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Commentator Peter Urban's prediction: "We'll end up in the top half"

2023-05-08T16:25:51.593Z

Highlights: Peter Urban has been the German voice of the Eurovision Song Contest for 25 years. Next Saturday's final in Liverpool will be his last. The 75-year-old also made a name for himself as a music expert and radio presenter. He missed only one of the European music festival's finals, in 2009, for health reasons. The most dramatic finals are always the ones where it's exciting until the end, he says. The breakdown didn't happen to me, but my impatient reaction to it didn't have to be.



The German voice of the Eurovision Song Contest for 25 years: music expert and radio presenter Peter Urban (75). Next Saturday's final in Liverpool will be his last. © Christian Spielmann/NDR

Peter Urban has been the German voice of the ESC for 25 years – only one, the Swiss Jean Marc Richard, has been there for his country longer. This year, however, with the final next Saturday in Liverpool, England, Urban says goodbye to the European music festival, which he missed only once, in 2009, for health reasons. A conversation with the 75-year-old, who also made a name for himself as a music expert, as a long-time NDR radio presenter and – in the greater Hamburg area – also as a (rock) musician.

Looking back, what was the most impressive, the most beautiful, the most dramatic ESC final for you?

Peter Urban: Oh, hard to say! The most dramatic finals are always the ones where it's exciting until the end. Of course, the most beautiful thing was the 2010 final, where Lena won. And the victory of Portugal's Salvador Sobral in 2017 was particularly impressive for me – nobody had expected that. A good example of how much the ESC has changed.

The biggest mishap that happened to you?

Peter Urban: The breakdown didn't happen to me, but my impatient reaction to it didn't have to be. When, at one of the semi-finals in Düsseldorf in 2011, of all places, the commentary lines were not available for more than half an hour and we had to do everything over the phone, I asked audibly for everyone: Yes, are we here in Kazakhstan that we can't do it? Of course, that didn't go down well with our technical department. (Laughs.)

If you look at the results of the years since 2015 – only once have the Germans not landed at the bottom during this period. What are we doing wrong?

Peter Urban: Let's start in 2015, we had no luck. Andreas Kümmert should have been on stage in Vienna, who had clearly won the preliminary round. Great voice, great song! And then he says on the open stage: "I can't do that!" That was tragic, because with this title we would have finished in the top five, at least. And then the runner-up, Ann Sophie, made it to the final and finished last.

But in the years that followed, it didn't get any better...

Peter Urban: Maybe we just weren't brave enough. We always try to score points with normal pop songs from the mainstream, with songs that play on the radio on the side, and with artists who are inexperienced. Michael Schulte was the exception, who already had a name before and competed with a wonderful song (4th place in 2018, editor's note). It just depends on the quality of the title and the conviction with which you sing it. An honest emotion with which you reach the international audience. Our posts didn't manage to do that, we didn't stand out enough.

On the other hand, many professionals refuse to participate because they fear the embarrassment of a bad ranking.

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Peter Urban: I don't understand that at all! I'm sure that if we let artists like Clueso, Johannes Oerding or others who make good pop music in Germany start with a reasonable song, then they won't end up at the bottom of the list. Then they have a performance in front of 200 million people – that can't hurt any artist.

Many in this country are convinced that the votes of the other countries are not votes against the German performers and their songs, but votes against Germany.

Peter Urban: No, that's a mistake! If we deliver something good, something extraordinary, as with Lena or Michael Schulte or Max Mutzke back in 2004, then the others give us points, even the Austrians and the Swiss. (Laughs.) On the other hand, we should not take all this too seriously. It's a show, an entertainment show, we should be happy about this event, about the wonderful TV pictures, about the really interesting musical contributions and the sometimes bizarre stories behind them.

Similar to sports reporters on television, you have certainly been and are often insulted, right?

Peter Urban: This happens all the time, especially since the advent of social networks. But I don't read it all, otherwise I would have to read all the positive comments. (Laughs.) You can't let that get to you. Often there are bad words – also from journalists, by the way – about sentences that I didn't say at all. Or people start writing without waiting for my punch line. Which doesn't mean that criticism isn't justified from time to time. There have been one or two cases in all these years where I have expressed myself ironically about the outward appearance of an artist. You have to accept the criticism.

The ESC has always been regarded as a music festival that unites peoples – lately, it seems, it has become more and more political. What will it be like in Liverpool?

Peter Urban: Liverpool will certainly have a political component, if only because Ukraine is a co-organizer. The war will be an issue, perhaps not as strong as last year, where the vote on the winner's title was like a kind of referendum by Europe against Russia's attack on the neighboring country. Nevertheless, the ESC is still above all a matter of bringing people together. It starts with people in up to 40 countries watching the same show on TV, cheering for the same songs or getting upset about them in one evening. And on site, there is an incredible atmosphere. It sounds like a fairy tale, but you think you're listening to a huge choir, there are young singers whose common language is music. Music connects people like nothing else.

Will they break the spell? Lord of the Lost around frontman Chris Harms compete in Liverpool with "Blood & Glitter" for Germany. © Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

How do you assess the chances of Lord of the Lost?

Peter Urban: I do think that they will achieve a better place than German participants in previous years. Because they stand out. And then rock music is not so unpopular at the ESC by now, many fans like to vote for such numbers. I predict that we will end up in the top half, which would be between 1st and 13th place. And if it ends up in 14th or 15th place, I'll be happy too. Anything else would be a disappointment for me.

Source: merkur

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