April 15, 2020
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The first round of the ORF song contest in the home office is over – and Islands Dadi Freyr and the group Gagnamagnid won the evening with the dry-ironic number “Think about Things”. The expert jury made up of old ESC stars – including Waterloo, Simone, Alf Poier, Cesar Sampson and Conchita – voted the Nordic nerds number 1 in issue 1 of “The‘ Little ’Song Contest” on Tuesday.
The groovy and at the same time parodistic electronic number of the singer living in Berlin came in first place with 75 points for the ten jurors, who were free to snout for each song between 0 and 12 points in their respective house arrests. Bulgaria and the Heuer Fast host Netherlands, who also opened the tournament, were four points behind.
Even if the opening with the signets had reminded the glamorous Viennese ESC 2015, Andi Knoll deliberately keeps it calm when the mini-edition of the mega-advertising is published: “Mr Song Contest” teased his comments from the desk as usual, mischievously and maliciously. The decision to insert in the style of private TV charts in the leaked music videos interleaved comments by celebrities such as Andi Ogris or Monica Weinzettl proved less imperative.
But: “Like the song contest, life is not a dream concert,” to quote Andi Knoll. So be it. Sometimes trash, sometimes solid pop, sometimes gaudy ethnic anthems – in troubled times the joint European song journey is a haven of stability that shakes coronahausarrest-tormented minds and reminds you that there is still a life, sometimes strange, beyond your own four walls.
Part 2 of the Home Office ESC follows on Thursday, in which a further third of the 41 participating countries will be presented with the official videos. As the crowning finale, the final round with the last third of the candidate group is scheduled for Saturday (April 18) – Austria’s Vincent Bueno with “Alive” is in the race here. After the jury has determined its third winner of the day, the spectators have their say. You can choose the official winner of the “small” ORF song contest from the three daily jury winners – although this time it is even possible to vote for the domestic candidate.
By the way, Austria is not alone with its ESC replacement show, even if Europe is rather divided on this question. In Spain, the online edition of the competition was launched at the end of March – with the domestic candidate Blas Canto and “Universo” as the winner. Vincent Bueno, the red-white-red flag bearer, was ranked 13th on the Iberian Peninsula. Sweden will follow on May 9th and 14th, when the winner will be chosen in two evening shows by voting by the audience at “Eurovision: Sveriges 12: a”.
There will be a real traffic jam on May 16 – the date that was actually intended as the final evening for Rotterdam. Under the title “Eurovision: Come Together” and with the moderation of talk legend Graham Norton, the BBC wants to show a mixture of best-of-performances and representatives of this year. In Germany, mastermind Stefan Raab designed the “Free European Song Contest” for ProSieben on the same day, the details of which are still open.
And then there is the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as the actual ESC mother, which gets in the way. After all, the two-and-a-half hour “Europe Shine a Light” show was conceived here, which, among other things, unites all 41 participants in a virtual choir as well as parts of their contributions. According to the organizers, there is no competition here, in order not to endanger the liability of the insurance company. Whether ORF will also broadcast this ESC moment on May 16 is still open.
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