For a change, and as I said a few days ago, I am very happy with the German song selection for ESC 2019 – even if I’m in the minority feeling that way. The quality of songs and artists was a big improvement on recent years, and the voting format is exciting and better than most of the ones Germany has used in the past.

But it’s not all sunshine, and there are still five things that annoy me about the German final. Let’s find out what they are, and what Germany can do to improve.

1. Unengaged hosts
We love Barbara. She’s a legend, she has her own magazine, she is the best host that Germany could have for this show. Her interactions with Linda Zervakis weren’t unentertaining, but nothing to shout about either. Peter Urban, the Terry Wogan of Germany, was the second legend in the studio, and although his role as commentator felt very unusual for a national final, his place in this format is deserved and it works. But let’s get back to Linda Zervakis. Like most other previous German final hosts, she seemed to not really care about what was happening on the evening. I guess she just wanted to demonstrate that questionable German TV “coolness” (which is actually not cool at all), but it comes across as uninterested, unengaged, bored. It mostly shone through in that striking moment when she obviously didn’t know by heart which artist had which position in the running order. In a final with just seven songs, that’s lame and unprofessional. Germany has surely more entertaining and more engaged counterparts for Barbara. Find them!

She deserves better!

2. Way too long postcards
Postcards in Eurovision shows have two obvious functions: They introduce the audience to the next artist, and while they’re happening, the stage is reorganised and prepared for the next performance. On the whole, though, viewers tend not to be very interested in postcards. Their attention span might last for 30 seconds, but anything longer than a minute is just too much. I didn’t sit there with a stopwatch and take measurements, but the postcards in the German final felt like they were longer than the actual songs! Why? Watching this year’s national finals from around Europe makes it all too clear that Germany has some of the biggest gaps between songs. The show dragged so much that we were still only at song 4 after nearly an hour. That’s way too much airtime for uninteresting, unexciting, unentertaining material. Does Germany really need that much longer to work on the stage between songs? It’s hard to believe – the postcards have been far shorter in the past, and Germany has recent experience of hosting ESC itself, with its much shorter gaps between songs. The idea may well be to introduce the next artist in depth, but in that case, it’s a good intention poorly executed. When it’s all about the song, a snappy postcard keeps the viewer’s interest up and prevents them from searching for snacks or going elsewhere – other channels included.

3. Established artists as interval acts
Udo Lindenberg is one of the biggest German music legends, but other than writing a long-forgotten national final entry, what was the reason for him being there? Revolverheld aren’t bad at all, but what do they have to do with Eurovision? And so on. I always find it a bit odd to have established artists performing their own songs as interval acts. Especially when they are as far away from Eurovision as the Rolling Stones. To me, it feels a bit like the broadcaster saying “Look, Eurovision candidates! Look, Eurovision fans! This is real music. You know, music that counts, unlike that irrelevant Eurovision stuff.” That attitude, at the heart of a Eurovision show? Seriously? I’m not asking for Ruslana feat. Mary Roos every year, but at least something with a connection to the contest would be far preferable to acts who don’t care for Eurovision, and for whom Eurovision fans don’t care.

Don’t bore us, get to the chorus

Which brings us on to:

4. Lack of glamour and dramaturgy
Know your audience, ARD, if you want to build one. This mixed bag doesn’t work. It’s Eurovision, not the new year’s party at the Brandenburg Gate.

Besides the use of “real” artists, the German final sorely misses more glamour and dramaturgy. The organisers need to learn how to stage this show, literally! What’s with that uninspired, rectangular stage? Where is the glitter, the glamour, the colour, the festivity? Switch over to RTL’s Let’s Dance and you’ll see that German television can “do” glamour very well. So why does the German final feel like a regional afternoon news show by comparison? And then: Dramaturgy. Has no one in the team ever thought about how to raise the suspense? It was lucky that the voting was quite all over the place, so things stayed interesting until the end. But creating small breaks in between each set of votes would be better.

Why does the national final struggle with viewing figures when Eurovision itself doesn’t have the same problem in Germany? I strongly suspect the lack of a Eurovision vibe as described in the last two points to be the main reason. But another one is surely this:

5. Nobody knows it’s on
One might get the feeling that NDR is embarrassed about Eurovision. While I know weeks in advance when the other shows I follow on German TV are aired, just from the press coverage and advertising, the German final remains an oddity hidden away somewhere in the schedule with hardly any announcements. This may also have to do with the fact that the German final still has no unique brand of its own. Things got slightly better as of last year, but still: New logo, new title (country name instead of city name), new number of songs, zero popularity. I’ve been repeating myself for decades now. Germany needs to establish a brand for its national final. Portugal can do it, Sweden has done it for years now. Hungary, Denmark, and most other countries with a public selection for Eurovision use a national final with a dedicated name, a consistent identity and a permanent format. Germany needs to do the homework that has been overdue for nearly a decade now and give us a recognisable televised event, preferably consisting of several shows to help establish the brand and raise awareness among viewers.

Happier days for the German final

Right now, though, we are far away from an established format. “The German final” means something different, year after year. This a sign of disinterest, whateverism and disrespect on the part of the responsible broacaster.

So, yes, this year’s German final happened to produce a winner that I’m very happy with, but that doesn’t paper over the cracks. Viewing figures were low, and public interest remains largely non-existent. Put simply: Why should the German audience be interested in something that its creators aren’t even interested in?

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As the German member of the escgo! team, I am the most obvious author to put together a post about the German final.

Except this year, after yesterday’s Unser Lied für Israel, my immediate feeling was: I can’t. I can’t write about it. And this time – shock – it’s not because I’m ashamed of our final. No, it’s because the negative reactions to the chosen song, “Sister” by S!sters, come as a complete surprise to me, to the point where I begin to question my own – or my friends’ – sanity.

So how, if at all, am I supposed to write this article? Should I write it from an apologetic/defensive angle? Should I try to jump on the bandwagon and be outraged that Germany chose this song? Should I simply state the pure and boring facts and figures?

Let me instead answer a question that is meant rhetorically: “What has Germany done?!” That line was heard a lot in the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s final. And rhetorical or not, it’s a good question: What has Germany done?

Here’s how my 2019 German final experience went, from the start:

I didn’t follow any fan comments in advance of the German final, so all of the artists, and all of the songs, were completely new to me on the night. I had no idea who was being discussed as the favourite to win, so I went into the voting without any image in my mind about how it was “supposed” to end, other than my personal preferences. I televoted for three acts: Aly Ryan, Lilly Among Clouds, and S!sters. I liked them all at the same strong level and gave them the same number of calls.

Wear Your Lights

“Sister” not only won my heart, it also won the expert jury vote and the German televote, and got a good score in our #esc chat’s own voting. All good. Except the next things I read online were: “WTF!”, “FFS!”, “Bottom 3!”, “Germany, what have you done?”… and other similar expressions of shock. Quite unexpectedly, I found myself in the ridiculously small minority of those who actually love the song.

Woah! That’s a new one for me.

What’s new specifically, and the reason my defensive instinct kicked in after all, is that I am so far from understanding the negative reactions. Believe me, I have been the first one to criticise my home country’s Eurovision activities on countless occasions in the past – but this time, for once, my heart is touched by a German song and I find myself standing completely behind our entry.

Of course, I’m not here to persuade you that “Sister” is a catchy, powerful earworm of a ballad if you really don’t like it. It doesn’t work that way – you have your taste, I have mine, and on Germany 2019, our tastes take opposite routes. No problem.

Besides, in life I’ve found myself in the position of having to justify myself for my preferences on so many occasions, starting with my love for the Eurovision Song Contest. Or Roxette. Or theme parks. Or men. I am tired of coming up with excuses for my taste or preferences.

But I can’t deny that the level of outrage among the fan community came totally unexpectedly for me, not least since “Sister” really isn’t bad enough to justify such a shocked reaction from fans. Of course people get annoyed when their favourites don’t win, but this seemed to go way beyond that.

Lilly Among Dry Ice

So now what? To what possible climax could I lead this post?

Maybe I’m a hopeless case. Maybe I’ve lost it. Maybe I’ve taken leave of all my senses. Maybe I’ve lost my understanding of the Eurovision Song Contest – hey, maybe I’ll lose my last bit of credibility by even writing this.

But still, I can’t understand the outrage one tiny bit. It’s beyond me why it seems so obvious to some that Aly Ryan or Lilly Among Clouds were much better options for ESC than S!sters, at least based on the songs and the performances on the night.

That winning feeling

“Sister” is a beautiful, catchy song with a strong melody and a captivating staging. That’s how I feel about it. I haven’t loved a German song this much since 2006. And I would have said the same about “Wear Our Love” and “Surprise”.

Maybe that’s the real shock, and the reason for the fan reactions: When there’s more than one good option for ESC in a final, someone will always end up disappointed.

So I’ll be the one to say it: Well done, Germany. For once we had some great songs in our final, and one of them got chosen for Tel Aviv. That’s what Germany has actually done. And you can disagree or agree how ever you wish.

F x

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I’m crawling out of my bed to type this. So, Eurovision did it again: I’m ill!

Anyway, where were we? We were at that point when the Eurovision experience in the host city makes you lose your sense of time, your knowledge of what day it is (oh, it’s the Saturday!), and what is actually happening around you.

So as I really don’t remember what happened when in the last few days, let me mention just some of the highlights:

1. I met Jessika!
San Marino was the only song I cared about in semi-final 2, and sadly it didn’t qualify. I spent all my 20 votes on “Who We Are”, so you can imagine how I felt after the envelopes. At Euroclub though, I had the pleasure to meet Jessika, and you can probably imagine how she felt! I showed her all my votes, and received a hug from her in return. If I managed to console one of my favourite Eurovision artists of the year over a disappointing result, then my Lisbon visit was already worth it for just that.

They are who they are

2. The first dress rehearsal of the final
It was a very chilly experience in the hall yesterday, surely not helped my cold. Having watched all the songs in the final running order, I get the feeling they actively placed similar songs close to each other (Spain / Lithuania, Hungary / Netherlands, Australia / Finland), but then again there wasn’t a lot of room to play within, considering the allocation draw. As it was so damn cold in the arena, I approved of Hungary and Cyprus a lot, so my prediction might have been influenced by the warmth of the pyros. I didn’t see the interval act yet, as I literally escaped into warmer territory as soon as Italy was over, so that will be new for me as well.

3. Dinner in Bairro Alto
Yesterday I also happily got to do a little socializing with friends, so we went to Bairro Alto and had typical Portuguese food and wine. This part of the city was full of Eurovision fans – at one point we could hardly move any more as the narrow streets were completely packed. I think this was the night when Lisbon realized what Eurovision is. It’s not just a TV show. Whoever says so has not a single clue.

And now? The final awaits us.

I am going to watch it in the Eurovision Village, as long as my cold doesn’t completely knock me out. I literally have no idea if it’s really going to be Cyprus, or if Hungary is the surprise winner, or if it will be Israel after all, but that’s the good thing about this year: it still is quite an open contest. The Eurovision Song Contest is never won before the Eurovision Song Contest happens.

Yeah, yeah, winner?

I pretty much think that’s it for me with this blog from Lisbon. I would have loved to do a lot more, but my cold and the lack of electricity for fan-accredited people killed my plan. But that’s life. What’s next? I literally have no idea. I will drag myself to the public viewing of the show somehow, and take things as they come. And even if “Fuego” wins, a song from my personal bottom five, I will appreciate a new country joining the ranks of the ESC winners and hope we all get to party together on a beach in Cyprus next year. Lisbon hasn’t really brought the fans together, considering the separation with the Fan Café and Euroclub (and some fans had to stay out of both), but it has been a wonderful place to spend these weeks in, and I will surely come back for a non-Eurovision visit!

So in case I don’t get to write again tomorrow: Thank you for following my blogs and photo galleries from Eurovision in Lisbon! I hope I get to do this again, and I hope I can do more next time. We will know more – destination included – in less than ten hours from now. Enjoy the show!

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Rarely has the Eurovision Song Contest been held in such a picturesque and personality-filled city as Lisbon. Felix has been out and about in recent days and is happy to share some of his photographic impressions with you here as the grand final approaches!

View over Lisbon with Eurovision Village

Marquês de Pombal, close to our hotel

Altice Arena

Eurovision Village and Euroclub

Miradouro São Pedro de Alcântara – one of Lisbon’s many breathtaking viewpoints…

…and another

Portas do Sol

Ponte 25 de Abril as seen from the Blue Carpet

Alfama

And finally: Torre de Belém, the main landmark of Lisbon

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