Germany: Ivy Quainoo and Natia Todua among finalists confirmed for Unser Lied für Lissabon
59From 4000 applicants, six lucky finalists have been selected. German broadcaster ARD has confirmed the six acts who will compete in the national final Unser Lied für Lissabon in February. The six are: Xavier Darcy, Ivy Quainoo, Ryk, Michael Schulte, Natia Todua and voXXclub.
The six names were confirmed this morning by ARD. The list contains five of the six names leaked by German media earlier this week. The one name missing is the alt-pop group Steal a Taxi. In their place is the singer-songwriter Xavier Darcy.
The initial 400 applicants were reduced to a long list of 211. Then the 100-person Eurovision Panel picked selected the best 17 acts . The panel of Germans aimed to replicate the tastes of general Eurovision viewers across Europe. A short list of 17 acts performed at in-person auditions, and eventually the six finalists were selected by the Eurovision Panel and an expert jury.
Xavier Darcy
Singer-songwriter Xavier Darcy might be from Munich but he has French and British ancestry. Earlier this year he released his debut self-titled album Darcy. The album made it to the German iTunes top 50 chart. Darcy has toured extensively, including many appearances at festivals, and has made an appearance on the popular late night show Inas Nacht.
Ivy Quainoo
Ivy Quainoo is one of the best-known artists in the selection. She made a name as the winner of the very first season The Voice of Germany. Back in 2012, she won the show by a landslide and five years later you can still hear some of her songs on German radio stations. Ivy was born and raised in Berlin and her parents are Ghanaian. She currently lives in New York, but for the last few months, she was touring Germany.
Ryk
Upcoming singer-songwriter Rick Jurthe performs under the name Ryk and previously performed as FOXOS. The newcomer may be familiar as one of the many artists who entered into San Marino’s 1 In 360 contest. There his talents weren’t overlooked — he was one of the 69 acts shortlisted for the fan club vote. He didn’t make the cut of San Marino’s ten finalists, but, one could argue, performing in Unser Lied für Lissabon will surely give his German career a bigger boost than the San Marino national final would.
Michael Schulte
Michael Schulte was also a contestant on the first series of The Voice of Germany. He made it to the grand final, and while Ivy Quinoo won the series, he placed a very respectable third. In the grand final, he performed a duet with the then-upcoming UK singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. Since his time on The Voice, Michael has released a number of singles in a folk-pop style and has built up a substantial YouTube following.
Natia Todua
Natia Todua is the most recent winner of The Voice of Germany, winning the seventh series just two weeks ago. The Georgian-born singer had previously tried her luck on The X Factor Georgia and The Voice Ukraine — without much luck. Her fortuned changed when he entered The Voice of Germany, after working in Germany for a year as an au pair. The soul singer with a big voice has built up a fanbase in Germany, but fans have pointed out that being a Voice of Germany winner was no benefit to 2015 winner Jamie-Lee Kriewitz who placed last at Eurovision 2016.
voXXclub
voXXclub bring something different — singing and yodelling in Bavarian! Known for combining their endearing attitude with a modern yet traditional folk music sound, their fanbase is huge. VoXXclub’s song “Rock mi” even counts more than 19 million YouTube views. These five guys are more than ready for Eurovision and were often considered by German fans in the past.
Next step — writing the songs
While the six acts have been selected, they don’t yet have songs. In the next stage of the (very long) national selection process, around 15 German and international songwriters will come together at a three-day songwriting camp. They’ll work with the six singers — many of whom are experienced songwriters — to come up with the right Eurovision entry for each act.
The six acts will each perform their song at the national final Unser Lied für Lissabon on Thursday, February 22.
What do you think of the six selected acts? What sort of songs would you like to hear them perform? Who should be the one to represent Germany in Lisbon? Share your thoughts below!
January 19, 2018 @ 6:30 pm
Voxxclub would be entertaining.
January 10, 2018 @ 10:16 am
When comes the Songs ?
December 31, 2017 @ 11:54 am
Oberkrainer Funk from Voxxclub for Germany
December 30, 2017 @ 4:10 pm
My favourites are Ivy, Natia and Michael!!!!
December 30, 2017 @ 3:04 pm
I really think that our best choice would be Ivy or Natia.. They are very unique in my opinion and they would get attention.
I have a vision that its Ivy without having the songs. And i would love that.
I think its a good development from 2017 so far.
December 30, 2017 @ 1:43 pm
VOXXCLUB
December 30, 2017 @ 1:31 pm
Donnawedda was released after september 1st, right?
End of story.
December 30, 2017 @ 8:58 am
Because pairing random singers with songs specifically written for Eurovision worked so well last time… One thing is “We won’t reveal their entries yet” and another entirely “Nobody knows their song yet”. I hope Germany picks something good this time, but even if they do, it will have to do with luck more than with the effort.
December 30, 2017 @ 11:46 am
It’s a completely different Thing this time! 2017 only two (very bad) Songs were written and after that the Artist was Chosen. That was a pretty crap idea, I think we can agree on that. But this time every Artist gets a song specifically for themselves. And it won’t be written for them. They’ll work together with Songwriters to either create new Songs or work on the Songs, that the artist already has. They can just take Songs, that they wrote and they will definitly be involved. The Chosen Artists are mainly talented Songwriters, I think most of them know, what they’re doing.
December 29, 2017 @ 8:38 pm
Didn’t most of the acts have songs in the first place?
We all know songwriting camps don’t really work for eurovision.
I’ll reserve judgment until I hear the songs but this whole selection is a bit overly complex and long winded.
December 29, 2017 @ 7:43 pm
Pleeease dear juries place Voxxclub dead last. I don’t want another humiliation at Eurovision and they seem like something dumb German televoters would send. We saw how far the televote’s taste has gotten us in the past.
December 29, 2017 @ 6:40 pm
If Germany will not send VoXXclub, they should vote for themselves because they don’t care about international opinion. How weird. They can’t understand nobody cares about the silly Ivy or whatever boring act.
December 29, 2017 @ 6:31 pm
That’s exactly what Germany did 2017! They first wrote the song and then looked for the Artist. But it’s not working that way. Ypu either have to looke forthe full package or you have to find the artists first. It is really neccassary for the Artist to have a Connection to the song, that he’s(she’s going to perform. They don’t even have to fully write it theirself, but at least it should be written for that one specific Artist. Otherwise you just write a song and you don’t know, who’s going to sing it, so you can’t really put that much personality in it… And then the Artist Comes around and is forced to sing a song, he doesn’t even know and has no Connection with.
December 29, 2017 @ 6:29 pm
If Germany will not send Voxxclub, then I think they should vote themselves if they know better.
December 29, 2017 @ 4:33 pm
Some of these singers are also songwriters so I hope they will have a saying in their own song, otherwise they will just end up having a generic song like this year.
December 29, 2017 @ 4:06 pm
If skies will open and God will tell Germans what is the right choice, they will still do the other way.
December 29, 2017 @ 4:03 pm
So you Germans listen Voxxclub at Oktoberfest, but you don’t want them in esc. Are you sure you are being honest with yourselves?
January 2, 2018 @ 1:27 pm
Listen to Iceland 2014. I’m German and I absolutely despise the Oktoberfest…
December 29, 2017 @ 3:48 pm
I loved Xavier’s retro 80s style but when he started singing I just really didn’t like his voice. Without knowing their songs I’m most looking forward to Ivy, Michael, and Natia. Voxxclub is exactly what Germany should send if they want another last place.
December 29, 2017 @ 3:16 pm
Michael Schulte is incredible. I really hope he represents Germany in Lisbon with an excellent song! It’s about time Germany stopped coming at the foot of the table.
December 29, 2017 @ 4:51 pm
I really really want him to have a killer song.
December 29, 2017 @ 2:47 pm
OFF TOPIC: France also announced their first 12 Destination Eurovision participants! http://www.eurovisionheadline.de/2017/12/29/france-destination-eurovision-first-twelve-candidates-revealed/
December 29, 2017 @ 5:11 pm
This list is fake ! Only Malo is confirmed as a act.
December 29, 2017 @ 1:49 pm
I don’t get why so many people on here want Voxxclub to win. I also think they would be able to give us our best result since 2012, but they probably couldn’t reach the top 10. Romania did pretty well this year with an enjoyable, outstanding yodel-song but I do think their good result was partly based on neighbour/diaspora votes that Germany won’t get. So in the televoting we might come somewhere in the middle while the juries won’t support us too much. Other acts like Ivy or Ryk actually have the potential to appeal to both televoters and jury members with the right song.
December 29, 2017 @ 3:01 pm
Romania did well with yodel, but is a mistake to blame diaspora. Bookies placed Romania 5th, and more than that, look at the fans reaction in pre-parties. Deban was not a fan of yodel, but after seeing the reaction of audience in pre-parties, he said : ”Obviously it’s me that I don’t get it”.
December 29, 2017 @ 3:13 pm
If you try to appeal to both jury and televote, you might lose them both. Safe, safe, safe again. Always safe. That goes nowhere.
December 29, 2017 @ 1:10 pm
voXXclub
December 29, 2017 @ 1:07 pm
voXXclub is so much fun!!
December 29, 2017 @ 2:12 pm
I support voXXclub, Ryk and Michael Shulte since they are Germans. Germany is such a big country and they want to export a singer to Eurovision from Ghana, Georgia or France???
January 2, 2018 @ 1:28 pm
Ivy was born here so nothing would be “exported”. Do some research…
December 29, 2017 @ 12:40 pm
I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality of the artists selected. They are strong contenders, all 6 could place really high with a good song. But that’s the problem with Germany, they always choose average songs. However, I like the song posted above so I have faith this time they will do well.
I suppose, among them, Natia Todua has the best chance. She’s in the spotlight after her recent win in The Voice, so she is going to have the televote on her side. However I’m not into soul, so I would prefer one of the others.
If I had to choose from the listened above this would be my rank:
1. Xavier Darcy
2. Ivy Quainoo
3. Michael Shulte
————————-
4. Natia Todua
5. Ryk
6. Voxxclub
December 29, 2017 @ 12:30 pm
Germans are too constipated to vote for VoXXclub, and international jury will vote for them only if they are Australians, because this is what jury does in ESC.
Hello 26th place again!
December 29, 2017 @ 11:57 am
Too bad Steal a taxi is out. Their style seemed interesting.
From the musical descriptions, I expect most from Xavier (the singer / songwriter) and Voxxclub.
Germany has had safe nice mainstream pop songs recently – but a bit too “non descript”. Which might be why they have fared badly. Maybe going for something more daring will give them more achievement? Look at Salvador
December 29, 2017 @ 11:43 am
Choose Voxxclub Germany.Please.To all the german commentators here,we guys want to hear smt traditional german and in german language.Show your native culture!
Ps.Sincearely a germanistik student
December 29, 2017 @ 3:11 pm
That’s not traditional, thats an insult for our culture. It might be traditional bavarian BUT NOT german. People HAVE to understand that.
December 29, 2017 @ 3:18 pm
Are you fine? Every country has regions, and folk music is not the same in all the corners of the country. But all the styles of folk music, as different as they are from region to region, still belong to the same country. There’s no country on this planet that has the same folk music in all the corners of the land.
December 29, 2017 @ 3:21 pm
But Bavaria is a part of Germany. I think it would be funny if we send a stereotype German group. It is something completely different compared to the last 4 years. That is what the people in other countrys think of traditional German culture
December 30, 2017 @ 12:01 am
You are 100% right emil. Voxxclub is a shame for germany and has NOTHING to do with traditional german music.
December 30, 2017 @ 1:08 pm
Traditional? Then in “Low German”, please.. Greetings from Lower Saxony :))) #notbavarian
December 29, 2017 @ 11:36 am
So all the singers are suddenly expected to come up with the perfect song via a 3 day long song writing camp? Yeah… Good luck with that. Austria tried that in 2015 with the makemakes and we all know how that story ended.
December 29, 2017 @ 1:40 pm
They will keep working on the songs after the camp thing ended according to Thomas Schreiber.
December 29, 2017 @ 11:28 am
Must say that I am beyond excited that Michael Schulte is talking part. He has one of the best voices I have ever witnessed. With a great song he will kill it. I also pretty much like to see Ivy and Darcy on the list, both of them being amazing artists as well. This is the first year in ages that I am hyped about the German preselection. Can’t wait to hear the songs. After all, this will be the crucial element. Not so happy to be VoxxClub on there. I do admit that I have danced to their songs at the Oktoberfest, but imho it’s no Eurovision material. LaBrassbanda would have been a much better choice. Anyways, really looking forward to this.
December 29, 2017 @ 11:29 am
*to see VoxxClub…
December 29, 2017 @ 11:42 am
Why would have been LaBrassBanda a much better choice then Voxxclub? In my opinion I think Voxxclub are much better then LaBrassBanda, because they make party. LaBrassBanda has the same songtype, but it´s still boring for me. At the end I´m a fan of Michael Schulte too, so he is my fave at the moment. But we must wait until we have the songs. 🙂
December 29, 2017 @ 1:13 pm
So true. Can’t wait to find out what songs will be “born” at the songwriting camp. Fingers crossed we will be hearing 6 decent songs on February 22nd. LaBrassbanda live is madness, I didn’t plan to see them in the first place, but they were playing just before an artist I really wanted to see. And OMG, I have never see a crowd go that wild at a festival before. There must be videos of this performance somewhere (google for Das Fest in Karlsruhe). As for VoxxClub, it’s just not the type of music I would willingly listen to, but who knows, maybe they will win me over. (after all I also loved Santiano a few years back, so :p)
December 29, 2017 @ 11:13 am
Albanian Eugent Bushpepa is just like Jamala : sad song, but personal story and this is why it works.
Germany needs a song that screams WINNER, otherwise Europe will not have mercy for a song that is weaker than those that are out in the semifinals.
Team Voxxclub.
December 29, 2017 @ 6:26 pm
You can’t compare Albania to Ukraine… Albania is NEVER going t win with this song. It’s nice and everything, but it’s not a winner. It’s just not very Special. Jamala was special! I didn’t like the song, but it was special.
December 29, 2017 @ 11:07 am
I love Voxxclub. Let’s wait for the songs…
December 29, 2017 @ 11:06 am
I have to say that I am worried about. The choice was made i.e. on the personality and their abilities to perform on the stage in Lisbon. So by their diversity and character I am happy with the outcome.. there is potential! Otherwise I hope they dont mess up by choosing the wrong songs.
December 29, 2017 @ 10:59 am
We need the songs. Till then, they all have potential.
December 29, 2017 @ 10:48 am
Well the artists seem diverse and interesting so I guess that’s a step in the right direction. However until the songs come out I don’t have any favourites.
December 29, 2017 @ 10:29 am
This is promising! They are all talented and experienced in their own ways and all seem more than capable of delivering from a performance aspect.
I feel apprehensive about the songwriting, though. If 2017 taught us anything it’s that trying to write a “Eurovision song” will flop (sorry, Levina), while a song barely written with Eurovision in mind can go on to win the whole thing (hey Salvador!). I hope the songwriting camp isn’t afraid to take a few risks.
December 29, 2017 @ 10:44 am
Yeah, I guess it can’t get any worse than Perfect Life.. But many artists in here are passionate in songwriting, I think they won’t let themselves be talked into anything boring, generic or something. They can also bring their own songs. 2017 was a total Desaster… Two absolutely boring songs for 6 People. There was no way, that this could have worked well…
December 29, 2017 @ 10:50 am
It’s very encouraging that most of the singers are also songwriters. They’ll know what they like, what suits them, and all going well, the pro songwriters will be able to collaborate on something special!
December 29, 2017 @ 10:53 am
It has been mentioned on the German website that the songwriting camp will not only take place to create completely new songs, but also to revamp unpublished songs of the participants. 😀
December 30, 2017 @ 5:54 am
That is a very good thing. Hopefully unpublished work of the songwriters too.
December 29, 2017 @ 11:45 am
I have high hopes in Michael Schulte! He is an amazing singer and amazing songwriter. Just love him!
December 29, 2017 @ 11:54 am
I agree, some risks in musical terms are welcome
December 29, 2017 @ 10:29 am
NATIA TODUA ofc.