of viewers, of course.

But the very special charm of Shopping Queen, and thus the unbroken success of the show, make the off-commentary of speaker Thorsten Schorn and of course the wonderful assessments of host Guido Maria Kretschmann. The successful fashion designer says quite openly whether he likes an outfit, and he doesn't always have nice things to say about the candidates' behaviour in the shopping frenzy either. But it's his very endearing way of always letting a certain kind of respect and charity shine through, even in the nastiest of slurs, that makes him so popular with his fans. You just can't stay mad at him, no matter how biting his comments are.

For those who find their weekday dose of Shopping Queen insufficient, rejoice now: selected episodes are now being released on DVD. Vol. 1 of the series presents a total of 20 episodes on four DVDs all about Style Yourself for a Special Occasion! On the way to the altar. On DVD 1, five ladies from Stuttgart must transform themselves into a bride for a day. Self-proclaimed bimbo and beauty queen Maren shocks on the very first day with a red wedding dress, while divorcée Nicole steps onto the catwalk in a leo look. Frog lover Jenny is not exactly relaxed while shopping and has problems keeping her bust in check with her dress. Conny, who only got married in a civil ceremony, goes all out this week as she dreams of getting married in church after all. And also candidate number five gets quite romantic feelings in the search for a wedding dress, as she has already found her suitable prince charming.

The second week takes us to Kiel, where it is under the motto The most beautiful day in the life of your girlfriend to back off a little and style yourself as the perfect maid of honor of the hearts. Sports scientist Nina doesn't quite live up to the motto, as her outfit practically screams for attention just as much as the fact that she starts singing while walking the catwalk. Guido, on the other hand, is completely thrilled with candidate Katja, a nursery school teacher with heart and soul, who, in his opinion, also implements the motto well. With tattoo artist Iris, on the other hand, he makes the funniest comments of the week and with housewife Dilek, who jumps from one shop to the next, the fashion designer also knows how to comment with a sharp tongue. Financial advisor Kristina rounds off this week with chic elegance.

Week 3 invites you to go wild shopping in Berlin. What's special here is the fact that for only the second time in the series' history, a man is taking part. Like graphic designer Sina, real estate agent Daniela, educator Sylvia and nurse Carola, stylist Vincenzo also has to style himself for the first meeting with his mother-in-law. A very colourful week in which there is some bitching and in which one candidate even puts her relationship at risk through her shopping behaviour. Week 4 also takes place in Berlin and once again looks for the most beautiful bride in the country. As in week 1, this time there is also an increased budget of 1,000 euros. Dental assistant Kitty, where the hairstyle threatens to become a disaster, physiotherapist Sabrina, who just finds everything beautiful and is quite happy about everything, Christina, who is constantly called treat by her shopping companion, the freelance artist Katja, as well as the strongly esoteric Nadja ensure that this week is again a lot of fun.

All these episodes make it clear why the actually very simple success concept of Shopping Queen now for over three years works so well and also stands out quite pleasantly from other reality shows of this kind. Therefore, for fans: nothing new, but still absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD is very clean and has a decent overall sharpness, as well as a coherent color scheme. The stereo sound is rather unspectacular overall, but allows the voices and off-camera commentary to sound well intelligible and powerful from the speakers. For a TV docu-series like this, that's perfectly satisfactory. Good!

Extras: Bonus material has the box unfortunately not to offer.

F Conclusion: Shopping Queen has been a ratings guarantor for Vox for almost four years. Fashion designer Guido Maria Kretschmer and his comments are absolute cult. Biting, but still always sympathetic Kretschmer comments on his candidates during their wild shopping tours. If the daily dose of the reality show on Vox is not enough for you, you can now get some selected episodes on DVD. Volume 1 focuses on the most beautiful day in life. Four different theme weeks with a total of 20 episodes are collected on the four DVDs in the box. Even if there is no additional material, Shopping Queen fans will be very entertained here. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp