Huntress

Måneskin from Italy won the 65th Eurovision Song Contest with their song "Zitti e buoni". This was Italy's 3rd win. Winning performance: France received their best placing since 1991. Four countries received zero points in the televoting: Hosts Netherlands, plus Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom finished with no points at all. Recap: Full results: Italy (524) France (499) Switzerland (432) Iceland (378) Ukraine (364) Finland (301) Malta (255) Lithuania (220) Russia (204) Greece (170) Bulgaria (170) Portugal (153) Moldova (115) Sweden (109) Serbia (102) Cyprus (94) Israel (93) Belgium (74) Norway (75) Azerbaijan (65) Albania (57) San Marino (50) The Netherlands (11) Spain (6) Germany (3) United Kingdom (0) In the semi-finals, Ireland and Latvia came last. Semi-final 1: With televoting only, Croatia would have qualified instead of Belgium. With jury voting only, Romania and Croatia would have qualified instead of Norway and Azerbaijan. Semi-final 2: Czech Republic received zero points in the televoting. With televoting only, Denmark would have qualified instead of Albania.

Yeah, Denmark is the only song that I will dearly miss in the final. Running order for Saturday: 🇨🇾 Cyprus / Elena Tsagrinou – "El Diablo" 🇦🇱 Albania / Anxhela Peristeri – "Karma" 🇮🇱 Israel / Eden Alene – "Set Me Free" 🇧🇪 Belgium / Hooverphonic – "The Wrong Place" 🇷🇺 Russia / Manizha – "Russian Woman" 🇲🇹 Malta / Destiny – "Je me casse" 🇵🇹 Portugal / The Black Mamba – "Love Is on My Side" 🇷🇸 Serbia / Hurricane – "Loco Loco" 🇬🇧 United Kingdom / James Newman – "Embers" 🇬🇷 Greece / Stefania – "Last Dance" 🇨🇭 Switzerland / Gjon's Tears – "Tout l'Univers" 🇮🇸 Iceland / Da∂i Freyr og Gagnamagni∂ – "10 Years" 🇪🇸 Spain / Blas Cantó – "Voy a querdarme" 🇲🇩 Moldova / Natalia Gordienko – "Sugar" 🇩🇪 Germany / Jendrik – "I Don't Feel Hate" 🇫🇮 Finland / Blind Channel – "Dark Side" 🇧🇬 Bulgaria / Victoria – "Growing Up is Getting Old" 🇱🇹 Lithuania / The Roop – "Discoteque" 🇺🇦 Ukraine / Go_A – "Shum" 🇫🇷 France / Barbara Pravi – "Voilà" 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan / Efendi – "Mata Hari" 🇳🇴 Norway / TIX – "Fallen Angel" 🇳🇱 The Netherlands / Jeangu Macrooy – "Birth of a New Age" 🇮🇹 Italy / Måneskin – "Zitti e buoni" 🇸🇪 Sweden / Tusse – "Voices" 🇸🇲 San Marino / Senhit feat. Flo-Rida – "Adrenalina" This is quite an open race this year ... I hope that Italy win.

Recap of the 2nd semi-final: The following countries qualified from the 2nd semi-final: Albania Bulgaria Finland Greece Iceland Moldova Portugal San Marino Serbia Switzerland The following countries did not qualify: Austria Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Georgia Latvia Poland

Now Duncan Laurence, the 2019 winner, also tested positive for covid-19. He appeared in Tuesday's semi-final and was also supposed to perform in the Grand Final on Saturday. http://eurovision.tv/mediacentre/release/ebu-statement-duncan-laurence-tests-positive-for-covid-19

UU is desperately trying to win back its former audience – after bringing back Chris and Corinna Weigel after 23 years and having presumed dead villain Rolf pop up for a guest visit earlier this year, it's time for another long-forgotten character to reappear: It's Jennifer "Jenny" Turner, a fan favorite during the show's early years. Back in 1994, Jenny and Corinna were best friends and roommates. In 1998, Jenny departed to Ruanda, Africa, in the dead of night, leaving her life in Cologne behind. She only said goodbye to landlord Margot Weigel, who tearfully told her: "Schillerallee 10 will always be your home, my little girl". Corinna, Jenny and Chris in the show's first episode. Unlike Chris and Corinna, who returned as recasts, Jenny will again be played by her original portrayer Tatiani Katranzi. The Greek-born actress was on contract from November 1994 to August 1998. Her first airdate back is August 3rd, 2021. This Week on GZSZ: GZSZ: The 25 Most Dramatic Moments #25: In an accident, Charlie Fierek (Julian Scheunemann) had killed Katja's then-boyfriend Oliver. He was acquitted of charge. In the courthouse, Charlie is shot by Oliver's mother Dorothea. [1998] #24: André Holm (Matthias Matz) pushes Lilo Gottschick (Susanne Ziellenbach) down a flight of stairs. "You apparently don't know who you're dealing with!" Lilo says. "You clearly don't know, either," André replies. Push forward. [1993] #23: After a physical fight with Tayfun, Leon Moreno (Daniel Fehlow) has trouble with his vision. At the "Mauerwerk" nightclub, he faints and falls down the stairs. [2009] #22: Silke Balzer (Susanne Evers) is threatened by her ex-husband David. When she tells him that it's over and that she's now with Fabian Moreno, David grabs her and breaks her neck. "You belong to me!" he screams. [1999] #21: When Iris Gundlach (Andrea-Kathrin Loewig) starts her car, a bomb detonates, killing her instantly. [1994] #20: Jörg Reuter (Daniel Enzweiler) has kidnapped Sonja Wiebe (Tina Bordihn) in his car. Andy Lehmann (Raphael Schneider) follows them on his motorcycle. Both vehicles almost collide. Andy crashes into a ditch and the car crashes against a tree. (In the aftermath, Andy was left paralyzed and Sonja's face was destroyed.) [1998] #19: Another car crash involving Tim Böcking (Oliver Böcking), Caroline Neustädter (Jessica Ginkel), Verena Koch (Susan Sideropoulos) and heavily pregnant Isabel Eggert (Natalie Alison). (In the aftermath, Isabel gave birth to her son and died two episodes later.) [2006] #18: David Brenner's (Philipp Christopher) traumatic experience in a Malaysian prison. [2015] #17: After having found out that Friederic Riefflin (Dieter Bach) has an affair with his own daughter Jasmin, Katrin Flemming (Ulrike Frank) begs Frederic to leave the country and to stay away from Jasmin. Frederic threatens Katrin. Katrin's best friend Maren Seefeld (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) appears and kills Frederic in self-defense. [2016] #16: Only a few hours after his wedding to Elena Castillo (Elena Garcia Gerlach), Dominik Gundlach (Raul Richter) dies in a motorcycle accident. [2014] #15: Emily Höfer (Anne Menden), Philip Höfer (Jörn Schlönvoigt), Lena Bachmann (Uta Kargel), John Bachmann (Felix von Jascheroff) and Paula Rapf (Josephine Schmidt) are trapped in a subway tunnel. [2005] #14: On the beach, Katrin finds Till's clothes after Till has walked into the ocean to commit suicide. [2017] #13: In a nightly forest in Poland, Jo Bahro (Wolfgang Bahro) is shot by one of his former business partners. [2012] #12: High on coke, Emily and Franzi (Jasmin Weber) cause an explosion at the "Fasan" restaurant. Franzi dies in the fire. [2008] #11: Cora Hinze (Nina Bott) and Nico Weimershaus (Raphael Vogt) are looking for their daughter Antonia. In the forest, they find a shrine with candles and baby clothing. [2000] #10: Katrin wants to know where Jo has been keeping their daughter Johanna and turns to brutal methods. [2007] #09: A bomb placed by the mafia detonates in Fabian Moreno's (Ralf Benson) trailer. [2000] #08: The "Mocca" café is left in ruins after a landslide. Philip Höfer, Ayla Özgül (Sila Sahin), Lucy Cöster (Sarah Tkotsch) and Carsten Reimann (Felix Isenbügel) are trapped inside. [2010] #07: The mafia has taken over the "Mauerwerk" restaurant. Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) is shot. [2014] #06: Nataly Jäger (Nadine Dehmel) wants to castrate Jo. "It's called justice," she says. "I have nothing to lose." [2000] #05: Almost the whole cast is on board of a plane that is about to crash. [2004] #04: Kai Scholl (Tim Sander) dies in the arms of his best friend Moritz Demand (Hendrik Borgmann). #03: Hannes Bachmann (Klaus-Dieter Klebsch) and Senta Lemke's (Hanne Wolharn) first flight with their new plane ends in disaster as they crash into a field. "We are not dead?," a heavily injured Senta asks Hannes. She doesn't know that a huge piece of metal is stuck in her body. (Senta died in the same episode and Hannes died a few episodes later.) [2007] #02: "Daniel's Bar" is the scene of a huge explosion that changed the show forever. [2002] #01: After being hit by Philip's car, dearly beloved Verena Koch (Susan Sideropoulos) dies at the hospital. [2011] GZSZ: The Most Shocking Cliffhangers #25: In a parking garage, Saskia Rother (Saskia Valencia) steps into an elevator to meet one of her clients on the upper floor. She doesn't know the man's planning to kill her. Tom Lehmann (Jan Sosniok) wants to rescue Saskia. [1995] #24: Senta Lemke (Hanne Wolharn) walks home to find a cluster of people in front of her house. Senta is shocked when she realizes that her daughter Sandra (Anna Frenzel-Röhl) is about to jump from a window. [2001] #23: Jo Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro) and Katrin Flemming (Ulrike Frank) are desperately trying to their daughter Johanna, who has been kidnapped. In the cold and snowy forest, the police finds Johanna's beanie. [2007] #22: During one of their bizarre BDSM sessions, Tina Zimmermann (Sandra Keller) tries to choke Claudius Mohr (Andreas Krätzig) by pushing a cushion onto his face. "Now you get what you've deserved for a long time," she says. [1996] #21: During a press conference, Sonja Wiebe (Tina Bordihn) accuses Jo of having molested several children. [1998] #20: In Sonja's apartment, Barbara Wiebe-Graf (Maren Thurm) and Frank Richter (Torsten Stoll) find Sonja on the bathroom floor after a suicide attempt. [1997] #19: When Katrin provokes Jo to the utmost, Jo is about to hit her in the face. [2006] #18: Elisabeth Meinhart (Lisa Riecken) tries to kill herself by turning on her gas oven. [Cliffhanger of the very first episode in 1992] #17: Katrin confronts Jasmin's adoptive father Dieter Nowak with a gun. She wants him to suffer for what he did to Jasmin all of these years. "You little piece of s*it!" she screams into his face. [2009] #16: During his brief stint as a journalist, John Bachmann (Felix von Jascheroff) wants to write a story about life in prison. Suddenly, he is threatened by an inmate. [2007] #15: Jo is arrested for fraud and betrayal. [2007] #14: During a family gathering in Christmas Eve, Senta spills the beans about having an affair with Hannes Bachmann (Klaus-Dieter Klebsch), her sister Patrizia's (Christin Baechler) ex husband. "He's a hypocrite, and I'm a hypocrite. But don't think you can crawl back into my bed tonight!" she says. Everyone else is shocked and ashamed. [2002] #13: In prison, Jo is brutally beat up. [2007] #12: Patrick Gerner (Björn Harras) is kidnapped in front of Dominik's (Raul Richter) eyes. [2011] #11: Standing at Sonja's grave, Marie Balzer (Jeanette Biedermann) hears strange noises. There's a man in the bushes. Is it Fabian Moreno (Ralf Benson)? [2003] #10: Katrin and Leon Moreno (Daniel Fehlow) are shocked: A baby doll has been placed in Johanna's stroller. But where's Johanna? [2006] #09: David Brenner (Philipp Christopher) is sure that the police will find Frederic Riefflin's corpse at the construction site. Katrin and Jo are nervous as hell, but then the police tells them that no body has been found. Katrin is relieved. But what happened to the corpse? [2017] #08: On a rooftop, a stoned Patrick celebrates the revelation that he's Jo's biological son. He pees from the rooftop and screams "I'm the king of the world!" Suddenly he loses his balance and falls to his death. [2012] #07: Leon finds Johanna in a nursery in Switzerland. It was Jo who had kidnapped his own daughter! Leon informs Katrin via phone. Jo appears and knocks Leon down. "You will regret this," he says. [2007] #06: On the houseboat, Sandra wants to play a prank on her ex-boyfriend Moritz Demand (Hendrik Borgmann). Then she catches him in bed with her mother Senta! [2001] #05: Robert König (Norbert Hülm) wants to blow up Jo with dynamite – which he strapped onto Jo's body. [1996] #04: During a school dance, teacher Jonas Vossberg (Dominic Boeer) and student Julia Blum (Yvonne Catterfeld) are about to have sex on the school toilet. [2004] #03: Cora Hinze (Nina Bott) and Nico Weimershaus (Raphael Vogt) are looking for their daughter Antonia who has gone missing in a shopping mall. When Cora eventually finds the stroller, it is empty. [2000] #02: Jo and Katrin hold each other at gunpoint. Both want the other one to stay out of Johanna's life forever. They don't notice that Johanna's stroller is about to collide with an ambulance. [2007] #01: The cult "Ring der Welt" (The Ring of the World) is about to commit a mass suicide. Andy Lehmann (Raphael Schneider), Nico, Nataly Jäger (Nadine Dehmel) and Cora are among the victims. "What you drank ... is poison. In a few minutes you will all be dead," the cult leader tells Andy. [1999]

One of the Icelandic performers tested positive for Covid-19, so Iceland will not be able to perform live in tomorrow's semi-final and in the Grand Final on Saturday. However, "their song will remain in the competition and [they] will broadcast their rehearsal performance, recorded on the stage on 13 May." https://eurovision.tv/mediacentre/release/ebu-statement-regarding-icelandic-delegation-wednesday-19-may

Recap of the 1st semi-final: The following countries qualified from the 1st semi-final: Azerbaijan Belgium Cyprus Israel Lithuania Malta Norway Russia Sweden Ukraine The following countries did not qualify: Australia Croatia Ireland North Macedonia Romania Slovenia I'm happy with the results although I would have switched Croatia for either Azerbaijan or Israel. IMO, Ireland and Romania were a mess on stage, and Slovenia and North Macedonia were plain boring.

After the success of "SUNNY – Wer bist du wirklich?" which featured Sunny (played by Valentina Pahde) in her own series, GZSZ will receive another spin-off this fall: In "NIHAT – Alles auf Anfang" (NIHAT – Starting Over), Nihat Güney (played by Timur Ülker) will be the leading character. In GZSZ's current episodes, Nihat, who has been on GZSZ since 2018, finds out that he's been adopted. In the new spin-off, he will dive into his past and tries to find his real parents. Like "SUNNY", the show will be produced for RTL's streaming service TVNOW. Speaking of GZSZ, the show now has its own youtube channel where they have uploaded a lot of old videos from RTL's main channel. Preview for this week: The 25 Most Romantic Moments (IMO, very questionable choices ) Outtakes:

Episode Counts April 2021 GZSZ Total episodes: 20 01. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode): 17 02. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci): 14 *** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 14 04. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno): 13 *** Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann): 13 *** Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 13 07. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger): 12 *** Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 12 09. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode): 11 *** Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers): 11 *** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 11 12. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 10 *** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer): 10 *** Diana Staehly (Melanie Evers): 10 15. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 9 *** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann): 9 *** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee): 9 18. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 8 *** Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann): 8 *** Lars Pape (Michael Bode): 8 21. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 7 22. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner): 6 *** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 6 24. Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer): 5 25. Zoé Bailieu (Kate Wiedermann): 4 *** Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 4 *** Benjamin Trinks (Bastian Münzer): 4 28. Ilknur Boyraz (Sibel Erdemir): 2 *** Cyrus David (Mustafa Güney): 2 AWZ Total episodes: 20 01. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht): 17 02. Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos): 16 *** Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp): 16 *** Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler): 16 *** Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp): 16 06. Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk): 15 *** Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht): 15 *** Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp): 15 09. Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler): 14 10. Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk): 13 *** Lars Korten (Christoph Lukowski): 13 *** Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt): 13 13. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny): 12 *** Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach): 12 *** Tijan Njie (Moritz Brunner): 12 16. Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler): 11 *** Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer): 11 *** Barbara Prakopenka (Greta Voss): 11 *** Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp): 11 20. Suri Abbassi (Leyla Öztürk): 9 21. Julia Augustin (Dr. Vanessa Steinkamp): 8 22. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer): 5 23. Ingeborg Brings (Frau Renate Scholz): 4 24. Felix Gibert (Henry Steinkamp): 2 *** Hannes Schmid (Kai Löwenau): 2 UU Total episodes: 20 01. Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner): 17 02. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber): 16 *** Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel): 16 *** Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger): 16 05. Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger): 15 06. Sharon Sophie Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler): 14 *** Isabelle Geiss (Nika Färber): 14 *** Jakob Graf (Luke Färber): 14 09. Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel): 13 *** Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel): 13 *** Nina Weisz (Corinna Weigel): 13 12. Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann): 12 *** Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner): 12 *** Lars Steinhöfel (Ingo “Easy” Winter): 12 15. Jan Ammann (Chris Weigel): 11 *** Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer): 11 *** Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber): 11 *** Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber): 11 19. Luca Maric (Robert Küpper): 10 20. Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld): 9 *** Carina Koller (Cecilia Weigel): 9 22. Jashan Gupta (Matteo Weigel): 8 23. Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters): 7 *** Ramon Ademse (Roger Schmitz): 7 25. Sophia Gül (Amelie Hirschberger): 4 26. Finn Luca Cramer (Noah Weigel): 3 *** Paul Eilert (Julius Engel): 3 28. Lena Klöber (Sarah Fuchs): 2 29. Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer😞 1

Yep, 50 actors took part in those videos which were supposed to be satirical ... they had good intentions, but obviously didn't think it through and it sparked a huge controversy today. Many of these videos have already been taken down.

In most parts of Europe, the situation is still tense. Germany now has a nation-wide ban on going out between 10 pm and 5 am in all cities and regions with a 7-day incidence higher than 100 (which affects 350 of 401 cities and regions). In my city, the number of covid cases has hit an all-time high today. The vaccination process took too long to get started. Roughly 20 % of the population has received one shot, and only 7 % of the population has been fully vaccinated yet. Number of cases per 100.000 citizens in all European countries: Sweden : 391 Croatia : 378 France : 343 Netherlands : 331 Lithuania : 270 Hungary : 266 Poland : 257 Slovenia : 240 Estonia : 238 Serbia : 217 North Macedonia : 216 Belgium : 210 Latvia : 208 Bosnia & Herzegovina : 206 Luxembourg : 202 Ukraine : 199 Montenegro : 189 Greece : 187 Czech Republic : 184 Bulgaria : 178 Austria : 176 Germany : 172 Switzerland : 163 Italy : 158 Spain : 126 Romania : 107 Moldova : 100 Denmark : 92 Belarus : 90 Slovakia : 80 Norway : 71 Malta : 65 Ireland : 52 Russia : 42 Albania : 36 Portugal : 33 Finland : 33 United Kingdom : 26 Iceland : 25

Prince Philip has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace announces https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11437314

I don't think he will – in the first season, they brought back Olli, Clarissa, Charlie, Ansgar, Carla and eventually Tanja. It's unclear if there'll be a second season. Episode Counts March 2021 GZSZ Total episodes: 23 01. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 16 *** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 16 *** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 16 *** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 16 05. Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 15 *** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 15 07. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 14 *** Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 14 *** Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 14 *** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 14 11. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 13 *** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 13 13. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 12 *** Diana Staehly (Melanie Evers) : 12 15. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 10 *** Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 10 17. Vildan Cirpan (Nazan Akinci) : 9 *** Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 9 *** Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 9 *** Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 9 21. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 8 22. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 7 *** Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) : 7 *** Lars Pape (Michael Bode) : 7 25. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 6 26. Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann) : 4 27. Zoé Baillieu (Kate Wiedmann): 2 AWZ Total Episodes: 23 01. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht) : 19 *** Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler) : 19 03. Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer) : 18 *** Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) : 18 05. Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) : 17 *** Christopher Kohn (Finn Albrecht) : 17 07. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) : 16 *** Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler) : 16 *** Lars Korten (Christoph Lukowski) : 16 *** Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach) : 16 11. Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos) : 14 *** Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp) : 14 *** Tijan Nije (Moritz Brunner) : 14 *** Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) : 14 *** Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp) : 14 16. Suri Abbassi (Leyla Öztürk) : 11 *** Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) : 11 *** Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt) : 11 19. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny) : 9 20. Folke Paulsen (Georg Albrecht) : 7 21. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer) : 5 22. Barbara Prakopenka (Greta Voss) : 3 23. Ingeborg Brings (Frau Renate Scholz) : 1 24. Julia Augustin (Vanessa Steinkamp) : 0 UU Total Episodes: 23 01. Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer) : 22 02. Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) : 19 *** Jakob Graf (Luke Färber) : 19 *** Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger) : 19 *** Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger) : 19 06. Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel) : 18 07. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber) : 16 08. Sharon Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler) : 14 *** Lars Steinhöfel (Ingo "Easy" Winter) : 14 10. Isabelle Geiss (Nika Färber) : 13 *** Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber) : 13 *** Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) : 13 *** Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel) : 13 *** Nina Weisz (Corinna Weigel) : 13 15. Jan Ammann (Chris Weigel) : 12 *** Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner) : 11 *** Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel) : 11 18. Paul Eilert (Julius Engel) : 9 *** Sophia Gül (Amelie Hirschberger) : 9 *** Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber) : 9 21. Luca Maric (Robert Küpper) : 8 22. Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld) : 7 *** Matthias Paul (Anton Hoffmann) : 7 24. Andrea Brix (Roswitha Küpper-Pütz) : 6 *** Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer) : 6 *** Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters) : 6 27. Finn Luca Cramer (Noah Weigel) : 5 *** Carina Koller (Cecilia Weigel) : 5 29. Jashan Gupta (Matteo Weigel) : 4 *** Stefan Franz (Rolf Jäger) : 4 *** Antonia Michalsky (Saskia Weigel) : 4 32. Ramon Ademes (Roger Schmitz) : 3 33. Lena Klöber (Sarah Fuchs) : 2 34. Jonathan Elias Weiske (Sebastian Hoffmann) : 1 Episode Counts 1996 GZSZ Total episodes: 248 It was a year of change for GZSZ: Of the 18 contract cast members that were on the show in January, only 8 of them were still part of the cast in December: Original characters Clemens, Vera, Elisabeth, Daniel and Elke plus Jo, Charlie and Andy. Everyone else departed the show for various reasons: Some actors wanted to pursue primetime gigs, others were reportedly only taking a break – but eventually never returned. The voids were filled with a bunch of newbies who were gradually upgraded to contract roles. During the summer months, the show only had 14 contract roles, compared to 22 to 24 which has been the standard since the late 90s. CONTRACT DEPARTURES: Victoria Sturm (Milla Engel) – January (with 2 more appearances in March) Alexander Kiersch (Patrick Graf) – January Sali Landricina (Peter Becker #2) – January (short-term return) Julia Gerke (Jenny Gruber) – January Judith Gerke (Jessi Gruber) – January Claudia Weiske (Elke Opitz-Graf) – February (maternity leave) Irene Neuner (Dr. Rebecca Scheele) – March Jan Sosniok (Tom Lehmann) – March Andreas Elsholz (Heiko Richter) – April Saskia Valencia (Saskia Rother) – May Alexandra Finder (Kim Scheele) – June Sandra Keller (Tina Zimmermann #1) – July Norbert Hülm (Robert König) – November CONTRACT ARRIVALS: Maren Thurm (Barbara Graf #2) – February (recurring since January 1996) Rhea Harder (Flo Spira) – April (recurring since January 1996) Norbert Hülm (Robert König) – April (recurring since March 1995) Ralf Benson (Fabian Moreno) – May (recurring since April 1996) Anne Brendler (Vanessa Moreno) – May (recurring since April 1996) Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) – May (recurring since April 1996) Raphael Vogt (Nico Weimershaus) – May (recurring since March 1996) Claudia Weiske (Elke Opitz-Graf) – September (return from maternity leave) Nadine Dehmel (Nataly Jäger) – December (recurring since February 1996) Daniel Enzweiler (Jörg Reuter) – December (recurring since May 1996) Kea Könecker (Chrissie Lehmann) – December (recurring since July 1996) 01. Rhea Harder (Flo Spira) : 186 02. Hans Christiani (A.R. Daniel) : 184 03. Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) : 176 04. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 164 05. Raphael Schneider (Andy Lehmann) : 156 06. Julian Scheunemann (Charlie Fierek) : 145 07. Anne Brendler (Vanessa Moreno) : 140 08. Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter) : 139 09. Angela Neumann (Vera Richter) : 133 10. Raphael Vogt (Nico Weimershaus) : 131 11. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 130 12. Ralf Benson (Fabian Moreno) : 121 13. Maren Thurm (Barbara Graf #2) : 117 14. Nadine Dehmel (Nataly Jäger) : 112 15. Sandra Keller (Tina Zimmermann #1) : 103 16. Daniel Enzweiler (Jörg Reuter) : 102 17. Kea Könneker (Chrissie Lehmann) : 93 18. Norbert Hülm (Robert König) : 81 19. Claudia Weiske (Elke Opitz-Graf) : 71 20. Saskia Valencia (Saskia Rother) : 68 21. Gerd-Lukas Storzer (Götz von der Heyde, Gerner's henchman) : 64 22. Alexandra Finder (Kim Scheele) : 61 23. Andreas Elsholz (Heiko Richter) : 58 24. Jan Sosniok (Tom Lehmann) : 44 25. Claudio Maniscalco (Felix Reinecke, magician, Vanessa's first love) : 42 26. Nicole Dirks (Carolin Carnet, gossip reporter, Leon's affair) : 35 *** Rhoda Kaindl (Eva Reichel, Charlie's crazy aunt, murdered Lizzy) : 35 28. Mey Lan Chao (Harumi Shimizu, Japanese businesswoman, Tom's affair, Saskia's girlfriend) : 33 29. Irene Neuner (Dr. Rebecca Scheele) : 32 30. Regina Lorenz (Sophie von Strehlow, socialite, Charlie's girlfriend) : 31 31. Alexandra Neldel (Katja Wettstein) : 30 32. Manfred Callsen (Dr. Rainer Falck) : 29 *** Andreas Krätzig (Claudius Mohr, tax collector, Tina's affair, deceased) : 29 34. Roland Boecker (Volker Wettstein, drug lord, Katja's father, Elisabeth's affair) : 28 35. Hans Klima (Arndt Oliver, police officer) : 21 *** Joseph Rothmann (Benno Driese, Barbara's kidnapper) : 21 37. Andrea Günther (Britta Werder, Nataly's classmate, accused Jörg of molesting her) : 19 38. Joyce Prochnow (Melissa Becker, Peter's Australian wife, Elisabeth's daughter-in-law) : 15 39. Thomas Franz (Gottfried Wenzel, Carolin's boss, blackmailed Flo) : 13 *** Matthias Fuchs (Markus, member of pop group "Just Friends") : 13 *** Daniel Höferlin (Hoff, member of pop group "Just Friends") : 13 *** Anna Lübbecke (Lizzy Ehlers, Kim's best friend, murdered by Eva) : 13 *** Sabine Manke (Susanne, member of pop group "Just Friends") : 13 44. Alexander Kiersch (Patrick Graf) : 12 *** Viktor Neumann (Dr. Sonnemann, Gerner's lawyer) : 12 46. Julia Gerke (Jenny Gruber) : 11 *** Judith Gerke (Jessi Gruber) : 11 48. Kerstin Gold (Kommissarin Meier, police officer) : 11 *** Peter Hladik (Heinrich Rother, Saskia's father) : 11 *** Klaus Tilsner (Polizist Bause, police officer) : 11 51. Victoria Sturm (Milla Engel) : 10 *** Monica Gruber (Mrs. Wolgast, lawyer) : 10 *** Georg Leumer (Mr. Brandt, DA) : 10 *** Dietlind Stahl (Mrs. Ziegler, judge) : 10 55. Jessica Schulte am Hülse (Jessica, new member of pop group "Just Friends") : 9 56. Sali Landricina (Peter Becker #2) : 8 *** Markus Boestfleisch (Micky Menzel, owner of "King") : 8 *** Marina Erdmann (Dagmar Jäger, Nataly's mother) : 8 *** Peter Groeger (Richard Graf, Jo and Patrick's father) : 8 *** Wolfgang Lohse (Erwin Blohm, employee of "Der kleine Graf") : 8 *** Roberto Thoenelt (Arne Alberts, drug dealer) : 8 62. Maurice Jones (Cecil Pitt, Jenny and Jessi's biological father) : 7 *** Lena Lessing (Joanne Pitt, Jenny and Jessi's biological mother) : 7 *** Nadine Winster (Jeanette, guardian at "Villa Regenbogen") : 7 65. Ana Fonell (Annette Siepermann, member of teacher-parent association) : 6 *** Bärbel Röhl (Hilde Lehmann, Tom, Andy and Chrissie's mother) : 6 *** Werner Schuster (Manni Fürst, reporter at "Morgenecho") : 6 *** Giso Weissbach (Rudi Lehmann, Tom, Andy and Chrissie's father) : 6 *** Denise Zich (Daniela, former member of pop group "Just Friends") : 6 70. Sylvia Esch (Kate Popp, model) : 5 *** Dietmar Irmer (Pastor Schulenburg, priest) : 5 *** Niklas Zander (Mickey, child at "Villa Regenbogen") : 5

My Top 10 at the moment: 1. Norway 2. Cyprus 3. Belgium 4. San Marino 5. Denmark 6. Netherlands 7. Romania 8. Australia 9. Albania 10. Ireland My joint last place goes to North Macedonia, Georgia and Latvia.

Huge hits here right now ... the first two are remixes / reinterpretation of 90s songs.

Belarus is out: https://eurovision.tv/story/ebu-statement-on-belarusian-entry-2021?fbclid=IwAR05RRUrYTWS0yJxPVZiU3L8iLrHHS7TRDtgFVAR4tPbJe33cvwMQPMPUfE That leaves us with 39 participating countries.

Yes to both reasons. There are enough conservative people who openly speak out against abortions, and on GZSZ, it was only the second time that a character had an abortion – in almost 30 years (the first one was Milla Engel in 1995). In case anyone remembers Thore Schölermann, one half of the popular "Chrolli" couple from VL, he took part in the 4th season of "The Masked Singer Germany" and finished in 5th place. Schölermann posed as the purple-colored "Monstronaut", the cheeky child of the "Astronaut" and the "Monster", two costumes that took part in an earlier season. Songs he sang were: "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga, "When You Were Young" by The Killers, "T.N.T." by AC/DC, "Can't Stop"/"Give It Away" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Careless Whisper" by George Michael, "Bad Boy for Life" by Diddy, and "School's Out" by Alice Cooper. Since leaving his acting career behind, Schölermann has been a tv host, known for presenting "taff", "The Voice of Germany", "The Voice Kids" and other shows.

... which takes place in Austria where again another variation of German is spoken Fun fact: While a classic in the US, the movie The Sound of Music is basically unknown in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and was a huge commercial failure when it was released.

I've watched some of Gati's scenes on Youtube, and as a German, I can say that her accent isn't that accurate. Especially her intonation sounds wrong to my ears... it's way too melodic, like French or Italian, and she also swallows a lot of consonants. If she's supposed to be from Switzerland, then she wouldn't have a stereotypical "German" accent because they speak a different variation of German there. (By the way, why is the character called "Liesl"? The proper spelling would be "Liesel", a short form of Elisabeth, but that variation has been out of fashion for almost 100 years.)

North Macedonia could withdraw as well ... there's been some controversy because an artpiece resembling the Bulgarian flag appeared in their music video, and some nationalists called for a boycott. These people are also attacking singer Vasil on social media with homophobic slurs. There's also been an incident surrounding the singer from Georgia because he allegedly called Eurovision a "sh*tshow" on Twitter. What would Eurovision be without some annual drama from Eastern European countries

Azerbaijan:

So, the mysterious stalker who kidnapped the children of Schillerallee 10 during UU's event week was indeed Rolf Jäger, the show's resident lunatic. Presumed dead after driving his motorcycle into a canyon in 2016, he returned to wreak new havoc. The character was again played by Stefan Franz who was on contract from 2002 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2016. It's still unclear if he'll return fulltime. On GZSZ, contract star Ronja Herberich departs the show this spring. She was introduced as Erik's teenage daughter Merle in January 2020. She was in a relationship with Jonas and became pregnant. Eventually, she had an abortion (which was a very controversial story). Since then, Merle has been on the backburner, so her exit doesn't come as a surprise. Flashback: GZSZ Episode count December 1996 Total episodes: 18 01. Daniel Enzweiler (Jörg Reuter) : 18 02. Angela Neumann (Vera Richter) : 17 *** Raphael Schneider (Andy Lehmann) : 17 04. Kea Könneker (Chrissie Lehmann) : 16 *** Claudia Weiske (Elke Opitz-Graf) : 16 06. Anne Brendler (Vanessa Moreno) : 15 *** Nadine Dehmel (Nataly Jäger) : 15 *** Rhea Harder (Flo Spira) : 15 *** Raphael Vogt (Nico Weimershaus) : 15 10. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 14 *** Hans Christiani (A.R. Daniel) : 14 *** Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 14 *** Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) : 14 14. Ralf Benson (Fabian Moreno) : 11 15. Manfred Callsen (Dr. Rainer Falck) : 10 16. Maren Thurm (Barbara Graf) : 9 17. Claudio Maniscalco (Felix Reinecke) : 8 18. Hans Klima (Kommissar Arndt Oliver) : 6 *** Alexandra Neldel (Katja Wettstein) : 6 20. Julian Scheunemann (Charlie Fierek) : 5 21. Roland Boecker (Volker Wettstein) : 4 *** Regina Lorenz (Sophie von Strehlow) : 4 23. Ana Fonell (Mrs. Siepermann) : 3 24. Yasmina Bohlen Filali (Yasmin Hüttermann, Sophie's friend) : 2 *** Dietmar Irmer (Pastor Schulenburg, priest) : 2 *** Wolfgang Lohse (Erwin Blohm, employee of "Der kleine Graf" ) : 2 *** Werner Schuster (Manni Fürst, reporter at "Morgenecho" ) : 2 *** Marlene Tackenberg (Jazzy, member of pop group "Tic Tac Toe") : 2 *** Ricarda Wältken (Ricky, member of pop group"Tic Tac Toe") : 2 *** Liane Wiegelmann (Lee, member of pop group "Tic Tac Toe" ) : 2 31. April de Luca (Franziska Moretti, madam) : 1 32. Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter) : 0

The entry from Belarus will most likely be disqualified because of its political lyrics. United Kingdom:

This is great and will probably give San Marino its best result ever (ok, given their poor track record, this is not that hard to manage ). However, it's still not clear if FloRida will appear on stage with Senhit ...

Estonia is just as bland as their entry last year. Portugal is a snoozefest as well. Quite a lot of songs this year lack a proper hook or a distinctive melody. Denmark rides on the current 80s retro trend – I kind of like it. By the way, this will be the first time since 1997 that we will hear the Danish language in the contest.