Last weekend a big Eurovision event was held in Berlin. As a German-Finnish coproduction of the three fanclubs OGAE Germany, OGAE Finland and EC Germany a varied programme was offered and fans from all over Europe came to the German capital, not only to watch the special guests Lys Assia, Pernilla Karlsson and Ingrid Peters.
For the first time the German capital Berlin was the host of a Eurovision event. The weekend kicked off on Friday night with a welcome party. Several fans already came there to dance and celebrate to Eurovision music. The highlight, a special Eurovision show, took place on Saturday night and was hosted by José Bourouh and Iida Marin. They welcomed the audience with a special performance of Europhia and a short quiz about Eurovision dance moves.
Afterwards six acts performed ten Eurovision songs themed Fans singing for fans. Everyone could vote for his favourite entry. At the end Julian and Vicky from the German city Recklinghausen were the lucky winners and performed their winning song Never forget (Iceland 2012) later again.
In the meantime the show continued with the first guest on stage. This was no other than Lys Assia, the very first Eurovision Song Contest winner from Switzerland. All fans in the audience welcomed her with a huge and warm applause. Lys Assia performed a total of three songs: Her winning entry Refrain, Jolie Jacqueline and C’était ma vie, the song she sang in the Swiss preselection for Baku. As an encore she performed Oh mein Papa in an a-capella version.
Next on stage was Pernilla Karlsson who represented Finland in Baku this year. She started with För att du finns, a song that the Swedish singer Sonja Aldén sang at Melodifestivalen in 2007 and came 6th. After that she sang another Swedish song (Måndagsbarn by Veronica Maggio) before Pernilla delighted her fans with her entry for Baku, När jag blundar.
Last artist on stage was Ingrid Peters who gave an outstanding performance and caused a huge enthusiasm inside the location. Beside Wunder gibt es immer wieder and What’s another year she sang a special Eurovision medley consisting of Non ho l`età, Tu te reconnaîtras, Boom bang-a-bang, Puppet on a string and Hallelujah. Afterwards she performed Viva la Mamma. With this entry she participated at the German preselection in 1983 and finished as the runner up behind Hoffmann & Hoffmann. Finally Ingrid Peters delivered a great performance of her 1986 Eurovision entry Über die Brücke geh’n, followed by her national chart success Afrika.
Lots of fans concluded the night on the dance floor until the early morning. Special thanks to Frank Lochthove and his team for the excellent organization of this weekend. Hope to see you again in Berlin next year.
