How Kerstin Ott made it into the intact, white & heterosexual hit world

The older ones will remember: In the golden days of commercial television, successful television formats were parodied in the show “Switch” in a cheerful to malicious way. The comedian Michael Kessler reliably delivered the best performance, who, as aggressively cheerful pop show czar Florian Silbereisen, spurred on his geriatric audience: “Dear ones! We’re in a good mood today because all the Indians and blacks have to stay out – heeeeeey!” Well, in the original sketch Kessler uses the N-word, which for the best of reasons wouldn’t make it through the editors today. But aside from that unnecessary term, the parody remains tremendously funny. After all, it has long been the case that even the toughest club door is easier to conquer than the gate to the overly healthy, white and heterosexual hit world.

A look that is more likely to be expected in queer bars than at folk music festivals

So it makes some sense that openly lesbian singer Kerstin Ott, who’s currently #3 on the charts with her confidently titled BEST OTT album, is something of a DIY pop star. According to legend, the former painter and varnisher wrote her first success, the song “Die immer lacht”, at the kitchen table. She gave the song to friends on self-burned CDs. The whole thing ended up (without Ott’s doing) first on YouTube, then on the table of the Erzgebirge party duo Stereoact – and soon after that Ott as a hit hit on the major label Universal.

This is remarkable in that the 40-year-old Berliner differs from most of her pop colleagues in appearance: short hair, lavishly tattooed arms. A look that is more likely to be expected in queer bars than at folk music festivals – and which Ott also defends quite offensively in her songs: In “Girl”, her beautifully written answer to “Boy” from the doctors, she sings about the perspective of the concerned parents a young woman who may not behave in a gender-conforming way. Ott’s message is that nobody should stay outside in the Li-La moody world of hits. But whether you actually want to go into this party tent is another question.

This column first appeared in the Musikexpress issue 03/2023.

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