26July
Die Gerd Show
was the brainchild of Elmar Brandt, and was a daily satire sketch broadcast on WDR's Eins Live programme from 1999 until 2005. Herr Brandt led a small crew who would pretend to be Bundeschancellor Herr Schröder, and various other political and celebrity figures.
One of the most popular segments was the team's re-working of current pop songs into satires. Nothing new to us Brits, of course – witness Philip Pope's Pops from Radio Active
and Spitting Image
. Some of these songs came out as singles, led by FKK (Everybody's free to wear gar nichts)
(FKK (Jeder frei zum zu tragen nothing at all)), a number 20 hit in late 1999. The show's biggest release was Der Steuersong
(The tax song), the Christmas number one for 2002, ripping off Asereje
.
Four years before Las Ketchup made it to Eurovision, Die Gerd Show made it to the German national final. Alles wird gut
(Everything will be good) came last in the final three, and Lou's Let's get happy
went on to Riga, where she finished fifteen positions ahead of the UK entry.
Die Gerd Show ended after the national elections of 2005, when Herr Schröder was replaced by Frau Merkel. Their final top 20 hit, from April 2005, was a re-versioning of Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil
, under the title Schri-schrai-Schrödi
(Schri-schrai-Schrödi).
