Wednesday, August 21, 2013

From the Vault: Guildo Horn

In 1998, Germany sent Guildo Horn and his backing band, Die Orthopädischen Strümphe (translation: The Orthopedic Stockings) to Eurovision. Guildo's song was called "Guildo hat euch lieb!" which means "Guildo Loves You!" in German.


Oh, boy. It's all very, very interesting. The lyrics are sugary-sweet, about how Guildo wants to come to your house and cheer you up when you are sad. But they are being sung by a giant, stomping, wild-eyed man, and that can seem like a disturbing sentiment. Still, Guildo and The Orthopedic Stockings finished in seventh place that year.

Alright, I know you're thinking that I messed up the dates, and this is actually a performance from the 1970s. But it's really 1998. In America, The Backstreet Boys and Destiny's Child were making their way up the music charts. In Germany, Guildo wore velvet bell-bottoms and platform boots and sang about "nut bars and raspberry ice cream." That's just some classic German humor for you.

Guildo, unfortunately, hasn't been back to Eurovision, but the composer of this song, Stefan Raab, has. Raab, a German television host, comedian, and musician, is responsible for several more Eurovision entries. He performed a terrible nonsense-rap in 2000 (Germans are just the goofiest!), and mentored the 2010 winner of Eurovision, Lena Meyer-Landrut.

Guildo marked a turn in German entries at Eurovision. For years leading up to this, Germany didn't put much effort into the Contest. Guildo's erratic, enthusiastic performance in 1998 is credited for bringing German attention back to Eurovision and paving a way for their win in 2010.

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