It couldn’t have been done better. However, it couldn’t have been worse. Maybe you couldn’t have done it at all. Although that probably wouldn’t have been good either.
And so it took place, the German Eurovision Song Contest preliminary round “Germany 12 Points”. The day after the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant burned down. On the evening after NATO had finally rejected the request of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskij to secure Ukrainian airspace. After Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made it clear: “No one can want the resulting danger of unlimited escalation throughout Europe.” The evening after Selensky had made serious accusations against NATO. On the evening of a decision that one can find necessary from a utilitarian point of view when it comes to preventing a nuclear war, but not in solidarity.
No solidarity kitsch, instead steely “The Show Must Go On”
In other words: an overall situation with which an ESC preliminary decision, with its obligatory declarations of solidarity and its one-Europe kitsch, can hardly be combined. Nevertheless, the preliminary decision took place, even if not at 8:15 p.m. as planned, but forty-five minutes late. The donation program “WE HELP – Together for Ukraine” took up the original slot, and the entire preliminary decision was also embedded in this call for donations. What else should one do?
If there was anything to enjoy that evening, it wasn’t the long-awaited pause for thought, but just the brooding itself. The real excitement wasn’t in the question of who would ultimately represent Germany in Turin, but how to deal with this situation . And to say it again clearly: there is currently no good solution, which makes the ESC a brilliant metaphor for Europe.
What was then shown, six music acts under the strict aegis of Barbara Schöneberger, brought even die-hard fans of cultivated pop hit escapism to the limits of cognitive dissonance. Because the solution initially chosen was to ignore the war almost entirely. No solidarity kitsch, instead steely “The Show Must Go On”.
If there was a war in Europe, Schöneberger initially kept it a secret from the audience
Schöneberger opened with a shallow electro-schlager-pop moderation medley, which reminded the viewer again why Schöneberger is an ESC moderator and not a candidate. Then switched to welcoming the broadcasting areas – to celebrate public federalism – through the German dialect culture. Greeted the guests: judges from the radio stations, Texas Lightning singer Jane Comerford (ESC 2006), the fabulous Conchita Wurst (ESC winner 2014) and of course ESC veteran Thomas Herrmann.
If there was a war in Europe, Schöneberger initially kept it a secret from the audience. Presented the first act in the usual good mood: Malik Harris with the song “Rockstars” – a soft rock pop song with a strong Eminem-inspired and very cleanly performed rap component. Maël & Jonas followed, cheerful Bulli drivers in flowered jackets.
Eros Atomus – Gil Ofarim meets Kelly Family – put on by far the most professional performance of the evening. In a golden picture frame he exulted: “It’s great to be alive”, and the damned diem was rarely carpe-t so completely. Only when Eros got off the stage did he lose his good mood: “It’s been difficult lately. It’s also difficult to be on stage. Um.”
Schöneberger masterfully moderated it while the viewer’s heart broke. And you thought about it for a moment, how young the participants are, probably as old as the Ukrainian and Russian actually-still-kids, who are just getting along and so on. And then you thought for a moment that you just can’t do such a feel-good live show right now. And then that that wouldn’t be right either, given what young people have missed out on in recent years.
Suddenly everything is blue and yellow, suddenly the audience is singing too
It continued with Emily Roberts, young, Felicia Lu, also young. Then Deep Suave and Team Liebe with “Hello World” and the question: “Why isn’t peace there when you need it?”. And then you were through and amazed that the ARD really decided to just make a show and to bridge the time with another medley. Jane Comerford started with “No No Never”, was then supported and replaced by Conchita Wurst’s “Rise Like A Phoenix” and when everything was just about to dissolve into euphoria, it became quiet, surprise guest Gitta Haenning came on stage: “a little bit Peace, a bit of sun, on this earth we live on”.
Suddenly everything was blue and yellow, suddenly the audience was singing too, waving flags in black, red, gold, blue and yellow. For a moment you no longer felt the dissonance and could surrender to the European kitsch, suddenly you had tears in your eyes, for which you should only be ashamed later. And then came the Ukrainian ESC winner Jamala (ESC 2016) and with her the war and sang and screamed and prayed her song “1944”. A song about Stalin and the deportation of the Crimean Tatars – a song about what dictators are doing to Ukraine.
And that’s where it should have ended – only someone else had to win. Malik with “Rockstars”, but that’s only mentioned for the sake of the young artists, after Jamala’s performance it seems secondary.