DW: The final of the Eurovision Song Contest is only a few days away. How do you feel?

Jendrik Sigwart: I'm really looking forward to it! I can't wait; it's THE dream to be here! So let's do this!

Do you feel like a star, a superstar or a megastar now?

None of the three! I'm still me. After the Eurovision Song Contest you don't become a star. You have to win first — which is very unlikely — and then go on to do more than the song contest!

You once said you were a "no-name" that was suddenly pulled to the top. Are you too humble?

No, I'm just being realistic.

So no starry attitudes?

No no! Or yes, sometimes I'm a diva. But everyone is sometimes. But that has nothing to do with starry attitudes, because I'm not a star.

Do you have a special ritual before a performance?

No, my ritual is not to have a ritual. I just talk to my friends. The more I concentrate on the performance, the more excited I get, just standing there and waiting. My ritual is to distract myself, to talk to friends on the phone to be somewhere else. That's a pretty bad ritual I think. (laughs)

Performing here at the Eurovision Song Contest was actually not your plan at all. Was it more of a coincidence?

It was my plan, but I'm not sure that NDR [Norddeutsche Rundfunk, the German public broadcaster which selects the participants] had planned with me. I wanted to apply, but it was impossible. So I posted videos online on how to make a music video to use in the song contest. I produced these videos myself in Hamburg. It was only because of these videos that I received a message on Instagram at some point. Someone wrote to let me know that if I sent him the song, I could perhaps register for the competition with NDR. So thanks to my Instagram and TikTok videos, it became possible after all.

What is the message of your song and video "I don't feel hate"?

I wanted to spread the message that you shouldn't fight hate with hate. If someone provokes you or doesn't respect you, don't do the same. Don't stoop down to their level. Be better than that. If it's about something superficial, like, "I don't like your hair," then just ignore it or say, "I like it that way. I don't care." If it's real hate, like homophobia, sexism, or religious hatred or something, then don't hate back. If someone calls me a fag, I don't call them a Nazi. I would try to talk to them and say something like, "What you're saying hurts me and is not right. But I'll try not to do the same to you."

Do you think hatred is increasing?

Possibly. Online for sure. Many people have psychological problems because of COVID and cannot really deal with them. They harbor a lot of dark feelings and then dump that on other people. There is more hatred on the internet, yes.

Who is your favorite at the Eurovision Song Contest here in Rotterdam?

I don't want to talk about a favorite song. That would be unfair. And it would be mean to say to one act, "You're my favorite" and to the other, "You're not." I need to get to know them all better because we can't really meet. You can only say "hello" for a short time because of the strict coronavirus rules. So I'm not at all sure who my favorite is.

How does it feel to be taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest in this context, compared to what you heard it was like before the pandemic?

It's fun! But I can't wait to come back next year, maybe as an undercover journalist. I could just pretend to be part of the press and experience what it would normally be without the coronavirus.

Jendrik Sigwart (26), German participant in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, has studied musicals at the Institute for Music, Osnabrück University, and appeared in My fair Lady, Hairspray and Peter Pan. When everything closed because of the pandemic, he came up with the idea of composing a song on the ukulele, hoping to be selected for the contest.

 

Interview translated from German