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Lena fatigue dampens interest in Eurovision

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Lena fatigue dampens interest in Eurovision
Twins John and Edward Grimes of Irish entry Jedward. Photo: DPA

Television networks ARD and ProSieben are struggling to drum up interest for the early rounds of the Eurovision Song Contest, with apparent “Lena fatigue” affecting the lead-up to the Saturday’s final in Düsseldorf.

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The first semi-final, shown during prime time on Tuesday night, suffered poor ratings, news magazine Der Spiegel reported. Just 2.05 million viewers tuned in to the broadcast, which was marred by sound problems.

Among the key 14 to 49-year-old group, the number was 1.41 million, which is just 12.7 percent of the target audience.

This continues the already poor standard set by the programme Die Show für Deutschland, which has been showing each evening this week on ARD with hosts such as Frank Elstner and Matthias Opdenhövel struggling to warm up the television audience from the ARD lounge at the Düsseldorfer Arena.

Just 780,000 people watched on Wednesday, which is 3.9 percent of the audience for that timeslot starting at 6.50 pm. In the 14 to 49-year-old group, just 3.4 percent of viewers tuned in.

ARD spokesman Bernhard Möllmann admitted to Der Spiegel, “The figure is certainly below average.”

While the final may be popular, the sideshows and lead-up simply don’t appear to hold the attention of younger audiences. The gruelling preparations, including the lengthy programme to choose the song to be sung by German defending champion Lena Meyer-Landrut may have led to some Eurovision, or even Lena fatigue, Der Spiegel reported.

Equally bad is the lack of interest among the target audience for the ProSieben network. Only 890,000 viewers watched Wednesday’s “Eurovision Total,” featuring Raab-sidekick Opdenhövel.

After triumphing last year in Oslo with the song “Satellite”, which became a hit in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, Lena will defend her title with the new song, “Taken by a Stranger.”

However most predictions are that she will struggle to keep her crown. A recent tour through Germany generated less-than-optimal ticket sales.

The Local/djw

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