“We’ve killed millions / but never kill it / We don’t do dancers / we do Panzers” sings Böhmermann in the 80s synth pop track.
The final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place in Liverpool on May 13, and this year the Hamburg dark rock band Lord of the Lost will represent Germany. The hope: finally get more than zero points. The record for the past seven years is sad – Germany came second to last three times and last three times. On the occasion of the upcoming ESC and in view of the earlier defeats, Jan Böhmermann has now published his own unofficial song contribution to the event: “Allemagne Zero Points”.
The 80s synth-pop track not only parodies Germany’s regular ESC downs, but also the country’s criminal history and social events. For example, Böhmermann sings in English: “We’ve killed millions / but never kill it / We don’t do dancers / we do Panzers”. The refrain then says: “Allemagne Zero Points (Three Words So Tender) / Germany Zero Points (Unconditional Surrender)”.
In the accompanying video, Böhmermann mimics former The Smiths singer and solo artist Morrissey, appearing with a quiff and bouquet of flowers, just like Morrissey’s performances from the 1980s. In other sequences, the satirist, wearing a white suit and bow tie, dances alongside several dancers painted with flags of different European countries.
Jan Böhmermann with “Germany Zero Points”:
Böhmermann announced the piece on Instagram on May 8th. He wrote: “Together with an international team of songwriters from five European countries, I have made the FIRST SUSTAINABLE official German entry to the European song competition in the past seven months #eurovision2023 create.” He added, “I was inspired by my two musical guard rails, the singer/songwriter @ollipolli73 and the 2017 in a horrific interview accident with the @mirrormagazine dead British singer Morrissey.”