Germany’s Jendrik has arrived! He’s taken to the Rotterdam Ahoy stage for his first rehearsal of “I Don’t Feel Hate” ahead of Eurovision 2021. Has his message translated to the Eurovision stage? Let’s see…
Germany’s Jendrik “I Don’t Feel Hate” — Eurovision 2021 first rehearsal
Oliver: Jendrik has enough energy to dance for a thousand lifetimes and then some. On stage, the glittery ukulele-wielding German is wearing his pink Marge Simpson blazer and blue trousers. His backing dancers are dressed in pantsuits with a colour blocking design seemingly inspired by Piet Mondrian. The dancer in the middle-finger costume reappears to serve as the antagonist of this visual storyline, though the garment is reshaped slightly and now looks like two fingers — a less profane symbol in the majority of Europe. The backdrop is clever, too. It shows words like “hate”, “ugly” and “loser”, eventually broken apart by huge colour splashes. Vocally, this is decent, although Jendrik got out of breath a couple of times. There’s lots of shouting and chanting during the tap break and it’s perhaps a bit excessive, but still this is well thought-out and makes sense to be over-the-top given the whimsy sentiment of “I Don’t Feel Hate”. Jendrik is obviously very excited to finally be performing at Eurovision and that will only do him favours.
Padraig: Jendrik’s stage outfit will be familiar to those who’ve seen his performances from German TV or the stills of his live-on-tape. The staging is also similar. He’s joined by four women, one of whom is wearing the middle finger costume — which is now a peace sign. The LED is very pop art and includes explosions of colour like in the music video. However, there are no washing machines on stage. Jendrik delivers a spirited performance. It’s very energetic. He’s clearly thrilled to be on the Eurovision stage. On occasion, he’s almost too excited. By the end he’s out of breath and struggling to keep up with the fast pace of the song. However, he boasts buckets of charm, which more than makes up for any shortness of breath.
Reaction to Germany’s first rehearsal at Eurovision 2021
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What do you think? Did Jendrik live up to your expectations? Let us know in the comments below.
Read more Germany Eurovision 2021 news here
Photos: EBU / THOMAS HANSES
Jendrik is cute, authentic and just a born entertainer. He’s a eurovision fan and has a lot of fun on stage. He doesn’t mock the competition, just because the whole performance and song sparks JOY and crazyness doesn’t mean he doesn’t take it serious. It’s something different and definitely much better than SISTERS (*cringe*) and some other german contestants. Also, it’s refreshing to see something so genuine and fun on stage. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the perfect polished (pop) songs from Malta, Romania, Sweden, Azerbaijan…But what I love about the Contest is the diversity in styles and… Read more »
Germany is really brave this year for wanting to send an entertaining entry. Perhaps they’re hoping to be like Iceland’s Pollaponk or Stefan Raab 2005?
This is what 2021 needs now! Love everything about it. And if there is a surprise climber this year in the way of Poland 2016, Moldova 2017 or Norway 2019, then Germany is the equivalent for 2021. Love it!!!
2019: “I’m sorry, 0 points.”
2021: “I just feel SORRY? You feel so very clever”
Coincidence?
Blind chanel: Put your middle fingers up!
Jendrick: No.
y‘all lack humour that‘s the truth of the matter!
So … which joke am I missing then?
I dislike the cringy fingers outfit, they should have used some visuals for that instead of using an outfit!
The song will be liked by many casual viewers of Eurovision who want to have silly fun on the night of the grande final.
This is a joke, obviously. And they afford that because they’re automatic qualifiers. Otherwise, if it was a semifinal for them, they wouldn’t have pass it. It’s not fair, other countries are sending good quality songs, their best vocalist, their best packages, and still risk staying in the semifinal, while countries like Germany, Spain or UK are treating the contest like a joke, and being already finalists they afford sending farts… That’s unfair!
Indeed, I get that they’re the main sponsors but it’s unfair they automatically qualify when they don’t deserve it musically
While I share your sentiments..I have to thumbs you down for assuming that Spain and UK are also treating the contest like a joke..their entries this year are serious!
Maybe God (is A Woman by Ariana Grande) created hatred for a reason. I do feel the hate after watching this. Manifesting 2019 again
If you feel hate, then seek help. Hate doesnt get you anywhere.
I don’t understand why Germans like getting 0 points so much. They were on good track with Ben Dolic… and then ruined it again.
Ben was horrible in that live show.
He was cute though
What? Jendrik is damn cuter than Ben was!!! But i agree that Ben’s song was better than Jendrik’s.
I LOVE THIS SONG AND PERFORMANCE! I have a bit of bias because i interviewed Jendrik but i love this! this will probably recieve the Barbara Dex award though,
Oh my……. 🙁
Germany is a total joke this year. But not the kind of a good joke…
He’s too out of breath to sing a song most people despise? Sounds like good news to me.
I don’t feel hate! I just feel so so sorry.
I do feel hate for that song. And I don’t feel sorry.
What’s your view on dalmatians?
😛
Good.
Well, since this is my country’s entry, I think I have the right to complain about this ‘effort’.
And while ‘Perfect Life’ and ‘Sister’ were just ordinary bad songs that made me cringe, everything about Jendrik’s entry makes me really aggressive.
Also … with lyrics like these, he had it coming, right?
I actually don’t mind him in small doses and the song does get stuck in head. I think it may do way better than people think, cause we don’t vote against, but for.
Germany is such a weird case. One year they bring something wonderful the next something bad etc. But this year I think there are worse entries than this.
Why does Finland get told not to put up their middle fingers and Germany has a costume of a middle finger and it’s allowed on stage? This is might pick up televotes from Eurovision hate-watchers, but juries will want no part of it.
They turned it into a peace sign.
So after the “I’m sorry, 0 points” the Germans were like “Lets do it again”!!
Though this obviously needed to be colorful and flashy, my favorite part are the black and white graphics, they look cool. This entry is definitely not my thing, but I assume for those that like it, this will be enough to get them behind it.
Jendrik is adorable, and his energy is a credit to him – but it beggars belief that this was selected over as many established artists as the German delegation suggested, and no wonder there’s rising scepticism of ‘expert panels’ [in Europe] when this is what an expert panel chose as ‘the best thing Germany has ever sent to Eurovision’. The amateurish quality of Jendrik’s audition, which may have charmed the panel, doesn’t appear to have been upscaled for the Eurovision stage, and that’s disappointing.
Well..we all know that this is not going to be top10…that’s a lot of colors and at least i got a smile on my face in all of his performance….he is so charismatic
I imagine Ann Sophie watching this and feeling a calm sense of relief.
hahaha true..
Last place is reserved once again by Deutschland. He is cute af though.
100% more authentic than Malta.
Yeah i was wrong
The biggest contender for last place out of the automatic qualifiers! This is a mess Germany, WTH!
The German fans are rattled I see
Here before the snippet and I’m expecting a lot of colours, I hope I’m not wrong!
Well I was not wrong… Weirdly, that was enjoyable! Expecting somewhere between 13th and 24th