Stars such as Roland Kaiser, the pop singer Sophia and the musician Michael Patrick Kelly have been awarded Germany’s largest audience award, the Golden Henne. 600 invited guests came to Leipzig for the TV gala on Friday evening.
Originally created to honor artists from East Germany, this year the audience did not honor a single East German celebrity with a golden hen. The jury for the prize, on the other hand, awarded an honorary prize to the band City, which was founded in East Berlin in 1972.
Silbereisen leads through the show
The TV gala was moderated by pop singer Florian Silbereisen, who had already received the award three times. Schlager singer Roland Kaiser was delighted to receive the award in the Entertainment category for his Kaisermania concert series. The West Berlin-born singer was the evening’s only winner to have won the bird-shaped sculpture in the past. In 2014, the 70-year-old was awarded the Golden Hen for his life’s work.
In addition to Kelly and Kaiser, the audience also honored the actress Svenja Jung with a golden hen. Born in Rhineland-Palatinate, she appeared in the film “The Peacock” together with the actors Jürgen Vogel and Tom Schilling this year. She was previously awarded the Bavarian Film Prize, among others.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The jury honored Nana Mouskouri for her life’s work. The singer, born in Greece in 1934, is known for songs such as “White Roses from Athens” or “Good Morning Sunshine”. In the past, Mouskouri, who sings in Greek, French, Spanish, English and German, among other languages, has been awarded several hundred gold records.
However, the audience and jury did not only have music, acting and entertainment in mind when awarding the prizes. Among other things, the women’s track foursome consisting of Lisa Brennauer, Franziska Brauße, Mieke Kröger and Lisa Klein received an award. The work of the emergency services during the forest fires in Saxon Switzerland was also recognized with an honorary award.
In addition to acceptance speeches, the gala program also included performances by many musicians – including the German band Alphaville, founded in 1983, and singer Kelvin Jones. As in the previous year, the award ceremony was held in front of an audience again this year. In 2020, no live viewers were allowed to come to the TV gala due to the corona pandemic.
The prize is awarded jointly by the magazine “Super Illu” and MDR television. The name of the prize is reminiscent of the GDR entertainer Helga “Henne” Hahnemann, who died in 1991.
