Singer with DATOG and much more than just their "statutory woman", is Manuela Bibert. Manuela was born on 28th. October 1991 in Powlodar, a small town in Kazakhstan and moved to southern Germany at the age of two. She started piano, ballet and singing lessons at the age of six and sang in various cover bands and musicals at an early age. She also took part in nationwide talent competitions and at the age of 14, she achieved 1st place in the county championships of “Jugend musiziert” in the singing category and subsequently founded her first pop / rock cover band Funky Fresh.
After graduating from high school in 2011, Manuela began studying as a nationally recognised stage actress at Germany's largest public school for performing arts, the “Stage School Hamburg”. For three years she was trained in dance, singing and acting in the Hanseatic city, successfully completing the course in 2014. Since then, Manuela has toured as a singer and show manager with various musical projects, both on land and on the seven seas.
From 2014 to 2018, Manuela was a member of “Engelsgleich”, the most successful female choir in the German-speaking world, with an album released on the major label “Universal” in 2017 and numerous “live” and TV appearances. At the same time, she took on the leading roles in the musical productions of “Copacabana” and “Faust - Die Rockoper”, which toured throughout Germany in 2017, Manuela also started composing for other artists and publishers for the first time, since then, she has not only worked as a singer but also as a songwriter. In addition to her "everyday life" on the stage, Manuela can often be found behind the scenes, for example as a studio singer or narrator in recording studios or as the German voice overdubs of the hit children's series “Enchantimals”.
In 2018, Manuela became a background singer for the Mandoki Soulmates, where she shared the stage with world stars such as Bobby Kimball (Toto) under the direction of Leslie Mandoki. She also produced her first German-language album as a solo artist. Stylistically, Manuela serves up many genres ranging from not only pop, rock, soul and classical music but also musicals and jazz. She also even added yodelling to her list, on an Asian tour with one of her cover bands.
In 2019, Manuela accompanied the German Armed Forces Music Corps on their tour of Germany as a soloist, which subsequently led to her collaboration on the U.D.O. album “We Are One”. On “We Are One” Manuela can be heard not only on the backing vocals but also in a duet with Udo Dirkschneider (“Neon Diamond”) and also, on two solo performances on the songs “Blindfold” and “Beyond Good And Evil”. During the year-long production of “We Are One” there were several meetings between Stefan Kaufmann, Udo Dirkschneider and Peter Baltes. This eventually gave rise to the idea for “Dirkschneider & The Old Gang”, for which producer Kaufmann enlisted Manuela and Udo's son Sven in addition to former U.D.O. guitarist Mathias Dieth.
In May 2020, the version of the song “Where The Angels Fly” a left over from the album “We Are One” with the German Armed Forces Music Corps, was first released via YouTube, then Stefan Kaufmann, Udo Dirkschneider and Peter Baltes rearranged the number and turned it into a thoroughbred rock track. The result, in September 2020, you could suddenly find a low-budget video clip of the new version on YouTube. The prompt reaction of the fans was overwhelming! Without any advertising or marketing measures at all, the song video clip received millions of clicks within a few months. The second DATOG song “Face Of A Stranger” went online on 29 April 2021, to be followed by a third clip, “Every Heart Is Burning”, on 28 May 2021. A single featuring all three songs will then hit the shops on 27 August 2021 as a CD, a 12" vinyl and as a download.
Status May 2021
