Everyone is full of praise for Lena, including the Federal Chancellor: “She’s a wonderful expression of young Germany,” said Angela Merkel who congratulated the German winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. This praise from the top went well with the euphoria that engulfed Germany on Lena’s winning night in Oslo. Not only that, it infected a surprising number of music fans throughout Europe as well. From Spain to Finland, nine of the 39 Eurovision countries gave the enchanting Lena their top mark of 12 points.
Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: “Whether you know it or not, you’re an ambassador for our country who has pleasantly disproved quite a few preconceived ideas within an evening.” Things can move fast. Just three months after Lena appeared in the casting show “Our Star for Oslo”, she has now performed the winning song in Oslo (“Satellite”) and gained the reputation as Germany’s “new voice” – without any formal voice training. At the airport in her home town of Hanover the beaming schoolgirl was eagerly awaited by thousands of cheering fans and the proud prime minister of Lower Saxony Hannover, Christian Wulff: “This is the way we welcome presidents”. The airport’s viewing area was rapidly transformed into a “Lena Viewing Point” along with the appropriate banners.
She won despite some critical voices in the German media a few weeks ago who were out to find fault with the new German star. For instance, they bemoaned Lena’s unconventional English and her supposedly awkward dancing skills. But Lena kept her cool and brushed aside any doubts with her freshness and vitality.
The future of Lena the superstar remains to be seen. One thing is clear: because the winner is from Germany, the country will host the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Hanover, Hamburg and Berlin are being tipped as the possible venue. And there are even speculations about Lena reappearing to defend her title. At the moment it looks like the sky’s the limit for “Little Miss Marvellous” (FAZ).
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