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It's been two years since Duncan Laurence won the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) for the Netherlands.
After the forced Corona break last year, musicians from 39 countries are currently preparing in Rotterdam for the next ESC final, which is eagerly awaited by the fans.
The betting shops decided on their favorites early on - Germany's starter Jendrik has not yet been one of them.
On Thursday, Jendrik was allowed to rehearse for the first time on the stage of the Rotterdam Ahoy Arena with his good mood song "I Don't Feel Hate".
The stage looks exactly as it would have looked in the canceled ESC last year.
And the motto “Open up”, which was planned for 2020, has also remained - with this, the organizers of the competition want to show the Netherlands' open-mindedness.
Singer Jendrik are given no chances
Source: dpa / Christian Charisius
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It is still unclear how the fighting in Israel will affect the competition, which stands for casual happiness.
At the ESC, strict attention is paid to the fact that no political statements are made - therefore the performance of the Israeli singer Eden Alene should be observed particularly closely.
She will sing in the first semifinals on Tuesday.
Lots of fans from Israel
Usually, many fans from Israel always travel to the ESC - but Corona prevents the usual long-term party that would have started with the first semi-final on Tuesday evening and would not have ended until after the final on Saturday evening.
At least the participants are allowed to appear in front of an audience, up to 3500 spectators are allowed for the two semi-finals and the final.
The audience should be especially important for Jendrik.
The 26-year-old from Hamburg, who always performs with his ukulele, lives from personal contact.
Then his carefree and cheerfulness comes across best - the flirtation with the audience can bring more power to his musically rather thin song.
Jendrik in 27th place?
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Jendrik should wipe out the notch that Germany had to suffer again in the last ESC final.
In 2019 the S! Sters came in on the disappointing 25th place.
With the exception of Michael Schulte, who landed in a strong fourth place in 2018, a position at the bottom of the field was the German regular place in previous years.
If the betting offices have their way, Jendrik should also place himself in the back.
The bookmakers currently see him in 27th place out of 39 starting countries.
After all, the trend is slightly positive - at the end of April the betting shops placed him in 31st place.
After the betting offices foresaw the winner with astonishing accuracy in recent years, the situation this year does not seem so clear.
The French Barbara Pravi with her “Voilà” and the singer Destiny for Malta with “Je Me Casse” are currently in the lead.
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The two singers with the French song titles celebrated successes in the young talent competition of the ESC, which is rather unknown in Germany.
Pravi wrote the winning song for France for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which took place last November despite the corona pandemic.
And 18-year-old Destiny won the young talent competition as a singer in 2015.
However, it is not certain that the two women will make the victory among themselves.
Because the Swiss band Gjon's Tears and the Italian band Maneskin are also highly regarded - the Italians bring with their “Zitti E Buoni” another solid rock number to the competition, which is often based on shallow pop.
The ESC will take place on Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 9 p.m. The ARD broadcasts.