Prior to today’s rehearsals, plenty of Eurofans had written Germany off. But today Michael Schulte delivered three touching performances that silenced the haters and announced his arrival as a likely Top 10 finisher.
The show begins with Michael standing centre stage before a black projection screen that displays the lyrics to his song, which come with cute drawings — a house, for instance. All the while Michael looks straight into the camera. He really does seem to be singing to you.
The angle of the camera and the lack of light transports Michael to another world. On the close-ups, in particular, the stage really seems to disappear. The drawings and the words become unidentifiable and it’s as if we’ve moved from Altice Arena to some representation of his memory and most inner thoughts.
As the song progresses, the screen turns to red — black for death, red for life? — and we see touching images of people with their own fathers. Michael spreads his arms and the projection screen seems to mirror an infinite series of him with white outlines against the black screen. It suggests rightly that his story — the loss of a parent, or indeed any loved one — is actually everyone’s.
Vocally Michael didn’t falter. And on the final run-through his eyes watered up and it became even more apparent how much the song means to him. The show ends with him standing before a black screen with the word “ALONE” in white. It’s a stirring conclusion that’s sure to leave plenty of viewers remembering their own losses, recent and distant.
Many acts strive for a sense of authenticity and sincerity, but end up coming off as sterile or forced. This bucks the trend. It really seems to come straight from Michael’s heart. My clear winner of the day.
Michael Schulte — “You Let Me Walk Alone”: Reviews and Reactions
Germany: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2018
Germany: First press conference 2018
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Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)
I’m so excited! I loved the performance and the snippet looks beautiful!
I think Germany will be best of Big 5 and host country in final. Germany only one in TOP 10 thanks to juries, then Italy, France,Portugal, UK and Spain.
Technically a good entry that deserves a high ranking in my opinion. For me the projection is a bit childish and unnecessary, though.
Just about the staging: at one point the pulsing black and white stripes are so unpleasent.. People with epilepsia watch out..
boring projector song with (sub)titles in the background. wow, so “new”
I don’t know what to say about this… It’s a very simple performance.
It’s all about the projector. The black and white suits the song quite well and the effects are well thought. It’s definitely a plus. But in a way it’s also distracting…
I wish this wins to stop hearing about that Lena 2010. 2011. How can you have two cringy songs in a row, and be so high on the scoreboard? Lena should stop singing about sex, and for that she needs to solve her father issues.
The staging from Germany is the best of the Big-5-countries this year.
Well Matty…. so far. It also depends what a good staging means for you,.I do not imagine Spain’s entry, for example, with visuals. They must keep it simple so that it doesnt become cheese. Or France…. visuals would kill it. But the German song is perfect for this.
Spain needs not cling to each other like they’re Jack and Rose and then maybe it will not be so cheesy.
What I’ve seen is not cheese, that’s why they keep it simple, no pianos and similar things. In fact it was the most potentiallly cheese performance and after all I have seen so far…. they are far more cheese stagings this year then this one hehe
Oh look, a projection! That’s so 2016…
He doesnt have any charisma.
Germany did a good job this year. I can see this in top 10, but some parts of those LEDS made me dizzy.
I want Germany to be second after Cyprus, just because I want Salvador to give the trophy to a song called Fuego. Music is fire(works).
Ok hun. Bruno Mars is one of Sobrals favorite artists and he uses fireworks on his concerts. You can move on now.
That would be hilarious, but I don’t think Cyprus will win. Every year we have this kind of hype with an entry that was well staged, but it wasn’t a contender before. Sometimes it works (Armenia 2016), sometimes it doesn’t (Armenia 2017), but it never wins.
Don’t Think Germany will end up near the bottom again
Im my opinion, they do not deserve it this year. Already heard song style, but beautiful anyway.
My comment is awaiting for moderation. If there’s any moderator around to set it free, I’m asking for your help. 🙂
I had one mysteriously go to moderation – a very mild comment that wouldn’t violate the terms of service of Sesame Street – it got approved a day later.
Germany, you’ve been waiting for eight years. This is another winning performance. I WOW’ed when I saw the snippet. Congrats.
I like this far better than Satellite. The lyrics on that were creepy and there was something about Lena’s voice (not talent or performance) that were like nails on a chalk board to my ears (though apparently just me) and still make me cringe to this day.
The trippy hypnotizing part was the most (and only among all the other songs tbh) off-putting stage element for me. It reminded me Ariana Grande’s „Problem“ music video and it killed the vibe. Don’t get me wrong I do like his song and the topic is relatable for me in some sense, but this ruined the heartwarming atmosphere. It makes sense to have it for a pop song, not for a ballad. Delete that part and you’re good to go.
From the snippet, I love the background, but I confess it is very distracting. Perhaps, with the entire performance, the lyrics can make we focus on the song instead of just on the graphics.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing tho.
Simmply amazing, whole ”package” is here
Still so boring and hurts the eyes with the stupid animations behind. Sing in german and then you can put the lyrics english behind you OK ? Is this eurovision for deafs ?
I agree. It’s the best rehearsal of the day followed by Spain and Portugal. It seems ready for the show. As for the others, it’s just their first rehearsal and seems they were checking camera angles, lightning and so on . Still a lot to be seen.