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The Week in Germany: Culture February 23, 2007 Swing Crooner Roger Cicero to Represent Germany at Eurovision
Song Contest in Helsinki
Roger Cicero, a slick self-styled singer of "new German
swing", will represent Germany at the next Eurovision song contest
in Helsinki
this spring. He and his song - Frauen regier'n die Welt (Women
Rule the World) - were selected from among three acts by televoting German
TV viewers who tuned in to a German national contest and gala show to
pick the nation's lucky Eurovision entry for 2007. So what exactly is Eurovision, you might ask? If
you find yourself scratching your head, you're not alone: Many Americans
have never even heard of Eurovision, an annual Euro-Pop competitive Kitschfest
yet bona fide musical institution viewed by millions of Europeans from
Dublin to Dubrovnik, from Riga to Rome, from Vienna to Vladivostock -
and everywhere inbetween. In a nutshell, Eurovision is HUGE - and utterly
unavoidable if you're living in Europe, have a pulse, and are a consumer
of modern media.
This particular TWIG editor was taken totally by surprise
when, upon moving to Hamburg in autumn 1997, everyone was chanting a catchy
yet kitschy pop tune called Guildo
hat Euch Lieb!
(Guildo Loves You All!). Headlines across the nation were wondering
"Could Guildo win Best Song for Germany at the next Eurovision Contest?",
his feel-good song was played by DJs at children's parties, university
beer fests and nightclubs, and newspaper stories revealed what types of
homemade cookies he liked to take with him on tour (Nußecken,
or "nut corners"). And this was months ahead of the actual
event itself ... Although Guildo
Horn didn't win the 1998 contest, he sure got a lot of mileage from
his song. According to an Irish friend of mine, however, no country has
ever won as many Eurovision "best song" titles as Ireland -
"the home of Eurovision". The basic format of Eurovision, which was first held in
1956 and celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is simple: Each participating
country sends an act to the European city where it is taking place, contestants
compete, and one act emerges victorious after TV viewers in all participating
countries call in their votes.
Germans fondly recall the 1982 Eurovision song contest,
when an angel-faced young singer named Nicole
took home the coveted first prize for best song with her mild-mannered
ballad Ein bißchen Frieden (A little Peace). And Eurovision
aficionados all recall that ABBA
won best song in 1974 with a catchy hit tune called Waterloo
that helped catapult the now legendary Swedish foursome to global pop
superstardom. French-Canadian diva Celine
Dion won - for Switzerland - in 1988 with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi,
and Israel even got in on the act in 1998 when the transvestite songstress
Dana International
won with the aptly titled Diva (thereby dashing Guildo's dreams
of a title for Germany!). Now the 2007 Eurovision prize is up for grabs at a semi-final
airing on May 10 and a final airing on May 12. "In the year after Lordi, anything is possible,"
Thomas Hermanns, who hosted Thursday's show to decide Germany's entry,
said in reference to the Finnish shock rockers who won last year's event
in Athens with their heavy-metallesque tune Hard Rock Halleluja.
Finland won the right to host the event after Lordi won over voters with
an impressive heavy metal performance dressed in monster garb. "The rules have to be re-written," said Hermanns, addin gthat
anyone hoping to win the title this year will have to grab attention by
offering something that is between "a fire-spitting dragons and skimpy
mini-skirts." The trend towards performers singing in English was also regrettable,
he said. "I'm a fan who likes to hear Maltese lyrics to a Maltese
belly dance," he added. Germany placed 15th in last year's 24-nation competition with a country
and western song entitled No No Never. As cited in a statement
on the official Eurovision website, Frauen regier'n die Welt will
be the first swing entry for Germany in the contest, and it will be the
first entry entirely performed in German since 1998. "The lyrics
state that women might sometimes stay in the background, but nevertheless
they have their own methods to get what they want," the statement
said. (TWIG/dpa) Links: |
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