Mark those calendars! Earlier this week NDR revealed the first of the twenty contestants participating in their Eurovision workshops. Now, the broadcaster has announced further details for Unser Lied fur Lissabon. Levina’s successor will be chosen on February 22 in Berlin!
This date continues the tradition of the German national final taking place on a weekday, as the chosen date is a Thursday. Unfortunately, this date means there’s going to be one big change compared to the past years: Barbara Schöneberger isn’t going to host.
Scheduling issues prevent Barbara from hosting this year’s selection. It’s a role she’s held since 2014, during which she had to deal with the infamous Andreas Kummert-Ann Sophie drama in 2015. She’ll be missed, y’all!
The show will take place in the Studio Berlin Adlershof. Though it might not be a familiar name at first glance, it does have music show pedigree, as it’s the venue for The Voice of Germany. Tickets will go on sale in January and cost about 45€. Time to plan your trip to Berlin!
Workshop continues as more contestants revealed
NDR’s continued efforts to re-work the national final and improve their fortunes continues. Currently, 20 acts are participating in a Eurovision workshop.
Besides vocal and choreography training, the acts record short clips for both the “Europe Panel” and international jury. The videos will help selecting the five contestants for the national final.
We already know a number of the acts currently part of the workshop line-up. NDR is still holding back the full list of names, however. In the meantime, we do know more about some of the remaining contestants.
RYK
27 year-old singer-songwriter Ryk first published his EP “Fables” in 2014, as part of the electropop duo FOXOS. Following further releases in 2016, Ryk has been part of an acrobatics tour. There’s plenty of talent here! This year, FOXOS split paths and Ryk, who’s real name is Rick Juhrte, formed his solo project.
STEAL A TAXI
Steal a Taxi describe themselves as a mixture of “pop, funk, rock and soul music”. Quite the combination! The band consists of four members, who at first wanted to remain anonymous.
Eagle-eyed fans might recognise lead singer Makeda. She was one of the “speed-dating” contestants of last year’s ‘Unser Song für Kiew’. This time however, she’s accompanied by her fellow group members.
JUAN GECK
While not officially confirmed yet, it seems likely that Juan Geck, another former contestant on The Voice of Germany, is also part of the workshop. As part of Yvonne Catterfeld’s team, he advanced to the sing-offs of the show. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite make it to the live shows.
What do you think of the new Unser Lied für Lissabon contestants? Are you sad to see Barbara leaving her role as host? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below!
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Photo: Courtesy Sascha Steinbach
Looking promising for Germany’s selection.
Germany might get a new friend in 2019, since Liechtenstein is expected to debut. Kazakhstan is also planning the same, and Slovakia might return if Czech Republic’s new approach works this year.
no more Germany null points.
Liechtenstein has been expected to debut at pretty much any edition of the Eurovision Song Contest since 1976…
Besides, Liechtenstein is culturally much closer to Switzerland than it is to Germany.
They’ve always said they were interested, but now they are really planning on that. Maybe 12 points to Switzerland or Austria, but still 1-10 points to give out…
They had already selected a song in 1976 (“Little Cowboy” by Biggi Bachmann)… we’ll see what’s going to happen.
Ryk would be AMAZING!
I hope the Jury and the Panel choose him to participate in the National Final <3
NDR said that they’ll reveal more German candidates ASAP. Hopefully the broadcaster also reveals these names later:
* Carlotta Truman
* Kim Steiner (winner of Kiddy Contest 2005)
* LaFee (real name Christina Klein; Kiddy Contest 2004 participant)
* Lisa Aberer (winner of Kiddy Contest 2004)
My expectations are really low when it comes to Germany, so I could be pleasantly surprised with almost literally anything.