Final in Turin
Malik Harris wins the German preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest
Malik Harris is on stage at the show “Germany 12 Points – the German ESC preliminary decision”.
© Britta Pedersen / DPA
The singer Malik Harris will represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Turin in May. Harris won the German preliminary round on Friday evening with his song “Rockstars”.
The singer Malik Harris will represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Turin in May. Harris won the German preliminary round against five competitors on Friday evening with his song “Rockstars”. The 24-year-old from Landsberg am Lech, son of US presenter Rick Harris, was able to assert himself in the sum of the votes from radio listeners and television viewers.
In recent years, Germany has usually ended up far behind in the ESC final, in 2021 with Jendrik, for example, in penultimate place.
After juries had recently determined the German ESC starter, ARD had radio listeners and television viewers vote this year. In the vote of the radio stations, Harris was still in second place behind the duo Mael and Jonas. But because he received by far the most votes from the television audience, he was able to prevail in the end.
Ukrainian ESC winner Jamala sings anti-war song “1944”
The show, moderated by Barbara Schöneberger, was also marked by the war in Ukraine. In a moving performance, the Ukrainian ESC winner from 2016, Jamala, sang her winning song “1944”. The song is about the deportation of Crimean Tatars by Soviet dictator Stalin. Jamala urged people to help end the war. “My greatest wish is for the war to stop,” Jamala said on Friday evening in Berlin. The singer had fled her homeland with her two children under dramatic circumstances. She had to leave her husband behind in Ukraine.
“Today I’m singing in the name of the children, I’m singing in the name of the women today,” said the ESC winner. “I want the whole world to hear our voice, to hear about our pain and suffering.” She will do everything she can. “I’m going to shout for the whole world to hear that it can’t be like this.”
The ESC final, which will take place on May 14th, is in Italy because last year the Italian band Måneskin won the world’s most acclaimed music competition.