Schöneberger is beaming happily as she floats on stage on strong dancer arms in dress number one. After years of on-off relationship between viewers and TV awards, after the total failure in 2015, a half-hearted internet broadcast in 2019, an award ceremony without an audience in 2020, the decision was made this year to go for a full program with red carpet, swing and tuxedo in the Tanzbrunnen in Cologne and RTL broadcast .
As a spectator, what do you hope for from the gala in which you chase names through categories for four hours? Sure, peek into the closed society, how it celebrates unrestrainedly – you want to hear missed punchlines, tears of joy, the worst clothes, family quarrels, scandals and scandal à la Reich-Ranicki in 2008. Little was seen of any of this. The four-hour evening dragged on in a hazy and sleepy manner, with Oliver Pocher, who does not hide his own disdain for the environment (“these are the people we make television for”), half-hearted jury reviews (“the film breathes”) and Schöneberger’s subliminal wokeness Criticism (“Puff sleeves – can you say that?”). Nevertheless, the always reliable presenter managed to hold together the undisciplined bunch that had poorly prepared for the comeback on television as an endlessly stretchy laughing rubber.
The evening is most beautiful when the television crowd feels at home but doesn’t forget the camera.
Almost everyone came. Dieter Hallervorden has taken off his shoes, Jan Böhmermann is grinning up front. Only one of the main clearers, Joko Winterscheidt, is not in the hall. The presenter won two prizes in the “Best Entertainment Show” category for Who is stealing the show from me? as well as in the “Infotainment” category together with his colleague Klaas for the documentation, which is award-worthy just because of the length of the avant-garde (seven hours!) Joko & Klaas – Live: Care is not a matter of course. The sincere speech by the nursing staff Alexander Jorde and Franziska Böhler, who appeared in the documentary, provided the emotional climax: “The nursing emergency is not over after the pandemic.” Even world saver Eckart von Hirschhausen could not destroy this moment (“I am a doctor too”), who, while reading to the nominees on stage, showed two trailers about climate change and the corona pandemic, as if there were an alien gathering in the audience that you have to summarize the year 2020 quickly and understandably. The evening party rose for the nurses, endless applause, lips pressed together with humility.
Markus Lanz was also one of the winners with his talk show named after him in the “Best Information” category. In his acceptance speech, the moderator praised his hard-working editorial team, who did the difficult job of “finding the right question for every answer”. In the end he does get personal, pulls up the trophy and dedicates it to a woman in South Tyrol: “Mom, this is for you!”
“I accept the award”: Hape Kerkeling, here with Rolando Villazòn, received the award for his life’s work.
(Photo: Andreas Rentz / Getty Images)
The evening is most beautiful when the television crowd feels at home but doesn’t forget the camera. When Hape Kerkeling, honored for his life’s work, and Barbara Schöneberger tell each other lockdown anecdotes or Kerkeling about his travels, which in the Vatican was “a Peter Maffay length” away from the Pope.
When towards the end, after a dry spell with no evidence of entertainment, one thought that the show had forgotten the viewer, Michael Kessler’s tuxedo suddenly glitters, feather crowns wobble and “wittiness knows no limits” introduces a worthy review of Hape Kerkeling’s life’s work. The climax is provided by the opera singer Rolando Villazón with a precise imitation of the famous TV prank “Hurz”. At the end a smiling Hape Kerkeling steps onto the stage, thanks and announces: “I accept this award.” Sometimes it’s really nice without a scandal.