Germany is known as "the unfunny pop clown" around these parts, Lord of the Lost had the right idea, It just happened to not go as well as people expected.

Germany needs to wake up from the delusion that 'radio friendliness' is a recipe for success in Eurovision. It really isn't at all. Germany would have been a steady NQer hadn't it been for being a Big Five country. Michael Schulte in 2018 was an exception only because of the backstory and sincere delivery. And unfortunately Jendrik in 2021 was quirky but also too silly in a dated Eurovision 00's 'troll entry' way and a waste of opportunity to show his apparent talent.

Germany really should have sent Electric callboy in 2022.

Everything Stefan Raab touches turns to gold. So many TV shows, so many hits. Every Eurovision song he that he was a part of in some sort made the top 10. You still feel the gap he left in German TV since his departure. He just has a feeling for what works. Also the NDR which‘s now in charge of selectinh the ESC act, doesn‘t want to win. „Everything but first“… They need to get away from their radiofriendliness. Nowadays radio is something that plays in the background and nobody really actively listens to. Being radiofriendly is a bonus (like Tattoo) but not the main criteria to select your entry.

Stefan Raab also was involved in the national selection 2012 when Roman Lob won and came 8th place in Baku.

As a German born in 1988, my first memory of Eurovision is indeed Guildo Horn. And Böörti Böörti Vogts brought me right back into my childhood, so thank you for that! I think the contest has changed, so I actually don't know how successful Raab would be nowadays. Then again, we're already at the bottom, can't get much worse, so I'd fully support another try. Having someone who's passionate about music and Eurovision might be the first step out of the dark. I don't expect Germany to be another Italy or Sweden, but some breadcrumbs would be nice, so let him try all right.

Perfect timing because it was just announced that Stefan Raab has new plans for the German national final. I support that although I rather have someone younger than him, his legacy is already big enough. In my generation, born around 1990, most of the people have Guildo Horn & Stefan Raab in mind when talking about Eurovision and what their first memory of it is. And did I understood the ending of the video right? Our only hope for Eurovision is our HUMOR? Europe, beware!

One thing I would like to add to Stefan's legacy was the bundesvision song contest (or BuViSoCo for short) that was a yearly thing more or less until Stefans on-screen TV retirement, stepping back into the background and producing shows rather than hosting. I feel like this always was Stefans idea for a national final, as every state of the 16 federal states in Germany was to compete and the state winning had to be the next years host state. The lineup were quirky local newcomers AND some of Germany's hottest acts. And the venues were on eurovision level in size.

The state of affairs re: German Eurovision direly needs to change. However, I'm a bit wary of Stefan Raab being the savior ex machina that people make him out to be. His merits for German ESC between 1998 to 2011 asside, I think the contest itself has changed immensely (increasing quality for the past 8 - 10 years), as has the Zeitgeist and I'm doubtful Raab would be up to find the right tone for contemporary ESC. Like many other Germans, my pick would definitely be Jan Boehmermann, but due to him being contracted to ZDF, the second public broadcasting house in vicious competition with the ARD, it seems unlikely to happen. The ARD is like a toxic lover when it comes to ESC: they hate doing it, hate putting effort and investment in but they want to keep exclusively reaping the benefits of the high marketshares in viewership and the desirable age bracket of 14 - 29 yrs, both of which are rare commodities for rusty ´dusty ARD and offers them significant advantages in budget allocations and relevance arguments. And so they jealously hang on to keeping ESC under their exclusive umbrella while investing near naught into the overall production of the German NF and the German delegation. All that said and seeing that the ARD will continue to be very reluctant to let anyone from the outside, be it Raab or Boehmermann or me (honestly, this is one of my grandiose wet nightmares, hehe), I have to add that only a scenario of absolute ground zero could get things in motion towards change. I know that another federal regional broadcasting house is going to take over German delegation from the NDR next year, and while I wouldn't rule out that this might bring some improvement, I don't harbor much hope. As long as the ARD is in charge, the same systemic nonsense will continue, making it hard even for the best-intentioned regional broadcaster and even the highest motivated team on the German delegation to fight successfully the uphill battle against the ARD structures and mindset.

Raab was the Stig Anderson of Germany - had a plan, executed it to perfection. I used to watch Raab's TV show when I lived in Hungary, he's such a funny, talented guy. Of course he was also lucky to find such a talented performer as Lena. Her Eurovision performance has always seemed a bit odd to us here in Britain, with its affected vocal style, but she has shown now through a long career that she was no flash in the pan.

but Germany send I don't feel hate and still finished last.

The ESC has changed a lot in the 10 years since Raab was active, and his humour and entertainment ideas already wasnt doing great before he decided to retire. There was an attempt a couple years ago to make some sort of national songcontest („Free European Song Contest“), but that one was so filled with typical Raab era stereotype jokes that it was nothing but a cringefest. I do think fondly of the zeitgeist of that time, but the world changed and people already are cringing out and complain about the same type of much tamer jokes the NDR at current does. So "more funny" alone made by Stefan Raab wouldnt solve anything imo. I personally think the main issues germany has with placing, lies within the system of broadcaster editorial team and jury who pick just the most uncompetetive songs for the NF and insist that no one but them knows any better, reducing the selection to pop music only, as other genres are reported to not fit the personal taste of some of the decision makers. And oc that angers eurofans that see another contries entry being kicked out in the semis while germany hogs a guaranteed place in the final with something at best mediocre. The NF itself circles around the moderator gossiping with persons that are there as guests that have no relation to the ESC whatsoever. The artists are in the background until they have their song, and risk being joked upon right after their entry by the moderation. The stage is inadequate to show the relations of the actual ESC final, as its so much smaller and will not reflect to the big stage and audience that has to be filled with the song and performance to stick out. So in terms of production of the show, i do see hope in changing broadcasters, production and concept. Also having a musician as head of production might finally put the actual contestors and their songs into the focus of the show. Also this might finally offer a chance for actual popular genres like hiphop/rap, or open the door for anything rock/metal/punk, finally. It of course risks to lose more artistic approaches (like Ryk) as we know from for example serVia, but that would be something the public broadcasters could cover. As far as i have read, Raab offered a split show concept to 4 big german TV stations, the public broadcasters ARD(NDR) and ZDF, and two privates RTL and Pro7/Sat.1. The idea is to let each of them organize one semi-final and then have a national final with the winners of each of the 4 shows. The public broadcasters seem to be interested, while the privates are not sure what they would gain from this cause ARD would sent the NF as well as the ESC in any case. So its to see on where this might go. (source: rollingstone.de, esc-kompakt.de) At all the contract with the NDR will run out in 2025, and i HOPE WITH ALL OF MY HEART, that german entertainer and moderator Jan Böhmermann for the ZDF will take the show in his hands. Hes already commenting the contest for radio, and made a satiric song about germanys constant last placement ("Allemagne Zero Points (Official Release)" - Jan Böhmermann | ZDF Magazin Royale: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/leCWoc-czranhnU.html ). He has a very good editoral team for music and as a singer himself im convinced he will fit the CURRENT zeitgeist in creating a show and picking or writing good music for the CURRENT ESC. 🙏 Sorry for the essay, thanks for reading! If you made it this far please know that you are the most amazing person ever

Challenge to disprove the title of this video accepted ;)

Ahh I saw the news yesterday and you you’ve released a video, that makes me happy 🥰 also ty for acknowledging Lena’s largely forgotten impact!!

Germany should do like The Netherlands and select a song that could do good in the final. They have a problem with their broadcaster for the selection of the song for the final and the selection for the act that wins. The final is on a friday late night for a radio friendly song in Germany. The time is too late and on a friday gives a different feeling instead of a saturday.

Stefan Raab should represent Germany for Eurovision Song Contest again

You definitely should watch Traumschiff Surprise! 😅

I still remeber the time where the big youth radio stations did campaign for Gulido Horn, it was a massive campaign. Before Guildo Horn the ESC was perceived in Germany as a contest exclusively for "old people's" Schlager ( it was a bit before the dominance of the so called "Ballerman-Schlager" made Schlager more accessible for younger audiences), so Stefan Raab used all his Media Presence and Influence on younger audiences and mobilised this people for Guildo Horn. So I think Stefan Raabs sucess in Germany was, at least in the beginning, mostly due to his massive presence on tv (his own show) and radio ( which wad still very important in the late 90ies in Germany) and the fact that he made the contest interesting for younger people.

lol dayeinu I love your humor guys 🙏

Oh yesy you should definitely watch Dreamship Surprise!

Thx for making me feel ancient (playing the Bertie Vogts song). I’m Swiss (adopted) and Raab was everywhere for a while!

Hey Matt, I can see you're making a lot of changes to your space. Your audio is sounding much better. Keep it up!

I remember rewatching ESC2011 and in the SF they made a joke about naming things that don't go together, as a way to introduce the next interval; a DJ and traditional music. Then he says "Women and Technology" while the female host held the microphone upside down and the entire crowd started booing

"This guy may be your only hope" sounded like a Star Wars reference when the video had Star Trek mentioned. But I am probably overthinking it!!! :D I do hope though that this channel lives long and prospers!

I was constantly asking myself: Who is Rob? ... then I figured out, he meant Raab XD ... Good vid! Enjoyed it a lot.

Stefan Raab is an absolute beloved - he is the manifestation of "where there is a will, there is a way"... he brought Eurovision to Germany and any episode of Schlag den Raab is also proof! :D

To answer your end card joke more seriously than you asked for, Traumschiff Surprise was a successful in cinemas. But I don't think it's worth watching, to be honest. It has its moments, but it's a really flat parody most of the time. It's the moviefication of a series of clips in the comedy show Bullyparade, and it rests a lot on gay stereotypes. If I really had to recommend a Michael Bully Herbig film, it would be Der Schuh des Manitu, a parody of Western movies. But even that film, you can take it or leave it, you know. But speaking of which, the funniest German parody film I can think of would be Der Wixxer. It's a comedy version of Edgar Wallace- movies. But as far as I can tell, only the sequel "Neues vom Wixxer" got translated to English as "The Vexxer", and I feel the language barrier, the missing cultural context and the different zeitgeist make it not as funny any more.

Uhmm... watch it if you want. I'm not sure how well translations work, though, since there is a lot of double entendre and just... way of speaking that makes up a lot of the fun, so I'm unsure how well it would translate for a non-native speaker

You should absolutely, Michael bully herbig is one of the greatest German directors for comedy

He is kind of an asshole though. For some time, his modus operandi was to turn out of context sentences that happened to be caught on camera into pop hits. He did that to ex-Chancellor Schröder (who could handle it) but then to some random woman who wasn't famous at all. So he made people go viral with cringe videos before that was a thing.

7:03 If Overthinking It only made videos nerding out about Eurovision, dayenu. If they had only had some jokes thrown in there, dayenu. If they had only occasionally sprinkled in some Jewish cultural references where you wouldn't quite expect it, dayenu. BUT MATT BELINKIE ALSO RECEIVED A "SPECIAL THANK YOU" IN MY LSAT PREP BOOK! Definitely my favorite KZfaq channel, hands down.

Oh god, oh no, you found out about Traumschiff Surprise :D Actually, why am I even Surprised?

I live in Germany and used to love his (Stefan Raab's) humour as well as his Eurovison contributions. They were not just "nonsense songs", they had something :) On the other side, two years ago almost nobody in Germany could understand Konstrakta. That says a lot about them losing the compass

the dayenu mention really got me!

I do wonder what your thoughts are on Isaak and "Always On The Run"? I looked it up, and if Germany comes last in the final this year also, then they will make history as the first ever country to get last 3 years in a row! 😲

THE MAM WE ALL NEEDED!!!!!11!1

YOU HAVE TO WATCH DREAMSHIP SURPRISE🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤ ICONIC

i will hear NO planet of blue slander. it was ahead of its time!!!

Yes, watch Traumschiff. It’s super funny even with subtitles.

Can we get a video on Georgia!?

For context: Dreamship Surprise was a cinematic adaptation of a series of sketches from the Bullyparade, created by Michael Bully Herbig, who plays “Mr. Spuck” (=“Mr. Spit” instead of “Spock”). The sketches were called “Unser Traumschiff” (Our Dreamship). The movie went beyond the sketches, pitting a Kirk’s Enterprise with an all-gay crew against a Star Wars Empire comprised of former human colonists from Mars, trying to invade Earth because it’s more comfortable. The main cast then has to travel back in time to prevent Mars from being colonised in the first place. Mr. Spuck also made a re-appearance in Stefan Raab’s surrogate contest “Free ESC” in 2020, created as a substitute for real Eurovision having been cancelled that year. The Free ESC continued the trend of inviting non-European countries, like Australia, to the show - by deciding to have a representative for the Moon. That was Germany’s 2004 representative Max Mutzke, disguised as an astronaut (the song is called “Back to the Moon”), in reference to the music show “The Masked Singer”. Mr. Spuck (=Michael Bully Herbig) was the one who announced the points for the Moon from a space station.

Stefan Raab wanting to get involved in German NF again? he better does it well and be the German version of Christer Björkman. however, it will take a few years to work; Christer Björkman started in 2002 with mixed results until their NQ in 2010. it only started to work in 2011 when they got third place and then continued with the victory in 2012. since then, they more often have got top 10 (only twice they slipped in 13 years, in 2013 and 2021).

Man, am I the only one that I feel bad for Leon?

Germany had it perfectly right with their 2013 national final. It was chock full of bangers. Cascada ultimately coming 21st when even the ESC betting community speculated it as a possible top 5 was a travesty. Germany's never been quite as good since. I want to see them try the Italy France trick, and play up to their national stereotypes. Send some German language housewife-schlager, some techno, some Kraftwerk-inspired weirdness, heck even a Bavarian novelty act. Lord of the Lost tried the Rammstein vibe and it didn't work, but Germany has other options and lots of great music to offer. Enough of the X Factor ballads.

Yes, watch Starship Surprise if you like very campy comedy. Not sure how it translates into English, but I laughed at the original German version :-)

In 2004, Germany could also have sent Scooter with Jigga Jigga! to Eurovision. But Germany wanted Max.

As a person from Switzerland I'd have to add: he did not only these things, but Stefan Raab is also responsible for one of Switzerland's most successful musicians. Stefanie Heinzmann won his singing competition back in the day :)

I‘m so sorry but at some point of the video i was like who is this „Rob“ he is talking about all the time? Did he mix up Stefans name? 😂😅 German native speaker here 🙋‍♂️

Traumschiff Surprise was one of the few things even more gay than Eurovision itself. And in 5th grade, we all loved it for it! 😁

HE IS REAL!!!

They should've sent Spaghetti Polonaise this year.

How do we join the discord server?

I actually might consider representing Germany for Eurovision at this point tbh.

Justice for Leon!!!!

Well, he maybe is planning a comeback or at least a big event in germany. So there is hope again that the NDR will lose it.

as a German the "fun not too serious" songs are the reason many of us are embarassed and it's a pain still having to see these bad performances (some exceptions) every year because of the big five rule... we know we deserve the low number of points we often get

I need to say we need to let Raab go, in Germany he is Highly overrated, as my Personal Opinion, but putting some comedians in charge would be a great idea! personally, I would think Jan Böhmermann would work in today's time more than Raab, and he also showed interested in it in his Podcast. Last year and this year he moderated together with Oli Schulz, a Singer/Songwriter, the ESC for FM4 from the Austrian Public broadcasting. Raab is old media I dont think we need more old a like stuff but should try new things out.

Look, I understand the points you are making. But as a German, I can tell you that his humour in his comedy shows was always built on putting small people, disadvantaged people down and ridiculing them (as was nationally and internationally the zeitgeist in the period of time he was most successful). For many people, a lot of that has been blown over by nostalgia, but I think a lot of his stuff just wouldn't work anymore today, and I'm not sure if he himself would get that.

Allemagne zero points!

i mean idk, i agree with the general idea, but Lord of the Lost were brilliantly unserious and I don't know why people didn't like them

Germany's 1996 song was not bad!

I’m a German and I don’t like Raab at all. But it’s a hope for Germany in Eurovision if he comes back

OMG YES YOU HAVE TO WATCH TRAUMSCHIFF SURPRISE!!! I‘m actually swiss (german) and grew up with that movie, still one of my favourites of all time. Yet the humor is veery cheesy, kinda weird and sometimes homophobic, but as a gay person myself I don‘t care 🎉🎉

I would not recommend watching dreamship surprise, it has aged a bit poorly. It pains me to say that, cause it's a very iconic childhood movie, but a lot of the laughs in the movie just came from "gay stereotypes" so watching it today is sure to make you cringe.

...or, that one time an American won Eurovision.

Traumschiff Surprise is really not worth the watch

When will you guys talk about Europapa?

For me Lord of the Lost wasn't robbed at all. Professionalism aside, the song was non existent.