That's at least a small surprise that otherwise well-informed circles didn't have on the slip: Frida Gold is taking part in the preliminary round for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC).

The former quartet and today's duo around singer Alina Süggeler is one of the most successful German artists of the past 15 years.

Their debut album "Juwel" was a success in 2011, and the band made their big breakthrough in 2013 with their album "Love Is My Religion" and the song "Love Is My Rebellion" derived from it.

Above all, the texts by Frida Gold are convincing.

In the ESC preliminary round, the 37-year-old singer and songwriter Alina Süggeler, who sang in the church choir as a child, and her bandmate Andreas "Andi" Weizel will also compete with a German song:

Peter Philipp Schmitt

Editor in the department "Germany and the World".

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Accordingly, eight out of nine acts for the preliminary decision "Our Song for Liverpool" on March 3rd are now certain.

Another candidate will be determined via a Tiktok voting.

The first eight were selected by the ESC editorial team and an advisory team of national and international music experts.

There were a total of 548 applications.

At Tiktok there were even more than 900 videos, but there were also overlaps.

The remaining place in the preliminary round can be voted on at Tiktok from today until February 3 at 8 p.m.

Among the candidates is Ikke Hipgold.

Next to Frida Gold is the 28-year-old

Will Church from Berlin is another participant.

He comes from Bad Saarow in Brandenburg and took part in "The Voice of Germany" in 2021.

He starts with the power ballad "Hold on", a call to all those who are threatened by the social pressure to succeed.

The 25-year-old Patty Gurdy from Düsseldorf refers to a folk instrument with her stage name, Hurdy Gurdy is a hurdy-gurdy.

Patricia Büchler, as her real name is, combines Celtic folk and pop.

Her song "Melodies Of Hope" is about confidence and solidarity in difficult times.

Trong Hieu Nguyen, or Trong for short, won the sixth season of Vietnam Idol in 2015.

The thirty-year-old, who was born in Bad Kissingen and studied at the Music College in Hanover, has become a star in his parents' home country.

The title of his song is called "Dare To Be Different" and it's about self-confidence and standing by yourself.

Lord Of The Lost comes from Hamburg, the five-piece group around singer Chris Harms has existed since 2009. Their music varies between rock, metal, glam, wave and pop, and they have also been to the Wacken Open Air and are special guests at the Iron Maiden's " Legacy Of The Beast Tour.

Her song "Blood & Glitter" is from her new studio album of the same name, which shot to number one in the album charts at the beginning of January after only six days of advance sales.

Candidate came to sing through Max Mutzke

The sixth candidate comes from Stuttgart.

René Miller, 28 years old, came to sing through Max Mutzke, who came eighth for Germany at the ESC in 2004 with "Can't Wait Until Tonight".

In 2018 he received the German Songwriting Award.

His ESC contribution "Concrete Heart" is a pop anthem with emotional power that tells of a toxic relationship.

22-year-old Anica Russo grew up in a village near Oldenburg in Lower Saxony.

Today the singer lives in Berlin.

Her song "Once Upon A Dream" is a church-inspired dark pop ballad that explores how to keep chasing your dreams despite many setbacks.

Lonely Spring is also a band: It consists of the 25-year-old twin brothers Julian and Simon Fuchs as well as Manuel Schrottenbaum (26) and Matthias Angerer (29).

The quartet from Passau describes their music as "Panic!

at the Disco Stadium Pop” and “2000s Emo Music”.

His debut album Change The Waters has been streamed 1.5 million times on Spotify alone.

At the ESC they want to convince with the pop-punk song "Misfit", which sings about the feeling of being a social outsider.