Eurovision Top 100 list gold-tier member Katja Ebstein is back with her third and best song, “Theater” from 1980.
One of Germany’s best Eurovision acts ever, in The Euro Yard’s opinion, Ebstein appeared at the contest three times. All three of her songs are on this list, and “Theater” is the highest in rank at number 52. We could go back into all of the reasons we like her and her other songs, but that’s why we linked those articles, right?
1980 was an important and interesting year for Eurovision. After all, it was the debut of one Johnny Logan from the Republic of Ireland. Sadly, it was also the last for Ebstein, who made her mark on both the contest and The Euro Yard. She was one of the best to never win Eurovision.
Vital Information: “Theater”
| Song | Theater |
| Performed By | Katja Ebstein |
| Written By | Ralph Siegel & Bernd Meinunger |
| Country | Germany |
| Year | 1980 |
| Language(s) Performed In | German |
| How It Fared | 2nd Place (128 Points) |
| Was It Fair? | Yes |
What I Liked
For starters, the piano player had little performing clowns on his hands. How can anybody not like it? This song quickly got to where it needed to go: Giving an old-timey circus vibe, unlike just about anything we had seen in the contest to that point. This song had more of a fun and light vibe than her songs in 1970 and 1971, at least in terms of the tempo and tone. As you will see in a moment, the lyrics were actually dark at times. I love a good contrast.
Katja, joined by clowns on stage, did not just rely on the visuals for her performance (though they did not hurt). As we noted in both of her two other prior songs, she’s a hell of a good singer. Ebstein could have carried this by herself but the fact that she had a couple things going for her on stage made it even better.
The lyrics, sourced from Eurovision World, makes it clear that this number is about said clowns and the life of a performer. The visualization was not always favorable. Her songs tend to paint vivid imagery, and this one did as well; for example, it describes the pitfalls of being in theater as “hated and loved, heaven and hell at the same time.” (Eurovision 1980 Germany: Katja Ebstein – “Theater,” n.d.) This song was West Germany’s “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” way before Taylor Swift did it in America.
Other Facts
- Ebstein made her Eurovision “return” of sorts in 2023 as she participated in Germany’s jury for the first time. That jury gave douze points to Loreen’s “Tattoo.” (By the way, her real name is Karin Überall, née Witkiewicz.) (European Broadcasting Union, 2023)
- The song’s composer, Ralph Siegel, was also one of the beclowned backing singers. I could not tell you which one.
- Katja performed 12th in the running order in 1980 and received douze points from Italy, The Netherlands, and Spain.
Go with Katja to the “Theater” on YouTube
References
- European Broadcasting Union. (2023, May 13). Liverpool 2023: Jurors. Eurovision Song Contest. https://eurovision.tv/event/liverpool-2023/grand-final/jury
- Eurovision 1980 Germany: Katja Ebstein – “Theater.” (n.d.). Eurovisionworld. https://eurovisionworld.com/eurovision/1980/germany
