Eurovision 2021 Germany profile: 'I Don't Feel Hate' by Jendrik

Germany in Eurovision

Germany holds the record for involvement with the Eurovision Song Contest, having competed in 63 Contests since debuting at the inaugural edition in 1956 (missing out in 1996 by failing to make it through a pre-qualifying round).

Germany's two wins to date came 28 years apart: first thanks to Nicole's gentle ballad 'Ein bißchen Frieden' in 1982 and then courtesy of Lena's peppy 'Satellite' in 2010. In addition, the country has also achieved a further nine top 3 positions, although its more recent success has been bitter-sweet with its impressive 4th place in 2018 sandwiched between two 25th placings in 2017 and 2019.

2021 Entry: Jendrik - 'I Don't Feel Hate'

• Jendrik qualifies directly for the Grand Final as the representative of a "Big Five" country

• My Eurovision Scoreboard fan ranking: 30th out of 39 entries

• Odds to win ranking: 30th out of 39 entries

(rankings as of 28 April 2021)

About the artist

26-year-old Jendrik Sigwart, who performs as 'Jendrik', is a Hamburg-born triple threat - he sings, he dances and he plays, amongst other instruments, his rhinestone-encrusted ukulele. His background is the world of musical theatre, having studied the subject at university and performed in German productions of popular shows such as My Fair Lady and Hairspray.

Jendrik has for months been charting his Eurovision journey via a series of videos shared on Instagram and TikTok focussing on the production of his music video (set in a launderette and starring Mittelfinger... sorry, the "peace sign" - see below) as well as the artist and song selection process.

That process saw the involvement of two juries, one consisting of 20 music professionals from around the world and the other made up of 100 German Eurovision fans who came closest to predicting the results of the 2019 Contest.

Once those juries had voted on the music videos submitted, the successful acts were invited to a song writing camp, after which over 300 songs were in the running. The juries then narrowed down the potentials to 15 songs, before a live performance saw Jendrik chosen as the next artist to carry German hopes of a Eurovision win.

About the song

'I Don't Feel Hate' is an upbeat earworm of a song with a poignant message: its chipper, exuberant and energetic tone - a clear reflection of its co-writer and performer, a self-confessed "optimist in training" - belies a positive but more thoughtful message, namely that haters should be pitied and not hated in return.

Complete with the aforementioned ukulele, a dancing brass/horn section, cheery whistling, electro drops and a "tap break", the song also embodies Jendrik's much-publicised motto: Wenn schon, denn schon (All or Nothing)

Aussievision podcast - Germany episode

Check out the Aussievision podcast review and rank episode including comments from the team. Listen via:

Apple

Spotify

Podcast addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/1958380