On Saturday evening the biggest hit party of the year took place in Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle. Moderator Florian Silbereisen (42) had the motto “Everything sparkles! Everything glitters!” invited to his show “Schlagerbooom 2023” on Erste. And of course the absolute greats of the genre followed his call. Among other things, Andrea Berg (57) presented her new album, which was also released on October 20th. Howard Carpendale (77) also presented his new work “Let’s do it again” there. But one performance outshined all others that evening: The singer Michelle (51) announced shortly beforehand that she would say goodbye to her fans with a final album next year and end her career.
On the Silbereisen show she performed her farewell song “That’s it for me” and explained her decision in a conversation with the moderator, who couldn’t hide his emotion: “Everyone here is a bit speechless. What an emotional song. You can’t do it really believe it when you suddenly sing it.” Michelle then explains that there have been ups and downs in her life. She is now at a point where she wants to close this door so that she can open a new one.
Another highlight of the evening was an emotional medley by Thomas Anders (60) together with Florian Silbereisen. The two created a musical memorial to Roger Whittaker (1936-2023), who died on September 13th, with his greatest hits. “His music makes him immortal. Dear Roger, we will never forget you,” said Silbereisen at what was possibly the emotional highlight of the evening. Silbereisen and Anders sang hits such as “A little Aroma”, “Albany” and “Eloise”, among others. After the performance, Silbereisen sent a greeting to his late colleague: “I hope you listened up there and sang along with us a bit!”
Other guests at “Schlagerbooom 2023” included DJ Ötzi, Joelina Drews, Lucas Cordalis, Kerstin Ott, Ross Antony, Mickie Krause, Daniel Munoz, Ben Zucker, Beatrice Egli and Maite Kelly, Anastacia and Eloy de Jong. A total of 4.61 million viewers tuned in to Erste on Saturday evening. In the ratings duel, Florian Silbereisen only had to admit defeat to the ZDF crime series “Helen Dorn” with 5.08 million viewers.
