Germany GERMANY 2023 - Lord of the Lost - Blood and Glitter

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[HarryUK]

In Danish, "ikke" means "not", and only in that sense do I agree.

THEY CALL US LOSERS, SCOUSE BOOZERS

 

[Chorizo]

First, I have to say that it’s good to see that Germany is finally taking a break from sending the blandest, most "radio-friendly" middle-of-the-road pop song, something they have been guilty of nearly every year for about a decade. I hope they will get a better result than their usual last place with 0 points this year, just to ensure that the clueless people at the NDR won’t conclude that they must send more "radio-friendly" songs in order to succeed. I hope they will stage this entry decently instead of going for their usual boring non-staging that has been typical of Germany for many years. Maybe I should focus more on this song instead of talking about the awful Germany entries from the past, but it’s impossible to ignore Germany’s bad track record despite of having one of the highest-funded public broadcasters in the world, which strongly suggests that the incompetence of the people working there is their main problem.

I think this song is actually quite enjoyable and will make for a welcome change between two ballads. With good staging it could be quite entertaining to watch. 7 points for avoiding being yet another "radio-friendly" German entry.

 

[Jay25]

Get ready for some drama...
Ikke is basically accusing the German broadcaster of manipulating the national final, along other accusations.

This is the statement by "Ikke" (in German): https://www.facebook.com/1000444648...Uaex4tXZENqANomxRY8PuTfpmUUCHeXTNyBl/?app=fbl

 

[ESC94]

Get ready for some drama...
Ikke is basically accusing the German broadcaster of manipulating the national final, along other accusations.

This is the statement by "Ikke" (in German): https://www.facebook.com/1000444648...Uaex4tXZENqANomxRY8PuTfpmUUCHeXTNyBl/?app=fbl

I (sadly) read that, it´s really a waste of lifetime. Instead of bringing some "evidence" for his accusations he only repeats the same stuff he already said.

 

[Mainshow]

I don´t think it´s a "waste of lifetime" because I believe that he has a point when it comes to Peter Urban, ARD and NDR´s interest and budget regarding Eurovision and how they internally "select" artists and performers for their national finals.
He´s not the first one who´s not satisfied and questions the whole process.

I personally don´t believe the final results were rigged (there´s no evidence) but clearly, there are people in charge who neglect well-established and talented and successful artists in favor of wildcards, newcomers and people like Levina, S!ster and Jendrik.

That TikTok wildcard was a strange thing to happen, anyway.. especially since they placed a high profile artist (and let newcomers and nobodies directly be part of the NF)...

Ikke´s 100% right about Peter Urban, though.

 

[AndroZeus]

I don´t think it´s a "waste of lifetime" because I believe that he has a point when it comes to Peter Urban, ARD and NDR´s interest and budget regarding Eurovision and how they internally "select" artists and performers for their national finals.
He´s not the first one who´s not satisfied and questions the whole process.

I personally don´t believe the final results were rigged (there´s no evidence) but clearly, there are people in charge who neglect well-established and talented and successful artists in favor of wildcards, newcomers and people like Levina, S!ster and Jendrik.

That TikTok wildcard was a strange thing to happen, anyway.. especially since they placed a high profile artist (and let newcomers and nobodies directly be part of the NF)...

Ikke´s 100% right about Peter Urban, though.

So in essence Ikke's criticism is that acts like Ikke shouldn't be selected to the NF? If so, he's right about that part.

 

[Mainshow]

So in essence Ikke's criticism is that acts like Ikke shouldn't be selected to the NF? If so, he's right about that part.

Ikke levels criticism at people in charge who desperately prevent artists of different genres to be part of the national final, especially Schlager artists.

Eskimo Callboy didn´t make it. Lord Of The Lost have been submitting entries for years as well.

Just recently, Faun (a very successful Pagan Folk band) also made a comment on how disappointed they were at NDR and how they treated them.

I don´t think it´s "rigging" but he´s got a point that people in charge and a few hardcore fans are very narrow-minded when it comes to diversity and variety.

He also levels criticism at how "amateurish" some aspects of the NF were, e.g. meeting deadlines, production, press conferences, adverts, PR, promotion and I fully agree with him (as well as other fans).. I mean.. just look at countries such as with a smaller budget.

Personally, I think that some aspects are really interesting to read and he clearly has a point.. a few parts sound a bit "desperate" like he´s a sore loser without much evidence... but yeah, I really believe (and know) that there´s some lack of respect towards a few artists/genres at NDR/ESC´s team and it´s no surprise that they favor certain people.

 

[ESC94]

I don´t think it´s a "waste of lifetime" because I believe that he has a point when it comes to Peter Urban, ARD and NDR´s interest and budget regarding Eurovision and how they internally "select" artists and performers for their national finals.
He´s not the first one who´s not satisfied and questions the whole process.

I personally don´t believe the final results were rigged (there´s no evidence) but clearly, there are people in charge who neglect well-established and talented and successful artists in favor of wildcards, newcomers and people like Levina, S!ster and Jendrik.

That TikTok wildcard was a strange thing to happen, anyway.. especially since they placed a high profile artist (and let newcomers and nobodies directly be part of the NF)...

Ikke´s 100% right about Peter Urban, though.

I meant it in this way that it´s a waste fo lifetime because he didn´t deliver anything new or any evidence that there was a manipulation of the result.

 

[AndroZeus]

Ikke levels criticism at people in charge who desperately prevent artists of different genres to be part of the national final, especially Schlager artists.

Eskimo Callboy didn´t make it. Lord Of The Lost have been submitting entries for years as well.

Just recently, Faun (a very successful Pagan Folk band) also made a comment on how disappointed they were at NDR and how they treated them.

I don´t think it´s "rigging" but he´s got a point that people in charge and a few hardcore fans are very narrow-minded when it comes to diversity and variety.

He also levels criticism at how "amateurish" some aspects of the NF were, e.g. meeting deadlines, production, press conferences, adverts, PR, promotion and I fully agree with him (as well as other fans).. I mean.. just look at countries such as with a smaller budget.

Personally, I think that some aspects are really interesting to read and he clearly has a point.. a few parts sound a bit "desperate" like he´s a sore loser without much evidence... but yeah, I really believe (and know) that there´s some lack of respect towards a few artists/genres at NDR/ESC´s team and it´s no surprise that they favor certain people.

Okay, so he's raising some good and important points, but he's mixing it in with being a sore loser so it just seems like a shitty ramble?

 

[I bims]

Okay, so he's raising some good and important points, but he's mixing it in with being a sore loser so it just seems like a shitty ramble?

It's just a shitty ramble, every point that would be noteworthy was already pointed out by other outlets like esc-kompakt.
He's just a sore loser, that's all.

 

[Mainshow]

There's a difference between a minor Eurovision fanpage run by hard-core fans or a high-profile artist making such points.

Yeah, he lost and comes across as a sore poser but still, some of his points are valid and it adds another list of artists who are very disappointed to angry at NDR and their Eurovision team. That's the aspect which annoys and worries me the most... surely, Germany is a big country and we will always find some Jendriks and S!sters to represent and make us "proud" but NDR/ARD needs to improve on how they treat their artists and produce, promote the NF.

 

[LMLandLoreenfan]

To me Ikkes statement seems like absolutely nonsense. He mixes up different points and ends up with no result. He doesn't even have any evidence for his claims, so basically he is just a sore loser. I don't like NDR neither but to me this doesn't feel like a statement that is really trying to critizice them as a broadcaster, it sounds like he only came up with this because he didn't win.

 

[GermanBango]

Maybe we should stop labeling people as sore losers (even if it's some as trashy as Ikke Hüftgold) as soon as the level criticism at our abysmal broadcaster and their shitty irrelevant attempts at hosting national finals. Just saying. Sure, the way these talking points are put together are rather amateurish and give off a certain amount of saltiness but does it make the core invalid? I remember people were going off on Aly Ryan as well after she criticized the NDR for rigging the NF (which was super obvious at that time).
Funnily all of the artists who raised their voices at least in part came up with the exact arguments that we Eurovision fans have been repeating on a loop since idk 2016 or so.

 

[midnightsun]

Well, some of his accusations are correct. As I said before, I used to work in the media field myself and I know people who are part of tv productions and directors. But Germany is not the only country. I don’t know if the final numbers or the table he allegedly got are rigged or incorrect (his disappointment does speak there and there is no proof he would have won the whole thing) but I know things are shady (and have always been) when it comes to the selection process of artists and how some authorities try to influence the outcome.

Anyway, he should have waited until the GF is over and not ruin it for LOTL. Very bad move.

 

[Storm]

Maybe we should stop labeling people as sore losers (even if it's some as trashy as Ikke Hüftgold) as soon as the level criticism at our abysmal broadcaster and their shitty irrelevant attempts at hosting national finals. Just saying. Sure, the way these talking points are put together are rather amateurish and give off a certain amount of saltiness but does it make the core invalid? I remember people were going off on Aly Ryan as well after she criticized the NDR for rigging the NF (which was super obvious at that time).
Funnily all of the artists who raised their voices at least in part came up with the exact arguments that we Eurovision fans have been repeating on a loop since idk 2016 or so.

He is labelled a sore loser because of his vote rigging conspiracy. Criticizing the broadcaster for lack of professionalism or the questionable techs has indeed happened before so no biggie. But then he chooses to go further (pandering to his conspiracy friendly, GEZ-hating fanbase?), kind of disqualifying his entire statement. It's definitely giving a bit delusional....

 

[midnightsun]

Live in Amsterdam (ESC pre-party)

They are amazing!!! Dark Horse vibes! If I compare them to the other artists I have seen live so far I smell top 15 (maybe even top 10? One can dream! )

 

[mauve]

Live in Amsterdam (ESC pre-party)

They are amazing!!! Dark Horse vibes! If I compare them to the other artists I have seen live so far I smell top 15 (maybe even top 10? One can dream! )

Yeah - just wanted to write that we should just forget Ikke and turn to more important topics than sore loosers. The performance was amazing. I love how passionate Chris and his band is about ESC and how they respect the other artists. Simply love these guys!

 

[GermanBango]

He is labelled a sore loser because of his vote rigging conspiracy. Criticizing the broadcaster for lack of professionalism or the questionable techs has indeed happened before so no biggie. But then he chooses to go further (pandering to his conspiracy friendly, GEZ-hating fanbase?), kind of disqualifying his entire statement. It's definitely giving a bit delusional....

Sure thing and as long as he doesn't have evidence it all just remains weird rambling. Sadly though the NDR has blatantly influenced NF results in the past so at the end of the day these allegations are not as far fetched as the might seem at first glance.
Which leads us to the main talking point for me: The NDR has zero credibility.

 

[midnightsun]

And I am pretty sure LOTL has rightfully won the NF and would have any time - even if Ikke was right with some of his complaints.

So we should all support LOTL, they are becoming more and more popular around the globe and even if they already had an established fan base before there seem new fans to be added each day. I am so incredibly happy for them!

They are doing SO MUCH promo on TV … even if it’s mainly on German television. It’s important that the Germans are backing them. And I think they will get a pretty good televote result in May!

 

[ESC94]

And I am pretty sure LOTL has rightfully won the NF and would have any time - even if Ikke was right with some of his complaints.

So we should all support LOTL, they are becoming more and more popular around the globe and even if they already had an established fan base before there seem new fans to be added each day. I am so incredibly happy for them!

They are doing SO MUCH promo on TV … even if it’s mainly on German television. It’s important that the Germans are backing them. And I think they will get a pretty good televote result in May!

Didn´t you hink the same about Sisters in 2019??

I like LOTL more though, even if they aren´t fully my cup of tea musically.