ProSieben, co- broadcaster of the German national selection for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, has published more details about the selection shows on their official website. The first of the eight shows, hosted by Sabine Heinrich and Matthias Opdenh���¶vel will be held on February 2nd, the grand final on March 12th.
The shows
As esctoday.com previously announced, about 4.500 people went to the castings of Unser Star für Oslo, the German preselection to determine the country's representative at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo.Out of those,20participants wereselected to compete in the first two shows on 2nd and 9th February, to be aired on ProSieben.From each show, five singers willadvance tothe next round, where they have toparticipate in the three remaining elimination rounds, again aired onProSieben:
- 1st elimination round: February 2nd (tenacts competing, five will qualify)
- 2nd elimination round: February 9th (ten acts competing, five will qualify)
- 3rd elimination round: February 16th (eight out of ten will qualify to the next round)
- 4th elimination round: February 23rd (six out ofeight will qualify to the next round)
- 5th elimination round: March 2nd (five out of six will qualify to the next round)
After those shows,ARD will host a quarter final on March 5th. Out of the five remaining acts, four will advance to the semi final on March 9th, broadcast by ProSieben. In the grand final on March 12th, broadcast by ARD, the last two hopefuls will battle it out to get the chance to be the German representative at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. The winner will be decided via SMS- and televoting. Not only the winner will be chosen by the public, also the song which the winner will represent Germany with.
The jury
As the mastermind of the German selection concept, Stefan Raab will be the head of of the jury. On each show, he will be joined by two other well- known German celebrities, associated with the music business, inlcuding Jan Delay, Sasha, Adel Tawil, Cassandra Steen, Rea Gravey, Barbara Schöneberger, Xavier Naidoo, Stefanie Kloß and Joy Denalane. In the first show, to be held on February 2nd, Yvonne Catterfeld and Marius Müller Westernhagen will complete the jury. In the second show, to be held on February 9th, Sarah Connor and Peter Maffay will judge the contestants along with Stefan Raab.
Trailer
The offical trailer of Unser Star für Oslo is available as well. Just follow the link and you'll be able to watch an over five minutes long trailer featuring clips from previous editions of the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as excerpts of various castings of Unser Star für Oslo (trailer starts after one commercial):
Tickets
Tickets for the live shows can be purchased online, following this link here.
A major national event
In a special press conference for Unser Star für Oslo, Stefan Raab described the Eurovision Song Contest as major national event:"The wide range ofthe popular guest jurorsshows how seriously Germany is taking the contest this year.The Eurovision Song Contest is the European Championship of singing. Our motto is: Your country, your song, your vote. The winner of Unser Star für Oslo will be our national team, which will be selected by the audience only." Raab's intention is to send quality toOslo and to help ingetting the deserved attentionforthe Eurovision Song Contest: "The contest is an unbelievable media spectacle. However, as one of the biggest shows on the planet, it has always been somewhat neglected in Germany, due to the fact that preselection had only consisted of one single show. This time, the audience will get to know his star for Oslo through eight live shows." Raab also warns about too high expectations for the final in Oslo: "We cannot count on Germany winning the contest, however, a top 10 placing is realistic. The first and foremost task of this year's Eurovision project is to emotionalize the German viewers, in order to give the contest the attention it deserves." Being asked about whether he fears the competition of other casting- shows, Raab states: "We are the clear alternative. Quite on the contrast to other shows, our goal is sustainability. We are searching for a star who has the potential to survive longer."
Stefan Raab represented Germany in 2000 as a singer and composer and in 1998 and 2004 as songwriter, reaching the top ten on all three occasions.
