The next Eurovision superstar from Germany will be determined in Unser Lied für Liverpool on 3 February. Wiwibloggers YouYou and Rick got the chance to watch the first rehearsals with the invitation from broadcaster NDR in MMC Studios in Cologne on Wednesday and Thursday.
In total, nine songs will compete in Friday’s final, you can still vote for your favourite song online here until 22:00 CET on Friday – you just need to click “Los geht’s” and watch the recap video first before you can vote.
The Dutch Eurovision star Ilse DeLange will join the final as a guest act on Friday’s show, singing a new song with the German Country-Rock Duo The BossHoss. Last year’s winner Malik Harris will also return to the show.
Unser Lied für Liverpool will broadcast at 22:20 CET on Friday on ARD and you can watch the show online here.
Below you can see our exclusive reviews and photos from the first rehearsals on Wednesday. We will review all performances in the same running order as the final on Friday:
1. Trong – “Dare to Be Different”
Vietnam Idol-winner TRONG is opening the show. He’s joined on stage by his backing dancers to do a very international-looking and professional performance. Trong serves some small parts of his lyrics in Vietnamese and even in German. We think he did really well and he comes across as friendly and very thankful for this opportunity. In our interview, he also told us about applying for the German Eurovision ticket six times so far! Trong has one backing singer with him but he’s not visable on stage.
2. René Miller – “Concrete Heart”
After using a big rock as a prop on stage for the first rehearsals, today René Miller and his team decided to reject this idea since he wasn’t able to move or stand up on this rock. So today, René is alone on stage which unfortunately makes it look a bit empty. Vocally he’s on point though. There’s a lot of ground fog used for the performance and it ends with red lights symbolizing a heartbeat.
3. Anica Russo – “Once Upon a Dream”
Anica is doing a great job vocally. On stage, you can see a magical garden. Many plants are placed around the singer. Her performance starts with her playing the piano/organ. She is wearing a shimmering dress and looks stunning. Her song is kinda difficult to get on the first listen though. Even with her movement there’s something missing to really stand out next to her competitors. It’s still a really nice presentation.
4. Lonely Spring – “Misfit”
The stage workers carry a lot of mannequins on stage. They are grey and wear grey hoodies. Some of them have the titel “Misfit” written on them. The Lonely Spring-bandmembers stand on a podium behind the mannequins to give us the impression of playing in front of a party crowd at a private concert. We definitely get the idea behind that, but somehow the movement is missing. Even though Lonely Spring really know how to rock on stage and give us a different flavour, it’s not consistent. The band is still not sure how to perform on Friday though. They rehearsed with different placements for the mannequins. The background shows different parts of the lyrics in green letters.
5. Will Church – “Hold On”
Will’s performance starts with a him singing in a mirror. You don’t get that immediately though, but only when the camera zooms out. After the mirror disappears you can see Will alone on stage with the background displaying a street. Many red lights appear on stage but in some parts the stage is very dark. His voice sounds very good in the studio.
6. Patty Gurdy – “Melodies of Hope”
After having problems with deciding what she should wear on stage, Patty is wearing a light-pink dress and starts her performance in a dress made of wood. She steps out of it during the second verse and this makes it possible for her to dance a lot more than before. The most important detail according to Patty is her hurdy gurdy, a very unique and old German folk instrument. She’s playing it on stage and felt more relaxed than yesterday.
7. Ikke Hüftgold – “Lied mit gutem Text”
The most polarizing act in this years’ German Eurovision selection, Ikke Hüftgold, is giving us a lot of gimmicks on stage. He appers in a golden suit with his backing dancers wearing matching astronaut helmets. He also has female backing dancers with him and a flute player. All of them wear golden accessories. Ikke has a big book placed on stage before him where he acts like he’s reading the lyrics of his song. This of course is only a joke. It’s a very humourous act and he doesn’t want to take himself too serious, which you can obviously see – especially if you know him. In the middle part of the song he added English lyrics in a funny way – to Germans at least. We’re not sure though how this would work internationally.
8. Frida Gold – “Alle Frauen in mir sind müde”
Probably one of the biggest names in the line up, Frida Gold, rehearsed only yesterday, since singer Alina seems to be sick today. She took care of her voice also in yesterdays’ rehearsals, so she didn’t actually sing all the parts of the song. Since “Alle Frauen in mir sind müde” is in German, they also added some English lyrics. The performance starts with a white curtain on which you see shadows of the backing dancers, who have an arrow in their back, which stands for strong women all over the world. The song itself speaks about how women still have to fight for their right in many countries and that it’s fascinating to see inspiring, strong females in the world who still didn’t give up their fight. Once the curtain falls, the backing dancers can be seen in full. Frida Gold are joined by Spanish guitar player Afra Rubino. In the end of the performance there’s snow falling down on stage. Visually, this is perfect!
9. Lord Of The Lost – “Blood & Glitter”
While Frida Gold are serving pure emotion and a very laid-back ballad, the show is closed by glam-rock sensation Lord Of The Lost – a nice contrast. The guys perform in similar outfits than those used in their music video. It’s giving us Britney Spears’ Oops I did it again-vibes – only visually though! The band is wearing gold and red make up and all of them are dressed in a very fashionable way. On stage there’s fire, pyro and a lot of energy. Vocally this was one of the best performances. The bandmembers are standing on a railing and playing their instruments.
You can see more pictures of yesterday’s rehersals in Cologne’s MMC studios on our Instagram. All of the acts will perform once again tonight but without the press being present. Those performances will then get rated by the international judges from eight different countries.
In tomorrow’s final of Unser Lied für Liverpool the jury votes will count 50%. The other half of the votes will come from the public – they can vote online, via SMS and via telephone. Barbara Schöneberger will host the show on ARD starting at 22:20 CET.
Which act do you think could take Germany to the top once again? Are you excited for the national final on Friday? Let us know in the comments.
Lord Of The Lost is clearly the best option.
My prediction for who’ll win: Lord of the lost or Patty Gurdy (im guessing the band will) Who I want: René, Frida, Will Church or Lonely spring. A bit on the acts I want to win: René: Unfortunately ,I’m starting to feel like this wont have a chance at winning,especially last minute changing the staging and it feeling empty. This is probably the song in this selection that I’ve listened to the most, I like this genre of music and I like the chorus a lot. I wish René the best of luck. Frida: This song feels very classy, elegant… Read more »
Patty or last place
There’s no way lord of the lost would get last place. Especially because they already have a pretty big following
Anica’s staging makes me think of the netflix movie into the tall grass.
Thanks for this. It seems like this will be a lot of fun.
There’s not a massive difference between Ikke and Lord Of The Lost in my eyes, both entries are very kitschy in their own unique way, at least Patty Gurdy sits on the “classy” kitsch side compared to those.
Define classy haha
My final top 9 of Unser Lied für Liverpool 2023: 1. Lord Of The Lost – “Blood & Glitter” (10/10) 2. Patty Gurdy – “Melodies of Hope” (9.5/10) 3. René Miller – “Concrete Heart” (9.5/10) 4. Anica Russo – “Once Upon a Dream” (9/10) 5. Lonely Spring – “Misfit” (8/10) 6. Will Church – “Hold On” (7.5/10) 7. Trong – “Dare to Be Different” (6/10) 8. Ikke Hüftgold – “Lied mit gutem Text” (5/10) 9. Frida Gold – “Alle Frauen in mir sind müde” (5/10) Honestly, Germany… Fantastic job this year, the majority of the entries range from great to… Read more »
(I apologise for putting Frida last btw but it was NOT EASY AT ALL to make this ranking)
I knew they wouldn’t disappoint. FRIDA GOLD FOR THE WIN!!
This aged like milk
Frida looka like the best choice, it worked in 2018 for Germany ao why not. But Germans will choose bwtween Ikke and Lord of the Lost
Glad to hear Lord of the Lost were impeccable vocally! Surely the jury must rank them high! Now let’s see how overwhelmingly the public will vote for Ikke… I still think there is hope for Lord of the Lost to win
Is there an inkling as to who might win this? I know who the fan favs are but what about the Germen fan favs?
Most of us germans are convinced Ikke will win. Us german Eurofans don‘t want him but he has a really large fanbase that doesn‘t care about Eurovision at all and think it would be fun to send it. For example all the rehearsals were put on tiktok and his has more views than all other 8 acts combined…
The only possible contender would be Lord of The Lost who‘ll most likely get second in the televote
So the jury would need to tank Ikke for them to lose? They might actually do that.
What is with this defeatist attitude? If you don’t want Ikke to win, then vote in mass numbers for the other artists you want to see at Eurovision.
I think it stems from the fact that Germany keeps sending garbage to ESC so Trashyy just wants their country to send something they can root for. I understand their pessimism.
Honestly, at this point I’d settle for something not bland. I know Ikke is not exactly high culture but you cannot deny that it’s very catchy, kinda funny (if you understand German) and in its own way represents part of German culture and what some Germans actually listen to. So… I’ve reached a point where I am at peace with him potentially winning. Same with Blood And Gold. Not really my thing but it undeniably would be a moment. And I don’t think either would get last place. I’d prefer Patty (if she can deliver live) since that’s the only… Read more »
I can tell you that some German fans don’t have favs. So they are not voting. Some of them aren’t even watching. And knowing what the German general public usually sees as edgy, I’m half expecting Lord of the Lost to win. Unless the drunk party crowd takes over, then Ikke has a shot, but I honestly don’t think that any self-respecting juror could put him anywhere else than at the bottom of their ranking. Then again, an internal jury thought, Jendrik would be a good idea.
Looking forward to Frida Gold. My favorite of the lineup. I’m bummed that they added some English parts, though. I’m not a fan of bilingual songs; they rarely work.
I’m gonna make a gut feeling prediction that like always Germany won’t pick the fan favorite\s.
Shame Rene got rid of his rock! It actually looked good and give him the best staging!