| Intro | South African singer |
| Is | Singer |
| From | South Africa |
| Type | Music |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 22 March 1978, Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch Local Municipality, Cape Winelands District Municipality, Western Cape |
| Age: | 42 years |
Heinz Carl Heinrich Winckler (born 22 March 1978) was the winner of the first series of South African Idols and is also an actor.
Born the eldest of three children in Stellenbosch, South Africa, he went on to study law at Stellenbosch University. After winning the Idols competition in June 2002, he discontinued his studies to devote time to a music career.
Idols
Idols was the South African version of the British Pop Idol show, and was presented as a talent search competition with successive elimination rounds narrowing the number of contestants. Throughout the show, Winckler was referred to as “Hunky Heinz” because of his good looks.
Songs performed on Idols
- Audition: I’m A Believer by (Smash Mouth)
- Top 50: Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me), by Train
- Top 11: I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing, by Aerosmith
- Top 8: Higher, by Creed
- Top 6: Shallow Waters, by Just Jinger
- Top 4: Every Breath You Take, by The Police
- Top 4: Soledad, by Westlife
- Finale: Once In A Lifetime; Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me), by Train; Soledad, by Westlife
Post-Idols career
Winckler’s debut single, Once in a lifetime, went double platinum in South Africa having sold over 100000 copies. His subsequent debut album, One step closer, included this song as well as Soledad, a cover of the Westlife song which he performed during Idols, and Next stop happiness, which became a single as well.
He was nominated for two South African Music Awards, including best single for Once In A Lifetime and best pop album for One Step Closer.
In 2003, with the inaugural World Idol competition, Winckler came fourth behind Belgium’s Peter Evrard (3rd), the U.S.’s Kelly Clarkson (2nd), and Norway’s Kurt Nilsen (Winner).
His second album, Come Alive, was released via BMG, and features more ballads and rhythmic songs. It includes the singles Can’t Lose With You and Thank You, as well as I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing. Also included are songs written by himself; Drowning Me is a track co-written by him.
He performed Chasing Shadows, the theme song for the South African release of the Disney movie Treasure Planet.
Heinz married Alette De Klerk on 25 September 2006 in South Africa. They welcomed a son, Lian Theo Winckler, on 23 May 2010 at 7:25am. On 20 April 2012, their second son, Simeon Carl Winckler was born at 6:48pm. Reuben Jacques Winckler was born on 15 March 2014 at 7:40pm.
In 2006, Heinz returned to the recording studio. He has just finished recording his third studio album titled Moment of Truth and is due for release in September, 2006. The album contains twelve songs:
1. Another Day
2. Wrong
3. Got Me Believing
4. Love’s Supposed To Be
5. Runaway Lover
6. Don’t Know What I’m Feeling
7. Get Away
8. Love Will Breathe
9. Back Together
10. Do You Feel The Same
11. Moment Of Truth
12. I Do
He has twice appeared on the music game show Noot vir Noot as a guest artist, in seasons 36 and 39. He also appeared as a coach on the Afrikaans music reality show “Supersterre”.
Discography
Albums
- Idols: The Album (2002)
- One Step Closer (November 2002)
- Come Alive (September 2004)
- Moment Of Truth (September 2006)
- Ek kan weer in liefde glo (October 2009)
- 24/7/365 (2011)
- Jy’s bonatuurlik (2014)
Singles
- Once In A Lifetime (June 2002)
- Next Stop Happiness (March 2004)
- One Step Closer
- The Way It Is
- Can’t Lose With You
- Drowning Me
- Only For You
- Thank You
- Another Day
- Love’s Supposed To Be
- Who You Really Are (2011, for the Eurovision contest)
Acting career
He performed in the role of Roger Davis in the touring production of the musical Rent from the 2007-2008 season.
In 2015, Winckler starred in the romantic comedy “Mooirivier” playing a singer performing at an Easter music festival.