The siblings from Vienna won the preliminary round organized by entertainer Stefan Raab on Saturday evening. With their song "Baller," they narrowly beat singer Lyza. This marks the first time since 2007 that Germany will participate in the world's most-watched music competition with a German-language song.

Raab expressed strong confidence in the title "Baller," with which the duo will compete on May 17 in Basel. "If you could still bet on ESC songs in Germany, I would bet all my money that this song will win," he announced confidently.

Viennese Siblings at the Eurovision Song Contest

The siblings - whose real names are Tünde and Attila Bornemisza - come from a musical family in Vienna. Their father, Csaba Bornemisza, is a cellist with the Vienna Philharmonic. Both played classical instruments from an early age. The brother and sister recorded their first joint song in 2016, and in 2024, Abor & Tynna were the support act on Nina Chuba's tour.

However, "Baller" does not sound like Mozart or Beethoven at all, but is a mix of pop, hip-hop, and electronic music. Sister Tynna sings, while brother Abor plays the cello. During their performance at the preliminary round, Tynna smashed the venerable instrument on stage as a gimmick. She revealed that the idea came from Raab.

Sore Throat and Heartache

"I haven't quite understood yet that we've won, and it will take a little while," said the singer. She could only celebrate "in moderation" as she was a bit sick and had a sore throat - which was not noticeable on stage. The song is a breakup song that they wrote in the fall, she said. She had gone through a breakup beforehand.

Originally, another song in English was intended for the ESC. However, in consultation with Raab, "Baller" was chosen.

It is now the ESC title and is mostly in German, which hasn't happened for quite some time. In 2007, Roger Cicero sang "Frauen regier'n die Welt" for Germany at the ESC in Helsinki. Host Barbara Schöneberger speculated that "Baller" has international appeal - "because no one really understands what it's about."

In the preliminary round, the song, which sounds very much like the young Generation Z, was nevertheless the "most modern song here in the competition," as chief juror Raab put it. He also commented on singer Tynna - in his own way - positively. "You're not a classic singer-singer," he said about the 24-year-old's unique style. His comparison was: "Somehow you're like the young female Udo Lindenberg." Raab meant this as a compliment. "Your A-sounds often sound like O-sounds."

Abor & Tynna emerged victorious at the end of a long evening in Hürth near Cologne, where initially nine contestants had started. The jury, led by Raab, narrowed the field down to five candidates - and eliminated, among others, the medieval rock band Feuerschwanz, which has many loyal fans and apparently fascinated not only them. This made it seem clear that it could come down to Abor & Tynna. They were considered co-favorites.

In the End, It Was Very Close

In the final round, the audience was allowed to vote. And it was close: With just over a third of the votes, the sibling duo was narrowly ahead of the Berlin singer LYZA, who has 1.5 million TikTok followers.

Raab did not spend much time on the post-discussion. They would now quickly sit down with all involved and consider what possibilities there might be for staging on the ESC stage. The final takes place on May 17 in Switzerland.

The 58-year-old entertainer has been surrounded by the aura of an ESC guru at least since the victory of Lena Meyer-Landrut with the song "Satellite" under his aegis in 2010. After a long break, he is now involved in the selection process again - and is using the full force of his name. The preliminary decision bore the self-confident title "Top Priority ESC 2025". ARD and Raab's new home broadcaster RTL cooperated for this. Around 3,300 applicants responded to the "Raabinator's" call to come under his ESC wing.

Germany's ESC pain has indeed grown in the years without Raab. Since 2015, there have been last or second-to-last places. The only bright spots were Michael Schulte (2018, 4th place) and last year's singer Isaak (12th place).

His ambition is to win the ESC, Raab said on Sunday night. "If you don't want to win, you don't need to go," he said, sitting between Abor & Tynna in a suit and tie.

The siblings revealed that they had never been to Switzerland. When asked what they wanted to see there, Abor replied after some thought: "The particle accelerator." The German ESC entry is certainly original this year.

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(APA/Red)

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