A shock has gone through Germany tonight. German television station ProSieben announced that former Eurovision entrant and host Stefan Raab will end his television career at the end of this year. And that despite being offered a new contract….
No one quite knows why the icon of ProSieben decided to end his television career, so is there drama on the horizon…? Not according to Raab himself:
ProSieben offered me a new contract for multiple years and I was very honoured by that. Despite the offer, I thought about it a lot and I am sure of my decision. I thank my broadcaster ProSieben, who allowed me to work on all my ideas in the past few years. We end this cooperation in the best way possible.
Raab’s television career lasted sixteen years, although the die-hard Eurovision fans will have known him longer than that. Back in 1998, Raab debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest as the conductor of Guildo Horn’s Eurovision entry: Guildo Hat Euch Lieb. Two years later, he took the stage himself with the iconic novelty entry called Wadde Hadde Dudde Da. He wasn’t done with Eurovision then, though. After a few years of disagreeing with the selection process in Germany, Raab opened up a contest to launch a competitor for the national final in 2004. His process ended up being won by Max Mutzke. Mutzke got selected by the broadcaster and eventually convincingly won the national final: more success for Raab. When Germany’s dark age had finished (bad results, internal selections and odd choices of staging – hi Dita von Teese), Raab stepped in: A new casting format had to be formed for 2010. And we all know how that ended… So Raab stayed and brought Lena back to Eurovision. To sum his participating Eurovision career up: one victory, a fifth, sixth, eighth and a tenth place. Quite the record, we’d say!
Let’s however not forget Raab also hosted Eurovision. As the big man behind the Eurovision Song Contest in Germany, Raab took the stage in 2011, together with Anke Engelke and Judith Rakers. Ladies and gentlemen, this man has done it all in the Eurovision world!
Raab will end his television career at the end of this year with his show TV Total, but will also be active during other events, such as the Bundesvision Song Contest 2015. Some will miss him on television, some will say it’s a blessing. But as the Eurovision community, we should say: Stefan Raab, we salute you.
