Tonight the semifinal of the German national selection Unser Star für Baku took place, the last show before the big final. Four artists were left in the competition. At the end the German televoters sent Roman Lob and Ornella de Santis to the final while Shelly Philipps and Yana Gercke had to leave the show.

The show was devided into two parts. In the first part all four artists presented a song they chose by themselves. At the end one artist was eliminated so that only three competitors were left for the final round when each singer again presented one song. The running order was once more determined by televoting.

1st part:

1) Shelly Philipps – Das Astronautenlied (self-composed)

For the first time in this competition Shelly performs a song that is written by herself. Das Astronautenlied (The astronaut song) is a very quiet ballad. Shelly starts singing on a stool, but stands up with the second verse. Vocally she is good again and she receives lots of applause.

2) Ornella de Santis – Eu vou ser mais eu (self-composed)

Ornella who lived and worked in Brazil for two years performs a very beautiful ballad in Portuguese which might sound quite uncommon to the German spectators. She delivers a very confident performance and her fragile appearing vocals are flawless again.

3) Yana Gercke – Rolling in the deep (Adele)

It is very brave by Yana to pick an Adele song. Yana manages to hit the quiet notes in the beginning of the song as well as the powerful notes in the chorus. A solid performance by her and so far the biggest applause.

4) Roman Lob – Bad day (Daniel Powter)

Roman has the honour to conclude the first part of the show. Another solid and confident performance by him. He is loved by the audience and the jury.

Results of the 1st part:

1. Roman Lob

2. Yana Gercke

3. Ornella de Santis

4. Shelly Philipps

So the public decided that Shelly had to leave the show after the first round. It was a very close and exciting race as for a long time it appeared as if Ornella had to leave.

2nd part:

1) Ornella de Santis – If I ain’t got you (Alicia Keys)

Ornella was overwhelmed that she beat Shelly and reached the top 3. This time she chose an R’n’B song and performed it very well.

2) Yana Gercke – Skyscraper (Demi Lovato)

After the very close finish of the 1st round Yana appears very nervous. In comparison with her former performances her voice sounds weaker and there are some parts when she fails to hit the notes. After her performance she starts to cry.

3) Roman Lob – Use somebody  (Kings of Leon)

The show continues with lots of emotions. This time it is Roman’s turn, at least for the first verse. During the chorus the song turns more to a rock song, that kind of style we have heard several times by Roman. And again is performance is without any mistakes.

Results of the 2nd part:

1. Roman Lob

2. Ornella de Santis

3. Yana Gercke

The final of Unser Star für Baku will be held in Cologne next Thursday, February 16th, 2012 at 20.15 CET. It will be broadcasted by ARD/Das Erste. You can watch tonight’s performances here.