The
German final on February 26th has proved to be very controversial. In the German press, 1982 winner, Nicole (left), has said Guildo Horn is unsuitable to represent Germany, and the writer of her song 'Ein bisschen Frieden', Ralph Siegel agrees.
On the other hand, German TV personality Dieter Thomas Heck believes Guildo will be good for Germany's image, because it shows a humourous side.
Joy Fleming, who represented Germany in 1975, says of the song, "It is altogether better than any of the trained monkey acts by Ralph Siegel."
Guildo's band are 'The Orthopaedic Stockings"
Anyway, in response to my request for reviews, here are some - please no more - I need to clear the decks for Turkey & Norway!
I have to say these opinions are not mine, but those of the respective authors. These are all the reviews I have had.
Darren Thrussel: Last nights 'Countdown' was presented by Nena and Axel Bulthaupt from the Stadt Halle, Bremen (although at one stage Axel seemd to think he was in Dresden!!).
The first performer was Shana, with 'Es Regnet Nie In Texas'. This reminded me of Jeana, who was in 'Countdown' last year. Not my cup of tea, but a reasonable start to the competition.
Right Said Fred meet the Spice Girls, call themselves Ballhouse and do the Can-Can. Well, it was different!! I must admit, I didn't find this song as bad as I thought I might-actually, i quite liked it!
Now I have to say that I liked 'Freut Euch'. Maria Perzil reminded me of the American group They Might Be Giants. This was 'fun-punk', but I'm not too sure if the international juries would have gone for it.
Although they introduced a rapper to the act, I found the Wind song to be what I expected. A decent song which I thought may scrape into the top 3.
'Kids' was a good song let down by a poor chorus. Sharon was OK, but why on earth were the backing singers wearing coats that spelt out the word 'KIDS'?
Ah, so this is Guildo Horn. From all the horror stories I'd heard, I actually thought it would be worse than it was, but even so, I wasn't too keen on it.
As soon as 'Herzensschoner' had finished, I was sure that we had just heard a possible Eurovision winner. Rozenstolz reminded me somewhat of the Eurythmics, but there was something about this tune that I just loved. The only thing I didn't agree with in the song was the change of tempo was mid way through a verse, as opposed to at the end. This didn't really put me off though-for me, this was the best song by a long way.
Ralph Siegel commented last year that he was going to write something 'more modern' this year. Unfortunately, it seems that all Ralph can do is add some sort of rap to an old sounding tune. Kopenick seemed to enjoy themselves but 'Carnival' wasn't brilliant. All very nice with the clown on stage but surely the Siegel/Meinunger stable can do better.
I've heard some rubbish before, but I have to say that 'Kleine Melodie' is the WORST song I've ever heard. To think that a decent song has probably made way for this drivel. And right now, I can't think of any jokes about 'Fokker'.
Finally, a bit of culture. Pavarotti, Carreras, Domingo, German-style.The Three Young Tenors. This for me was the joker in the pack. I wasn't convinced that it would go down too well with the public as it was a clear diversion from everything that had gone before.
Guests included Paul Oscar who performed 'Min Hinsti Dans' mostly in English, and Beanz, who Axel not only seemed to think worked for the BBC, but was also a relative of Mr Bean!! There was also a clip showing voting procedures from the past, as well as clips from the more famous entrants of Eurovision.
At the end, the results were relayed onto a fax. Why they were'nt put on a giant scoreboard like 
usual, I don't know. I was hoping that Rosenstolz would be going to Birmingham, but as the results revealed, this was not to be.
So it's Guildo Horn that will represent Germany at this years Eurovision in Birmingham this year. Although the crowd appeard to be deliriously happy, there was quite a lot of booing as well. I really think that the German voting public have made a big mistake. Guildo Horn may get them relegated. Rosenstolz could have given Germany their first Eurovision victory since 1982.
Frank Heser: The gods have rolled the dices... GUILDO HORN will represent Germany... pardon, I don't think, that he really will represent Germany but himslef, as the winner of the german preselection. GUILDO HAT EUCH LIEB (Guildo loves you) is the title of the song.
In addition: He won with 62 % of all incoming calls (this may be the 62 % who said NO in the BILD, second is Rosenstolz, third Die drei jungen Tenöre.
But I can asure you this... for me and many others, there is no german entry for 1998!!!!!
All in all, one of the worst national finals ever....surely.
In few words, we can say that "Countdown 98" was a terrific show, great production, great stage, lively (!) presenters, some delicious footage from previous contests, but what matters most, that is, the songs to be selected were overall extremely poor, ridiculous attempts to give a modern touch to awful, pure kitsch songs. In such company, only Rosenstolz stood out and it is quite amazing that they came second. Even if I'm not sure that it would score well (Top 5) in Birmingham, it would nevertheless be a decent and respectful entry, putting Germany back on the ESC map. Guildo's choice shows a German tendency of not being able to see through others' eyes. He may be very popular in Germany, this kind of kitsch/modern schlager may be delightful for German viewers, but what European viewers and voters will see in Birmingham is a middle aged bald man, in (presumably) ridiculous costume, singing a strange tune totally out of key. Good for an entertaining show, not for Eurovision. Oh well, I guess this time Germany will have to stay outside one year, unless they change the rules again.
Thanks to all the reviewers - please no more!!