Finally the time has come! After five attempts, hit machine Mark Forster can look forward to his first “The Voice Of Germany” triumph. The baseball fan owes his coaching victory to a petite Westphalian with exceptional singing skills.
Peter Maffay widens his eyes, Rea Garvey swings his hips and Mark Forster grins from ear to ear: Just in time for the finale of the 12th season of “The Voice Of Germany”, the program directors and format directors draw from the full in the background. While the four finalists Anny Ogrezeanu, Tammo Förster, Basti Schmidt and Julian Pförtner walk the international pop path at the opening of the show (“High Hopes”), the studio in Berlin-Adlershof bathes in a sea of ??confetti and colorful balloons.
“This will be the best Friday night of the week here!” promises joker and show companion Thore Schölermann. What follows is the annual celebration of the still somewhat shaky and awkwardly performing sound rough diamonds, which have proven in the past few weeks that they can sometimes achieve great things – if they are allowed to.
One woman and three men fought their way through to the final. They all have a story, an attitude and a voice with them, which together should ensure that at the end of the show it is enough for the title “The Voice Of Germany”. And so the magic square gets into the ring and gets everything out, while the celebrity coaches cheer and bang along on their famous red armchairs. Each candidate is allowed to play twice – once in a duet with the coach and once in a duet with a star guest.
The sound spectrum is broad. The petite Anny and the otherwise jittery Mark Forster put the The Cure classic “Friday, I’m In Love” in a languid piano corset. Silbermond boss Stefanie Kloß and Freddie Mercury double Basti patch up the King of Pop hit “Beat It!” with electric guitars and plenty of steam under the boiler. The shy Tammo grows beyond himself alongside Alphaville grumpy Marian Gold (“Forever Young”). And season beau Julian gallops into the coutry rock sunset (“Achy Breaky Heart”) together with old rocker Peter Maffay.
The finalists are waiting between never-ending waves of applause, longer commercial breaks, pointed blobs from the star guest paint bucket (Conchita Wurst, Nico Santos, Zoe Wees, Callum Scott) and a stirring protest exclamation point from the Iranian revolutionary ambassador Rana Mansour (“Baraye”) and wait for the decisive moment – the moment that will turn the life of the chosen one upside down overnight.
After three long hours full of emotions and musical excellence, one finally raises her arms in the air who has touched people not only with an extraordinary voice but also with a very special story over the past few weeks. In the summer of last year, Anny Ogrezeanu, who comes from Wachtberg, was still knee-deep in the mud of the Ahr Valley disaster. The 21-year-old is still active as a volunteer in her home country. Now she is returning home as the crowned winner of the 12th “The Voice Of Germany” season.
Life will show her some new paths from now on. Doors will open that Anny didn’t even know existed until yesterday. But no matter how many cameras and fans will accompany them in the coming weeks, months and maybe years. Anny will remain Anny – grounded, down-to-earth and always ready to help out in the service of the community. That much is certain. And that’s just as well.
(This article was first published on Saturday, November 05, 2022.)
