NDR, the German national broadcaster has announced that Frida Gold will  not partake in the German national final today due to illness. Hence only 8 acts will be battling for the golden ticket to Eurovision 2023.

Due to an illness Frida Gold will not compete at the 2023 German national final “Unser Lied für Liverpool”.

The band Frida Gold will not be able to participate in the German show “Unser Lied für Liverpool” due to singer Alina Süggeler being sick. The German national final will be hosted by Barbara Schöneberger, will determine who will represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in Great Britain. Frida Gold would have entered with the song “Alle Frauen In Mir Sind Müde”.

Das Erste will broadcast “Eurovision Song Contest 2023 – Unser Lied für Liverpool” live from MMC Studios in Cologne on Friday, 3 March, starting at 10.20 p.m. Fans can also watch the show live on ONE, Deutsche Welle, eurovision.de and the ARD Mediathek. 

Frida Gold: Already on the second day of rehearsals, it was obvious to everyone involved that Alina Süggeler was very ill and suffered from a fever. Rehearsals had to be reduced to two run-throughs, in which she could only sing sporadically. After that, she immediately headed home, hoping that rest and medication would be able to stabilize her for the following day. Unfortunately, it was the opposite, as she experienced fever, chills, an acute sore throat, and also lost her voice completely. Her medical consultation resulted in her having to go on sick leave for a week and prescribed strict bed rest.

Any short-term medical measures had not led to any acute improvement for her to perform. For Alina and everyone involved, this is a shock and an immeasurable disappointment after weeks of work and preparation. 

It was Frida Gold’s idea and desire to present the message of the song ‘Alle Frauen In Mir Sind Müde’ in front of a large audience, as it is an important matter to them. 

Also, the possibility to perform it as a German contribution in Liverpool was a great motivation. 

Frida Gold would like to thank everyone involved and NDR, and also of course their fans.” 

Andreas Gerling, head of the ARD team for the ESC at NDR:

“We deeply regret not having Frida Gold in the competition. Her song would have been unique in the show with its musical color and would bring an internationally relevant topic to the table. We wish Alina Süggeler a quick recovery!” 

Frida Gold’s elimination does not change the nature of the voting. The remaining eight participating acts Will Church, Patty Gurdy, Ikke Hüftgold, Lord Of The Lost, René Miller, Anica Russo, Lonely Spring and TRONG will be judged 50/50 by eight juries from eight different countries. These include Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain, Lithuania, Ukraine, Austria and the United Kingdom. In the show, the respective jury representatives will award scores of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. 

The remaining 50 percent will be awarded by the German audience and will consist of votes during the show by phone call and SMS as well as the online voting the week prior to the preliminary round on the radio pop channels of ARD: Antenne Brandenburg, BAYERN 3, Bremen vier, hr3, MDR JUMP, NDR 2, SR 1, SWR 3 and WDR 2. The equal amount of points distributed by the international juries will be allocated among the eight songs according to the percentage of the German televoting. 

Online voting for the audience ends at 10 p.m. on 3 March. The previous votes for Frida Gold will not be counted.

Source: NDR
Photo credit: NDR