Unemployed mechanic to mega-star: Zlatko's improbable rise

BERLIN - When he first lumbered across the TV screen, there was no indication a superstar lay dormant in the burly unemployed mechanic.

Known only by his first name, Zlatko, he didn't know who Shakespeare was. He spoke German like a nonnative. He sang off-key. He admitted he never read books.

And that's exactly what clicked. Locked inside a house with other residents of the reality TV show ''Big Brother'' - a sort of MTV ''Real World'' taken to an Orwellian extreme - the 24-year-old Zlatko seemed to be the only person who was real.

At a time of growing disenchantment in Germany over a political scandal and perceptions of increasing egotism, Zlatko appeared open, honest and sincere. Threatened with ejection from the show as part of its biweekly audience phone vote, fans flocked to support Zlatko. They composed Web site tributes and wrote songs praising him as an Average Joerg, just like them.

''Even the politicians cheat on people who elect them ... but at least Zlatko says what he is, he's honest,'' said Betty Siegel, a sociologist in Hamburg. ''That is very likable at a time when you get the impression that nobody's being honest and all are trying to play games to get the most out of relationships.''

Despite his following, Zlatko was voted off the show Sunday. And that's when things really started to take off.

By Monday, he had already recorded a pop song; a tour this summer is likely. Stern magazine put him on its cover Wednesday and heralded him as ''King of Germany.''

He's making the rounds of the German talk shows. He's been besieged by more than 100 interview requests. And the network that produces ''Big Brother'' is giving him his own reality TV show - ''Zlatko's World.''

Suddenly, the $125,000 prize awarded to the last person left after 100 days on ''Big Brother'' seemed like chump change. Tabloids have speculated he could earn millions; talk is he's been offered advertising deals for everything from beer to cosmetics to exercise equipment.

''He has as many inquiries as a pop star,'' said Harald Stoffels, Zlatko's agent. ''Our phone system was overloaded. I've never seen anything like this.''

Baring his tattooed arms on ''Big Brother'' while working out with housemate Juergen, Zlatko always did his own thing under the camera's eyes. He never put on pretenses to win favor with the audience.

He and Juergen hung out and played chess, sometimes offending their housemates with their politically incorrect humor.

Zlatko never tried to act smarter than he was.

Asked who Shakespeare was, he responded: ''Mmm..., I have no idea if he wrote novels, made films, documentaries, no idea.''

In a conversation about sex, housemate Kerstin told Zlatko she thought he was definitely ''hetero.'' ''I'm not gay,'' Zlatko quickly retorted.

When he was selected by his fellow residents, along with Juergen, as the two whose fate would be put in the audience's hands on Sunday, Zlatko's popularity soared.

Fans launched ''Save Zlatko'' campaigns on the Web and composed songs with choruses of ''Zlatko is our hero.'' Reporters interviewed his family and friends in Schwabia, where his Macedonian parents settled.

The ''Big Brother'' show on Zlatko's day of reckoning drew the highest rating for station RTL II since it's been on the air: 4.7 million viewers, including nearly half the 14- to 29-year-olds watching TV at the time.

Still, Zlatko was voted out by viewers. Juergen survived and if he wins, the friends have made a pact to split the prize.

Matthias Biehler, who produced a ''Save Zlatko'' Web site, speculated that fans were simply confused and those who dialed the number for Zlatko didn't realize they were actually voting him out.

Zlatko's last name, Trpkovski, wasn't known until after the show because producers kept it secret. Now it's everywhere. His brother has launched his own Web site selling T-shirts and coffee mugs labeled ''The Brain'' and ''Shakesbier?''

Time will tell if Zlatko's fame remains.

''You did in four weeks what it took me seven years to do,'' comedian Stefan Raab told Zlatko during his TV talk show debut. ''But come and talk to me again after seven years.''

Down-to-earth as ever, Zlatko has no unrealistic expectations.

''A superstar? I don't know. Someday normal life will return. Then I'd like to have a little house, a truck garage, my family, my peace,'' he told the Bild newspaper.

At the end of his interview on Raab's show, the host gave Zlatko a copy of Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'' - claiming he had the bard himself sign it.

Zlatko chuckled, but didn't appear to quite get the joke.