Germany’s Lena Wins Eurovision

Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut has won the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, edging out Turkey and Romania.

Meyer-Landrut, who turned 19 during the competition in Norway, sang the upbeat, dance-floor friendly “Satellite,” which was one of the favorites to win.

This is the second time that Germany has won in the songfest’s 55-year history. It will host next year’s contest.

This year’s competition was overshadowed by the continent’s financial woes, with four countries pulling out for lack of funds.

The contest is decided by a panel of judges and telephone voting by the 39 participating countries.

Eurovision 2010 Update: Will The Competition Become A Battle Between Two Teen Pop Queens

Will Eurovision 2010 be a battle between two teen pop queens: Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut and Azerbaijan’s Safura Alizade.

When London-based betting agency Boylesports released the first set of betting odds in late March, Safura, the 17-year old winner of Azerbaijani Idol, was the odds-on favorite at 7:2. Germany was listed fourth highest at 14:1. In subsequent weeks, however, Lena has narrowed that gap significantly and the two now stand in a virtual deadlock atop the table.

Voters will have to decide whether they prefer Lena’s quirkiness or Safura’s theatrics. On stage, Lena comes off as likable, if a bit kooky. She can’t dance, but doesn’t seem to care, and her natural awkwardness transforms into something endearing. You get the sense she wants to be a singer, not a pop star. As in her preview video, she’ll likely appear on stage in Oslo alone, sparing us the bare-chested backup dancers and trapeze swings Eurovision fans have grown accustomed to.

Doner Kebab Becomes Germany’s Favorite Fast Food

Forget about bratwurst, currywurst and other kinds of sausages — doner kebab, or shawarma, has overtaken traditional German fast food as the country’s favorite snack on the go.

First brought to Berlin by Turkish immigrants in the 1970s, the grilled meat snack that comes wrapped in a pita bread with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions and different dressings, is now being sold everywhere in Germany from the Baltic Sea to the Bavarian Alps.

Students and late night revelers relish it as much as construction workers, children and foreign backpackers on a tight budget.

“We assume that doner kebab is the Germans’ favorite fast food by now,” said Yunus Ulusoy, an expert from the Center for the Study of Turkey in Essen, who has done extensive research on how the ethnic specialty conquered Germany’s culinary mainstream.

The secret behind the doner’s success story is not only its satisfying grilled taste, Ulusoy said, but also the big portions and its affordability — a regular doner in a pita costs only between (EURO)2.50 and (EURO)5 ($3.30 to $6.70).

Today’s Top Eurotastic Song By Wind

Laß die Sonne in dein Herz (English translation: “Let The Sun Into Your Heart”) was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987, performed in German by Wind.

This was Wind’s second Eurovision entry; they had represented Germany at the 1985 Contest with Für alle, finishing in 3rd position.

At the close of voting, Laß die Sonne in dein Herz had received 141 points, placing 2nd in a field of 22.

Written and composed by Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger, the song owes a considerable debt to reggae music stylistically and is an exhortation to “let the sunshine into your heart” as a means of avoiding sad thoughts. Wind also recorded the song in English with that title; “Let the Sunshine in Your Heart”.

The performance is notable for including Robert Pilatus as a backing singer, later to achieve fame/infamy in connection with the band Milli Vanilli.

One Very Unhappy Romantic

A German woman, fearful that a burglar was trying to break into her second storey apartment, called police after she heard someone climbing up to her balcony shortly after midnight.

Police discovered the “burglar” was a man carrying flowers and a bottle of wine who turned out to be the woman’s boyfriend, but then arrested him on an outstanding warrant.

“He was trying to surprise her with the flowers and a bottle of wine but it all went wrong,” said Korbach police spokesman Volker Koenig. He said the man jumped down from the balcony and tried to escape but was quickly tackled by police.

“He nevertheless gave the police who were taking him to jail the bottle of wine as a gesture of thanks for the friendly treatment after the arrest,” Koenig said.

Eurovision 2010 Update: Lena Meyer-Landrut Gets German Ticket To Oslo

It’s official: Hanover schoolgirl Lena Meyer-Landrut will represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest this year, after winning national television casting show Our Star for Oslo.

Come April, 18-year-old Lena Meyer-Landrut will be busily studying for her high school finals alongside most of her peers. But just a few weeks later, the Hanover teenager will have an altogether different challenge to prepare for: singing for her country at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo.

“I’m shaking all over. I didn’t think it would hit me like this. This is really bad, it’s awesome,” said a teary Meyer-Landrut after the results of the telephone vote were announced.

Police Nab Man Snorting Drugs On Their Car

German police detained a nightclub reveller they caught trying to snort amphetamines off the top of their unmarked patrol car.

The 26-year-old began lining up the powdered drugs on the roof of the car in a disco car park, when the two police officers surprised him, a Nuremberg police spokesman said on Tuesday.

The man had no idea the normal looking vehicle belonged to the police, and it was coincidence that the officers — who were walking by their parked car — discovered him just as he was about to take the drugs.

“He’s got horrible luck,” said Bert Rauenbusch, police spokesman in the southern German city.

Canada Remains Americans’ Favorite Country

With all due respect to Washington’s special relationship and shared values with Israel, Americans much prefer their neighbor to the north.

According to a new Gallup poll released over the weekend, Israel ranks fifth among the countries viewed most favorably by Americans, behind Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Japan.

A paltry 10 percent of Americans said they had a favorable view of Iran, which came in last place among a list of 20 nations. The survey was conducted among a random sampling of 1,025 respondents.

Americans’ perception of the Palestinian Authority has vacillated over the course of the last decade. In 2005, 27 percent of Americans held a favorable view, but that number dropped to 11 percent following Hamas’ election victory in 2006.

In 2009, the PA’s favorable rating recovered to 15 percent, and this year it increased further, to 20 percent. However, 70 percent of Americans still said they held an unfavorable view of the PA.

With regard to the foreign countries most often mentioned in the news, American public opinion did not significantly change with the Obama administration’s assumption of power.

10,000 Spectators At Naked Tobogganing Race

A naked tobogganing race attracted around 10,000 people to an eastern German town in the Harz mountains.

Car parks were overflowing ahead of the popular event in the town of Braunlage, one spokesman said, while police confirmed that roughly 10,000 spectators had gathered to watch the event.

Around 30 scantily clad male and female teams had registered to compete on the 100-metre-long track.

Earlier this month, a row erupted in another winter resort, in eastern Germany, over plans to hold a topless tobogganing event.

Man Torches His Car Battling Frost

A 76-year-old German man trying to thaw out his car incinerated it instead when he decided to speed things up by putting a blow heater under the hood.

“He burned the vehicle out completely,” said a spokesman for police in the western city of Hildesheim. Police said the man left the heater on next to the frozen windshield washer tank and returned indoors. Shortly afterwards he heard two explosions and returned to find the car ablaze.

He alerted fire services, who arrived in time to prevent the flames from destroying his house. Including charring of the building, total damages were estimated at 40,000 euros ($56,240).