Germany 2025: Abor and Tynna with ‘Baller’

Abor and Tynna will be hopping across the border to Basel with Germany's first non-english entry since 2007.

Chefsache is not something I engaged with much this year due to the already highly criticised format but this seems one of the better choices that was in there, at least in the final stages. For a man as smart, experienced and with plenty of credit in the bank, Stefan Raab seems to have forgot all about expectation management this year framing 2025 as an all out (one time only?) push for the win. Maybe this was a ploy to try and get the bigger names from Germany interested but ironically the actual entry for this year is far closer to "we'll send something we like, results be damned".

The current live performance of this is very rough and whilst in a way that is endearing and authentic, there are a lot of improvements to be made for May, including on the vocals. If this shows up as is juries in particular will pick it apart.

It's also a song that doesn't offer much new after 20 seconds in which also doesn't help: I like a good build in a competitive song to keep interest and this is just a bit one note. Looking at this also as a producer, it's a good refresher to place next to a big vocal or talking point.

I still expect the televote will be slightly more keen than juries overall, but that has typically not been Germany's strong point traditionally and there is a danger this flies under the radar.

It's hard to find many comparisons for this which I guess is partly why the consensus is pretty wide. Of course the pacing is completely different and this is presented mainly as a solo act but there is a hint of Sebi (Slovenia 2019) to this for me in terms of potential audience, feasibility as a dark horse and I expect ultimate outcome. In a way, this is also Germany's modern answer to Zjerm from Albania this year. On a personal note, this is the sort of thing I typically like and the fact I'm more just OK with it may be a concern.

Personal Rating: 12/20

Staging Potential: 14/20

Televote Potential: 12/20

Jury Potential: 10/20

Track Record: 6/20

Total Rating: 54/100

Early Prediction: 18th-22nd in the