ESC legend Peter Urban
Anke Engelke as the desired successor
Peter Urban is thinking about his successor.
© NDR/Christian Spielmann
Anke Engelke is Peter Urban’s dream solution for his successor at the Eurovision Song Contest. She has experience with the ESC.
Anke Engelke is “funny, empathetic and a likeable woman”. She also has “compassion for others.” Despite all the irony, this is important. You shouldn’t be cynical at the ESC, Peter Urban continued. “It’s a tightrope act to avoid putting something in a bad light,” says the master of quiet irony.
Anke Engelke already has experience with broadcasting the ESC. In 2011 she led the gala in Düsseldorf alongside Stefan Raab (57) and Judith Rakers (47).
Johannes Oerding is Peter Urban’s dream candidate at the ESC
Peter Urban also thought about an artist who could get more points for Germany at the ESC. Johannes Oerding (41) would be his ideal choice. But he doesn’t just have one Time out announced for 2024, but could also be too successful for the ESC. “Many German artists believe that they are harming themselves if they don’t do well at the ESC,” Urban told “NOZ”.
Peter Urban first commented on the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. With the exception of one interruption in 2009, the journalist reported on the singing competition every year. But now he pulled the ripcord, among other things for physical reasons. “My right leg is shorter, I can’t walk well,” said the NDR man. “If you walk with a cane and have to cover long distances and climb stairs at the ESC, it’s very hindering.” Peter Urban wanted to decide the time of his farewell himself, “before someone forces the doddering old man to stop.”