Finalist: Germany

Nothing livens up a national final quite like a good old scandal does and Germany provided one of the bigger ones of recent times. German tv had to reject winners in the past - Tony Marshall and Corinna May both had to go - but never before had a winner rejected himself on live television.

If you can't have a happy ending, then an expected one will do nicely too. Just a shame that these events made many people unable to see what a catchy little song the Germans were left with once the original winner was gone.

I was perfectly pleased with the selection but there are clouds on this sky. Ann Sophie isn't highly experienced with performing in front of tv cameras and you can tell. She doesn't really know where to look and how to move in order to make herself look appealing on-screen.

That's fixable with a fair share of coaching. Later performances suggest this could have been taken care of. Unfortunately her voice tends to go a bit sharp and screechy here and there. Is that fixable too?

A potential winner?
I really don't think it is. A good radio song that could hopefully pick up some good points from here and there, but a top ten showing would be a good outcome for this one.

My grade: 3/5



Ann Sophie - Black Smoke (Germany 2015)