Huntress

The following 10 countries have qualified from the 2nd Semi-Final to the Grand Final on Saturday: Albania Armenia Australia Austria Belgium Cyprus Estonia Lithuania Poland Slovenia The following countries failed to qualify: Denmark Georgia Greece Iceland Romania San Marino Running Order for the Grand Final 🇦🇹 Austria | Teya & Salena – Who the Hell Is Edgar? 🇵🇹 Portugal | Mimicat – Ai coração 🇨🇭 Switzerland | Remo Forrer – Watergun 🇵🇱 Poland | Blanka – Solo 🇷🇸 Serbia | Luke Black – Samo mi se spava 🇫🇷 France: La Zarra – Évidemment 🇨🇾 Cyprus | Andrew Lambrou – Break a Broken Heart 🇪🇸 Spain: Blanca Paloma – Eaea 🇸🇪 Sweden | Loreen – Tattoo 🇦🇱 Albania | Albina & Familja Kelmendi – Duje 🇮🇹 Italy: Marco Mengoni – Due Vite 🇪🇪 Estonia | Alika – Bridges 🇫🇮 Finland | Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha 🇨🇿 Czechia | Vesna – My Sister's Crown 🇦🇺 Australia | Voyager – Promise 🇧🇪 Belgium | Gustaph – Because of You 🇦🇲 Armenia | Brunette – Future Lover 🇲🇩 Moldova | Pasha Parfeni – Soarele şi luna 🇺🇦 Ukraine: TVORCHI – Heart of Steel 🇳🇴 Norway | Alessandra – Queen of Kings 🇩🇪 Germany: Lord of the Lost - Blood & Glitter 🇱🇹 Lithuania | Monika Linkytė – Stay 🇮🇱 Israel | Noa Kirel – Unicorn 🇸🇮 Slovenia | Joker Out - Carpe diem 🇭🇷 Croatia | Let 3 – Mama ŠČ! 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Mae Muller – I Wrote a Song

The following 10 countries have qualified from the 1st Semi-Final to the Grand Final on Saturday: Croatia Czechia Finland Israel Moldova Norway Portugal Serbia Sweden Switzerland The following countries failed to qualify: Azerbaijan Ireland Latvia Malta The Netherlands No surprises there, I'd say.

So far, nothing spectacular has happened on any of the 3 soaps this year (other than Corinna's unnecessary death on UU). GZSZ's cross-over with its "Leon" spin-off with Leon and Sarah (Verena's look-a-like) returning to the main show was a failure. I mean, Leon only appeared in 2 or 3 episodes before returning to the coast, and then Sarah decided to stay in Berlin without having any ties to anyone? And the only storyline they came up with was having Erik become infatuated with her? They could've exploited the doppelgänger angle, or at least give Sarah a storyline with Philip, who accidentally killed Verena back in the day. Speaking of doppelgänger: There's a now also a storyline on AWZ where Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen plays both Jenny Steinkamp and her look-a-like Nina. Very original 🥱 Other than that, AWZ lost Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) earlier this year. In turn, Marc Dumitru (Kilian Reichenbach) and Sarah Victoria Schalow (Hanna Kern) joined the cast. Hanna is Daniela's (Berrit Arnold) half-sister. On GZSZ, Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) is expected to return this spring. She left the show last year after having been on contract for 12 years. Also, Daniel Noah (Sascha Beck), Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney), Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann), Nina Ensmann (Jessica Reichelt) and Lars Pape (Michi Bode) have renewed their contracts. In turn, Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) said goodbye after more than 8 years. She last aired on March 24th, 2023. Also, Sat.1 is reportedly developing a new daily soap opera (after many failures since the 90s, the last one being "Alles oder Nichts" which ran from October 2018 to January 2019). The working title of the new show is "Die Landärztin" (= "The (Female) Country Doctor"). According to a press release, the soap is supposed to be targeted at "older women who still watch linear TV". It is produced by Filmpool which is also responsible for RTL2's pseudo-soaps "Berlin – Tag und Nacht" and "Köln 50667" and several other scripted reality shows.

Was #1989 Maeve Quinlan's first episode as Megan or did she appear before that episode? In #1989, Megan and Mike find Ridge after the explosion in Brooke's lab. Edit: Just noticed that Maeve Quinlan's character was called "Brenda" in the closing credits. It's a bit strange that Katie and Donna are appearing randomly in Brooke's house in a couple of episodes in early 1995. I thought they didn't live in L.A. anymore at that point.

Watching 1994, there's one thing I don't understand: Dylan is not allowed to date Ivana because employees of "Forrester Creations" are not allowed to get involved with the company's models. However, why doesn't anybody bat an eye that Thorne, who is clearly working for "Forrester Creations" and "Forrester International", is dating Ivana only a few weeks later? Also, I don't like Darla going after/making out with Anthony when he is still involved with her best friend Macy and she is dating Anthony's bff Connor. That came out of nowhere and doesn't fit Darla's character at all – especially since she witnessed all the Sally/Macy drama because of Anthony first-hand.

I lost track of which songs haven't been posted yet 😂 – but all 37 songs for this year's contest have now been chosen / unveiled. Here's the official preview:

Austria: Teya & Salena / "Who the Hell Is Edgar?" Switzerland: Remo Forrer / "Watergun"

Iceland: Diljá / "Power" Moldova: Pasha Parfeny / "Soarele și luna" Pasha Parfeny previously represented Moldova in the 2012 Contest, where he finished in 11th place with the song "Lăutar". Serbia: Luke Black / "Samo mi se spava"

Last night, the German NF took place, and Lord of the Lost won the voting with their song "Blood & Glitter". Will we finally escape the bottom 5 this year? 🤨

I just finished watching 1993 for the very first time, and while this was probably the best year of the show I've seen so far, there were also some very strange storyline decisions. First of all, why are Thorne and Macy still married? At this point, they've been enstranged for over a year, having been with Karen / Sly in the meantime, and their constant yelling of "I need a break from our marriage!" in each other's face doesn't make sense since they've been on a break for ages. Speaking of Sly – what a wasted character. I liked him when they briefly tested him with Felicia in 1992, but after that, he was merely a plot point for Macy's alcoholism. IMO, it wasn't really clear what his true intentions with Macy were. Somehow he just stopped appearing and was bumped to recurring status in December. I loved Darla and Bill's romance and it was so sad that it just abruptly ended with no explanation. When Bill wanted to close down Spectra, he and Darla acted as if they didn't know each other. The worst storyline had to be Sally's fake pregnancy. All the characters involved in that story were much to old for these type of shenanigans. I don't mind Chris Robinson as Jack, but he didn't have any chemistry with either Sally or Stephanie. It was also weird that after Stephanie had exposed Sally's lies, there was no real follow-up that Jack and Stephanie got back together. They continue spending time together, but they come across as friends rather than lovers. Of the "new" cast additions, I only like Anthony. Connor is a sleazebag. In one episode, he sleeps with Karen, and in the next, he wants to bang Brooke in her office. In B&B Land, it's apparently okay if a guy dates/sleeps with two women at the same time, but if a woman does the same, she's deemed a slut (especially by other female characters). The women are only angry at their female rival, but never angry at their love interest. The James/Taylor storyline is boring, and Keith and Kevin are such non-characters. Thankfully they have already been reduced to background characters (even though they are still on contract at this point). My favorites in this era are Stephanie, Sally, Brooke, Sheila ... and Darla. I don't mind Karen but the writing for the character is seriously lacking. Of the males, only Eric is mildly tolerable.

UU is indeed killing off Last week, Wolfgang Bahro celebrated his 30th anniversary as Dr. Jo Gerner on GZSZ. The show put his first episode (#185) online for free. Official Summary: Elke receives an anonymous letter in which she is told about Patrick's fraud. With Heiko's support, she visits Patrick, who eventually agrees to withdraw his claim against Elke. Peter, who has been taken to the hospital after suffering from an electrical shock due to a manipulated coffee machine, is doing better. However, everyone is still wondering if it really was just an accident ... Cast: André, Clemens, Daniel, Elisabeth, Elke, Jo, Julia, Heiko, Helga, Martin, Patrick, Richard, Tanja, Tina, Vera, Hr. Bachstein Warning: Horrible Acting Alert 😂 The cast congratules him: WB's "best" outtakes:

Several new entries have been chosen: Croatia: Let 3 / "Mama ŠČ! Czech Republic: Vesna / "My Sister's Crown" The Song is in English, Czech, Bulgarian and Ukrainian. Denmark: Reiley / "Breaking My Heart" Estonia: Alika / "Bridges" Italy: Marco Mengoni / "Due vite" Marco previously represented Italy in the 2013 Contest, where he finished in 7th place with the song "L'essenziale". Latvia: Sudden Lights / "Aijā" Malta: The Busker / "Dance (Our Own Party)" Romania: Theodor Andrei / "D.G.T. (Off and On)" --- These are the participants in the German national final ... I hope we finally send something decent and don't finish last (or second to last) for once 😂

SuBe->B&B Sarah Buxton (Annie/Morgan) / Sean Kanan (Jude/Deacon) / 2000-2001 Tracy Lindsey Melchior (Tess/Kristen) / Sean Kanan (Jude/Deacon) / 2001-2003 Lesley-Anne Down (Olivia/Jackie) / Sean Kanan (Jude/Deacon) / 2003-2005 Y&R->B&B In addition to Heather Tom and Don Diamont, Ashley Jones (Nina/Bridget) and Jennifer Gareis (Grace/Donna). All four appeared simultaneously on Y&R in the late 90s and were part of the contract cast on B&B between 2009 and 2010. Also, Barbara Crampton (Leanna/Maggie) was on B&B at the same time (1995-1998) as Kimberlin Brown (Sheila) and Tracy E. Bregman (Lauren).

Last November, Het Grote Songfestivaal took place in the Netherlands where a lot of former Eurovision entrants performed their songs. Dutch Broadcaster AVOTROS has finally uploaded the performances, and some of these songs (and their performers!) haven't aged a bit. All of them sang live, btw. Past winners: Sweden 1991: Greece 2005: Norway 2009: Sweden 2012: Austria 2014: Sweden 2015: Ukraine 2016: Israel 2018: Netherlands 2019: Ukraine 2022: And my favorite song from last year's contest:

#5992 was the last episode to be broadcast on ZDF in June 2011. Tele5 then repeated a bunch of episodes until 2016. This year, pay-tv channel Warner TV Serie bought the rights for new episodes, but they skipped nearly 2000 episodes, starting with #7800. Currently, they are around episode #7950. Also, a new dubbing studio took over, so none of the characters has their old dubbing voice from the RTL/ZDF days (IMO, the new dub is horrible because it sounds very sterile and wooden).

I loved Jenny back in the day because she was the moral compass and most grounded person between all her screwed up peers. Her farewell scene was one of the saddest scenes of the early years – she secretly left at the crack of dawn and only said goodbye to landlord Margot Weigel (RIP). "Schillerallee was my home at all times." – "And it always will be, my dear." Regarding Corinna, I'm not that keen on the recast. She's just not Corinna. Back in the 90s, Corinna was a bit neurotic, had quite a temper, and she was not afraid to do dangerous things (like taking it up with a mob boss). Of course people change, but this current version is too vanilla. I'd prefer if they'd just recast her again, but they're probably hesitating because the last two major recasts (Till and Theo) received quite a backlash.

In 2021, it was a big surprise when Tatiani Katrantzi reprised her role as Jennifer "Jenny" Turner on Unter Uns after having been off the show for almost 23 years. In January 2023, Katrantzi will return once more – this time, she's back on contract. The Greek-born actress was part of the original cast and played a huge part in the show's early days. Jenny's only ties to the current canvas are Chris and Corinna Weigel (who she was friends with back in the day – both characters were brought back in 2021 as recasts) and Ute Kiefer. However, there are rumours that Corinna might be killed off soon. Her portrayer Nina Weisz didn't take part in the anniversary photo shoot and the show reportedly filmed a funeral a few days ago. --- Merry Christmas from the GZSZ cast GZSZ: Behind the Scenes – Katrin and Tobias's wedding Tobias and Michi do pole-dancing Outtakes

Oh really? I couldn't stand that couple Nataly was always so nosy and assumed the worst of Ricky. However, I liked Nataly in dramatic stories where she was able to show off her mental strength, for example during her rape story, when she almost got sucked in the cult and when they were all trapped in the lost bunker. Today it was announced that Daniel Aichinger (Dr. Axel Steinkamp-Schwarz) is returning to AWZ after almost 9 years. Aichinger was part of the original cast and left in 2012, then briefly returned in early 2014. His first airdate is December 6th, 2022. Also, Marc Dumitru joins the cast as Kilian Reichenbach, Isabelle and Nathalie's cousin. Kilian's a lawyer, and his first case in Essen will be investigating a case of a hit-and-run accident, not knowning that Isabelle was the driver. Dumitru's first airdate is December 29th, 2022. In addition, the show is bringing Maximilian and Lena's son Alexander Öztürk next month. Born on-screen in 2009, he was mostly raised by Lena and her then-husband Marian Öztürk. Two years ago, Lena and Alexander departed the show and moved to Munich. A grown up Alexander, now being played by Oscar Kafsack, returns to town on December 19th, 2022. --- Cast Changes in 2022 GZSZ Contract arrivals: Lars Pape as Michael “Michi” Bode (July 2022-present; recurring previously) Nina Ensmann as Jessica Reichelt (September 2022-present) David Noah as Sascha Beck (October 2022-present) Patrick Fernandez as Carlos Lopez (November 2022-present) Contract departures: Daniel Fehlow as Leon Moreno (June 1996-June 1999; April 2001-January 2022; recurring otherwise) Vildan Cirpan as Dr. Nazan Akinci (March 2020-April 2022) Nassim Avat as Kian Dawalu (November 2021-May 2022) Sara Fuchs as Miriam "Miro" Behnke (September 2021-May 2022) Eva Mona Rodekirchen as Maren Seefeld (November 2010-September 2022) AWZ Contract arrivals: Féréba Koné as Imani Okana (April 2022-present) Marc Dumitru as Kilian Reichenbach (December 2022-present) Contract departures: Lisandra Bardél as Malu Santos (August 2020-July 2022) Christopher Kohn as Dr. Finn Albrecht (January 2019-November 2022; recurring previously) Note: Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler), who went on maternity leave in November 2021, and Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt #2), who took an "extended break" also in October 2021, will both not return to AWZ. UU Contract arrivals: Diego Carlos Seyfrath as David Junker (February 2022-present) Kai Noll as Rufus Sturm (February 2003-September 2020; April 2022-present) Iris Werlin as Lulu Schwarz (August 2022-present) Julius Dombrink as Theo Wolters #2 (September 2022-present) Jess Maura as Paula Wolters (September 2022-present) Bettine Langehein as Stella Richter (October 2022-present) Contract departures: Yannik Meyer as Conor Weigel (September 2018-June 2022) Constantin Lücke as Till Weigel #3 (September 2020-July 2022) Claudelle Deckert as Eva Wagner (April 2001-August 2006; August 2008-July 2022; recurring otherwise) Luca Maric as Robert Küpper (January 2015-September 2022) Isabelle Geiss as Nika Färber (December 2019-September 2022) Isabel Vollmer as Monika Huber (November 2020-December 2022?)

This song is currently #1 in Germany – "Everyone else sees a gloomy future, but I see a pink future / If you ask me, everything will turn out right, my child". This was #1 a couple of weeks ago.

Actually, I haven't watched any of the GZSZ spin-offs (yet) 😂 I've been subscribed to RTL+ for several years, but mostly because of the classic soap episodes. So far, they've uploaded all GZSZ episodes from the beginning to July 2000. UU is online from the beginning to the end of 2001, and AWZ's complete library is up there. Watching these old episodes, it's amazing how fast they burned through plotline after plotline and how neatly they dealt with the constantly changing cast. Most actors back then didn't stay on the canvas longer than 2 or 3 years. However, literally no departure left a big void because the shows kept on introducing replacements on the spot, and in most cases, they were accepted by the audience immediately. These days, there's a huge backlash on social media if a performer dares to take a longer break or – heaven forbid – decides to leave for good. That's why the shows have started to declare most exits as "temporary or extended breaks". It's also striking that the shows – most notably GZSZ – at some point decided to drag along a lof of deadweight characters who only receive B or C plots. Back then, they were simply written off when the producers felt that "their story was told". If you look at this GZSZ episode count from January 2000, 2/3 of these people were gone within the next two years, and only one cast member is still on board today. 01. Rainer Meifert (Dr. Jan Wittenberg) : 19 / 1998-2000 02. Ralf Benson (Fabian Moreno) : 16 / 1996-2000; recurring 2003-2004 *** Hans Christiani (A.R. Daniel) : 16 / 1992-2009 04. Laurent Daniels (Philip Krüger) : 15 / 1997-2000 *** Nadine Dehmel (Nataly Jäger) : 15 / 1996-2000 *** Jan Hartmann (Chris Bohlstädt) : 15 / 1999-2001 *** Patrick Harzig (Peter Becker #3) : 15 / 1999-2002 08. Jeanette Biedermann (Marie Balzer) : 14 / 1999-2004 *** Nina Bott (Cora Hinze) : 14 / 1997-2005 *** Rhea Harder (Flo Spira) : 14 / 1996-2002 *** Stefanie Julia Möller (Charlotte Bohlstädt) : 14 / 1999-2001 *** Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) : 14 / 1992-2010 *** Tim Sander (Kai Scholl) : 14 / 1998-2002 *** Raphael Vogt (Nico Weimershaus) : 14 / 1996-2005 15. Cathrin Vaessen (Franziska Bohlstädt) : 13 / 1999-2000 16. Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter) : 12 / 1992-2010 *** Tokessa Möller-Martinius (Sonja Wiebe #2) : 12 / 1998-2002 18. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 10 / 1993-present 19. Anna Frenzel-Röhl (Sandra Lemke #1) : 9 / 2000-2002 20. Romana Pollak (Lara Kelm) : 7 / 2000 21. Raphael Schneider (Andy Lehmann) : 6 / 1995-2000 22. Mona Klare (Barbara Graf #3) : 5 / 1999-2000; recurring 2002 23. Franziska Dilger (Inka Berent) : 3 / 1999-2001

Felix von Jascheroff, who has played John Bachmann on GZSZ for more than 20 years, took part in the 7th season of The Masked Singer Germany. Disguised as the Black Mamba, he reached the 6th place. Felix is not the first soap actor to grace the Masked Singer stage; however, he is the only one who has taken part while still being on a soap. In past seasons, Susan Sideropoulos (GZSZ and its spin-off Leon), Jeanette Biedermann (GZSZ) and Thore Schölermann (Verbotene Liebe) appeared as the Disco Ball, Butterfly and Monstronaut, respectively. --- Speaking of GZSZ's spin-offs, the "Leon" spin-off was apparently so successful that it receives a second season. It will probably premiere on RTL+ in early 2023. The other two spin-offs, "Sunny" and "Nihat", were done after 1 season. Some casting news: There are three new contract roles on GZSZ: Nina Ensmann plays Jessica Reichelt, Nina's younger sister. Daniel Noah has joined the cast as police officer Sascha Beck, who's investigating Martin's disappearance. Lastly, Patrick Fernandez has been cast in a yet unnamed role. He's rumoured to be Nina's ex-boyfriend. In turn, Niklas Osterloh (Paul) and Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren) have departed the show – for now. Osterloh is supposed to return next year. Olivia Marei (Toni) will be on maternity leave for several months. On UU, Julius Dombrink replaced Akeem van Flodrop in the role of Theo Wolters. Jess Maura has joined the cast as Theo's younger sister Paula. Bettine Langehein plays Stella Richter, a young woman with a dangerous past. Isabel Vollmer (Monika) departs the show after two years. UU celebrates its 7000th episode on November 23rd, 2022.

Regarding Maren, I feel like the writers didn't know what to do with her since Emma was born. In the past few years, she only had filler stories and was used as Katrin's sidekick and comic relief. Eva's acting was brillant during the whole Frederic Riefflin saga. Maybe she'll return in the future. Lilly and the others let Martin drown: Some more outtakes:

Interestingly enough, both Lauren Koslow (Margo) and Todd McKee (Jake) were bumped to recurring status in episode 1251 (March 1992). Both departed the show one month later. Regarding Hunter Tylo in 1996: She is listed in the closing credits starting with episode 2386 (September 1996), but remarkably, among the recurring players.

Hunter Tylo had quit B&B in June 1996 after receiving the part of Taylor McBride on Melrose Place. However, she was fired from that show prior to filming any scenes because of her pregnancy (which led to a much discussed lawsuit back in the day). Tylo returned to B&B in August 1996, but she wasn't listed in the closing credits in the first season 10 episodes that have so far been uploaded to YouTube. She'll probably pop in the next bunch of episodes.

Dorothy Lyman (Bonnie Roberts) was only on contract for a few weeks. She was bumped to recurring in episode 1230 and made a few more appearances before departing the show for good. Little jump to season 10: The following cast members were on contract in September 1996. Landry Allbright – Bridget Forrester Tracey E. Bregman – Lauren Fenmore Kimberlin Brown – Sheila Carter Ian Buchanan – James Warwick Darlene Conley – Sally Spectra Barbara Crampton – Maggie Forrester Bobbie Eakes – Macy Alexander Susan Flannery – Stephanie Forrester Charles Grant – Grant Chambers Brent Jasmer – Sly Donovan Katherine Kelly Lang – Brooke Logan John McCook – Eric Forrester Daniel McVicar – Clarke Garrison Ronn Moss – Ridge Forrester Dylan Neal – Dylan Shaw Lindsay Price – Michael Lai Kyle Sahiby – C.J. Garrison Lark Voorhies – Jasmine Malone Maitland Ward – Jessica Forrester Despite being featured on the opening credits, Jeff Trachta (Thorne) and Schae Harrison (Darla) were only recurring. In turn, Brent Jasmer (and child actors Allbright and Sahiby) were not included in the opening credits.