We are used to Eurovision being full of drama and we thought we had seen everything – but on Thursday night, Germany made it clear that they could top it all! As Unser Song für Österreich was nearing the end, it seemed like Germany had decided its winner. But suddenly and unexpectedly, Andreas Kümmert rejected the golden ticket to Vienna and insisted that Ann Sophie take his place. There is only one thing to ask – what happened, Germany? Let’s take look.
Germany is in shock, Europe is in shock. Andreas Kümmert won the German national selection Unser Song für Österreich and had the chance to fly the flag in Vienna – but he rejected it, a decision that is totally unprecedented in German Eurovision history. Andreas explained, “Thanks for your support, Germany, but right now I’m not in the right condition to do this and I want to give the chance to Ann Sophie. I’m just a little singer and she is the better choice.”
Meanwhile, wildcard entry Ann Sophie, who had already accepted second place, was just as speechless as everybody else. The host, Barbara Schöneberger asked Andreas if he was really sure about this. His reaction was short and to the point, saying “I’m sorry” before he left the stage. Ann Sophie, still shocked, asked if she was really going to Vienna and if people would like to see her there. The answer was yes, and she performed her song “Black Smoke” once again.
WATCH – ANDREAS KÜMMERT REJECTS EUROVISION
Why did Andreas decide to cancel his date with Eurovision?
In the press conference right after the show, ARD entertainment boss Thomas Schreiber stated that Andreas wanted to take part in the show but nothing further was likely to happen. “There were some problems with Andreas in The Voice of Germany in 2013 as he was really difficult to handle sometimes”, he explained.
New champion Ann Sophie was sympathetic towards Andreas: “We should just leave him alone now. He needs to find himself. He’s a great singer and I understand why he said he can’t do it or he doesn’t feel it as it’s too much for him – and that’s okay. He’s really brave and it’s great that he listened to his heart – everybody should listen to their hearts, even if you don’t know before that it will end like this.”
It seems that Andreas had been having a difficult time in the week before the national final. German news magazine Focus reports that Andreas verbally abused audience members at a concert on Saturday, while Stern magazine reports that Andreas was unwell in the days before Unser Song für Österreich and a doctor needed to be called after he came down with a fever of 40 degrees.
Was Andreas right to give the ticket to Ann Sophie? How do you rate his decision? Leave your comments below.
I was surprised he was even singing “Heart Of Stone”. I thought he was gonna do “Home Is In My Hands”, much better song for me. Black Smoke is an awful song. Terrible. Germany won’t be winning anything. Home Is In My Hands was the GOLD. It just shows you how many artists, can sing, have the songs, and STILL make dreadful decisions….That’s why it’s so hard to make it to the top. The little things count. Everything adds up.
You people, know nothing.. Andreas. By far the better sing. needs our understanding and support.. right now.. talk about polls the polls I followed. he was back and fourth 1st and 2nd.. I think there is something about you people and this show.. that sounds, a bit corrupt anyway…
Whatever his reasons may have been, Andreas was probably smart to do this. He’s made more headlines by turning down the chance to compete in ESC than he would’ve made had he accepted his victory. His song was nicely written and had nice lyrics but the music was plain and forgettable. Ann Sophie has a more memorable tune. ESC is all about being memorable and standing out.
No problem. This eklat was organised by Australia to give their candidate a straight run to the finish line in Vienna. Ann Sophie will not be as confident as if she would have been a clear No. 1 for Germany. And stop complaining. Winning a Gold Medal at the Olympics does only mean, that the person was the best starter of the day. At the very same time somebody could be a far better athlete living in the back of the jungle, knowing nothing of the Olympics. Andreas was probably worried that driven to win for all matters, someone would… Read more »
… this just explains to me why I never liked televoting … giving power to the people who freely decided to pay to vote just creates pure and utter chaos: people may want their money back but one thing is certain no one was forced to vote … or what it? … as for the guy here … I am torn between him being really honest about it … or it was his own way to poke fun at something … the whole Eurovision’s lack of musical credibility maybe? There are many hidden meanings behind this we will never really… Read more »
Considering the trouble, turmoil, possible humiliation to other contestants, and economic impact he made on the voting audience, the only thing Andreas should be allowed to say next is “Kann ich Ihre Bestellung aufnehmen?”
If there’s something I’ve learnt in life, is that one should never judge a situation until he is sure he has all the facts straight.
I won’t comment upon Adreas’ decision, but I would like to say that though I really like Anne’s song, “Heart of stone” is the best song I’ve heard in a long time. Andreas’ song not only please one’s ears, but also pleases one’s heart. And this is what music is all about.
Why didn’t he just withdraw his entry befor the selections began?
He deserves no sympathy because he has a history of doing this and he let down the whole german public and who knows how the results would have went if he had withdrawn his song from the running.
People commenting everywhere about this are being really nasty and just plain mean about this. This guy clearly has his reasons for doing something like this. But if he has a disability or illness, don’t be rude about it.
That being said, his management team should have predicted that something like might happen, since it’s said that Andreas has a history of doing stuff like this. It’s a disappointment to all the people who voted for him, just to see the person in second place instead.
Andreas had an amazing voice. The song would have been my favourite picked so far. Maybe he does have a mental Illness but why be nasty about it.
Ann Sophie will suffer in the final.
Ann Sophie really wants this so bad and If Andreas didn’t want to win why did he even compete? Weird..
Andreas made the best decision for Germany.
His song would not be even in my top 10, but Black Smoke is in my top 3 (I still cannot decide which of these I love the most: Slovenia, Germany and Estonia).
Ann Sophie with *Black* Smoke that will compete to the Diamond Vision in Vienna.. My surname means *Black* in english.. {love Jacob *Black* of Twilight! <3 } Lena Mayer in Dusseldorf's Vision in 2011 portrayed Natalie Portman in the movie *Black* Swan…I might not like her persona but i loved *Taken By A Stranger*! <3 Plus,the country Montenegro' word in greek means literally ~*Black* Mountain~ debuted in the Vision in 2004 on my birthday <3 {as one united country with Serbia of course..} Zeljko Joksimovic will penn with being the composer of the entry of Montenegro's this year 4 Vienna..… Read more »
An interesting data 4 me is… That i ranked his winning song *Heart Of Stone* no ^7^ out from the 16 songs in the Unser Song Final.. When Germany won the Soccer World Cup last summer in Brazil with Mario Gotze scoring the winning goal 4 nationalmannshaft the number 7 played huge role in all kind of statistics 4 Germany.. Michael Schumacher was 7 times champion in F1.. This number is very important number 4 me as well.. The area that i first had sex {with a guy} is called in english 7tower.. My mother was born in the 50s… Read more »
Andreas Kümmert is notorious for turning down chances and screwing himself up. When he got the chance to sing at his biggest concert to date, he just decided to stay in the bus and blew the concert off. A week later he wanted to perform then, but half of the tickets were returned.
I guess he is bipolar and has anger issues.
Professionally you have a responsibility. A decline before the contest would have been responsible in that it would not make someone else feel they are second best, in that it would not watse peoples time and money supporting him and indeed lead to a fair contest. Carear wise, would you book this man for a gig or give him a record deal if ‘unreliable’. I think the correct response would have been to wait a few days if we are talking from a humanitarian point of view, so hopefully he can allow his mind to adjust. His agent should have… Read more »
Let,s not judge a book by it,s cover.We don`t know the reason but soon it would be out there an explanation.
@Daniel
You are right when it comes to high pressure. So maybe he should have withdrawn before the show. Besides, we don’t know if it is true. According to what i read on the other site, he took part in the preselection mainly to promote his music. If it is true, it will be difficult to defend his behaviour.
How nice. All you people on here commenting that it was rude, unprofessional and wrong to enter the contest but then refuse to go to Vienna, be sure of one thing: Your attitude is the reason that artists and famous people sometimes get sucked into a spiral of self-destruction when they should instead just have called it quits. It seems he noticed in the preparation for last night’s show that the pressure was too much for him. So he went through with the show, surprisingly won, and decided that it would be too risky to try and handle the much… Read more »
I thought this was highly disrespectful to the audience. If Andreas knew wouldn’t be competing in Vienna, why did he drag the people who endorsed with himself? He should have withdrawn before the final instead of making all this drama.
I’m completely in shock. Firstly, “Frozen silence” failed:( Secondly, what Andreas did was just unfair. If he really has problems, couldn’t he have withdrawn just before the show? Then it would have been understandable. He took part in the evening, knowing that he would reject a potential ticket to Vienna? Due to his behaviour, one of the other contenders (who, as i assume, wanted to win) couldn’t go to the next stage. With a different composition of the competing songs in next stages, Annie Sophie might have not won. At last, i don’t want to think how felt people who… Read more »
It’s was an amazing show and it ended with an amazing result…Ann Sophie is great on the stage and her song is great.I think we’re going to Germany again in 2016…
I gather that he must have seen several polls, like Wiwi’s ‘Unser Song’ poll, with his songs at or near the very bottom (last and 3rd-from-last at Wiwi), and Ann Sophie’s polling very well. And with people around the world participating in these polls, he must have gotten a sense of how UNLIKELY it was that he could pull in enough points (let alone 10s and 12s) for Germany to finish in the top-half of the final standings. He didn’t want to be the object of Germany’s humiliation (especially when the people expected Fahrenhaidt to get the ticket to Vienna).… Read more »
Ann Sophie was better, but Andreas was so unprofessional. As if he’s not grateful that many people even bothered to vote for his crappy song
i think he seen that finland is entering that horrible train wreck of a song and is thinking to himself “i don’t need to compete with this fucking shit” !!!!!
The host did a great job in handling this kind of predicament.
Brilliant,we accept your decision now ,rather then 3 days later rather and you change your mind again.Good presenter . 🙂
Barbara Schöneberger FTW! She was brilliant.
I’m very pleased he was booed because he has wasted everyone’s time. Not to mention the money of those who picked up their phones to vote for him. Barbara Schöneberger handled it brilliantly.
Yeah, I agree. Ann Sophie is the better choice 😉