Lord of the Lost could not achieve more than the last place for Germany at the ESC 2023. Moderator Elton was also noticed negatively – and is now unpacking.
Munich/Liverpool – Not least when ESC there are days, or rather evenings, that are just needed. So also this year. At the big ESC final 2023 on May 13th in Liverpool Lord of the Lost at least “pretty up” Germany’s disastrous balance sheet in recent years. Nothing came of it, with a total of just 18 points, the dark rockers finished last in the Euro Vision Song Contest 2023.
Cynically noted, it fits quite well into the negative overall picture that moderator Elton was not necessarily able to score. There Barbara Schöneberger moderated both the “Countdown” and the “Aftershow” of the ARD to the ESC from Liverpool, it was up to Elton to award the points of the German jury this year. Live, in front of an audience of millions. The eternal show intern should afford a gag that didn’t really want to ignite. Now follows his statement.
Elton’s gag in the 2023 ESC final is well received by “Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham – Twitter reacts with a shake of the head
First a quick look back. At around 12:20 a.m. German time, Elton was allowed to read out the twelve points of the German jury in the ESC final in front of around 100 million TV viewers around the world. Before it even happened, he was supposed to be holding a small box in front of the camera. From this the moderator took out an oblong biscuit that resembled a shortbread in shape – a Scottish sweet shortcrust pastry.
Elton should then have this biscuit Hannah Waddingham, one of the moderators of the ESC final 2023, offer. The 48-year-old, who otherwise acts as an actress, found this action quite charming and also had to laugh. Elton was referring to her role in the Apple TV series “Ted Lasso”. There she is repeatedly offered a biscuit as a sign of attention by the football coach who gave her name. For the pop culture affine Elton almost a must to allude to it. On Twitter he was mocked for this gag. But there was also an immediate reaction on the ground in Liverpool.
“It’s juries, it’s not Tinder”: Showmaster Graham Norton punishes Elton for a cookie gag at ESC 2023
Graham Norton, co-moderator of the ESC final 2023, was also rather suspicious about Elton’s supposed cookie cracker. Even when he wanted to lead to his gag, the British show host seemed annoyed. After Elton then the twelve points from the German jury had announced, he succinctly followed this comment: “It’s juries, it’s not Tinder”.
Because Elton after the ESC final, but also media how Lord of the Lost was sometimes treated extremely harshly on social networks, the native of Berlin now speaks up. Of course also via social media. In his longer statement, Elton speaks of the nervousness surrounding the awarding of points – “because the action had not been agreed with the NDR and I didn’t know how Hannah Waddingham would react either”. It would have been Elton’s sole aim to “make the actress laugh”. As I said, it worked.
“I apologize for that”: Elton’s emotional Instagram statement after his appearance at the ESC final in 2023
Elton doesn’t want to believe that many people said Waddingham “had embarrassingly smiled at it”. The pictures would speak for themselves – and can also be found in his Instagram post. At this point, he cannot take a dig in the direction of Jan Böhmermann and Olli Schulz, who were allowed to comment on the ESC final for the ORF broadcaster FM4.
But also to his choice of clothes on, albeit not for Lord of the Lost, big ESC evening Elton knows how to express himself. As you know it from the ARD quiz show “Who knows something?”, the presenter once again presented himself in a T-shirt with a jacket on top. Some ESC observers on Twitter found that inappropriate, too simple and too casual. Elton’s reaction: “A matter of taste. The shirt was chosen very consciously (Europe stars in the colors of the rainbow… in case anyone doesn’t understand) and at least a jacket with it”.
Finally, Elton works through some of the press coverage of his ESC appearance and is not at a loss for an apology: “My English may not have been good because of the nervousness…I apologize for that”. But Elton also wants to make it clear that he did not award his points – twelve of them for Sweden – but rather the points of the German jury. Ultimately, Elton can only comment on this with gallows humor in the truest sense of the word: “Like in the Middle Ages: the bearer of ‘bad’ news was always executed”. (han)
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