Archiv für den Tag 22. Februar 2010

The Berlinale Bears and Berlin’s Parties

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Golden Bear for Semih Kaplanoglu

After ten days of original films, special events and high society, the sixtieth film festival Berlinale came to a closing this weekend.

Saturday evening’s award-ceremony highlighted the best films in the Berlinale-competition with an Oscar-like distribution of “Golden and Silver Bears“. The international judging panel, with eminent names like Renée Zellweger and others, awarded the Turkish-German production “Bal“ (“Honey“), by Semih Kaplanoglu, with the Golden Bear for Best Film. “Bal“ is the final part of a trilogy and tells the story of an enchanting relationship between a father and his young son through the eyes of the six-year old boy. The director chose to employ the rich sounds of nature rather than bland music in his film, which gave the film a very personal touch and a “real feel“.

The personal touch was intensified on Sunday at the “Berlinale-Panorama“, an award for the best film elected by the audience. Over the ten-day course of the Berlinale, there were public voting booths, both online and at the participating cinemas. This year, the audience awarded the Brazilian/English film “Waste Land“ with the Panorama-prize.

Unfortunately, the Berlinale as a whole was not highly rewarded. There were many disappointing occasions: From the opening with a rather unspectacular film that didn’t draw any celebrities to the red carpet, to a similar situation with the anticipated closing premier of “Nine“. The Berlinale did not manage to attract even one star from this grand Hollywood-production. No Pénelope Cruz, no Judi Dench, no Nicole Kidman, not even the director Rob Marshall appeared to his own premier. What a slap in the face for reputation of the Berlinale…

But like I said in an earlier blog, it’s not all about the stars! Berlin was a wonderful host to many visitors who came to enjoy the Berlinale and its special events. Especially the parties proved themselves as successful. Two parties were in my main focus during the Berlinale; one of them was the celebration of the German film “Die Fremde“ (“The Stranger“) at the Cookies. The Cookies is a renowned club on Friedrichstraße, which is probably the most expensive shopping avenue in Berlin. Famous for its Berlinale-parties, the Cookies is known for an exceptional collaboration of DJ’s. And I must admit, this party really did knock me off my feet. With one room solely dedicated to the deepest house and electro music, while the other room exclusively played the finest hip-hop tunes, I couldn’t believe that this was one and the same party. Also, the diversity amongst the guests was a very pleasant surprise. I guess it is this diversity which creates the perfect symbiosis for a perfect party. Unluckily, the club was too full too soon. In spite of that, I had a lot of fun at the Cookies.

Then there was another celebration that exceeded everyone’s expectations: “Lieblingstag“ (“Favorite Day“) is a weekly party at the glorious Puro, and is located on the 20th story of a sky-scraper on the “Ku’damm“, which is probably the most popular shopping avenue in Berlin. The loft-like location offers a rare 360° view of Berlin – what could be better than partying over the roof tops of Berlin?!

During the Berlinale, the Lieblingstag-party was THE talk of town. Even some people at the Berlinale Talent Campus asked me if I had heard of the so-called Lieblingstag. Hundreds of people were queuing till late into the night, one guest even told me she waited for one hour before she could hit the dance floor, and still it was worth waiting for. This legendary celebration mixes the best of 70ies and 80ies with hip hop and house. No wonder no one wanted to miss out. Lieblingstag is Berlin’s best party.

That was it for the Berlinale, I hope you enjoyed my blog. If you decide to visit Berlin, please don’t hesitate to contact me at Young Germany or on Twitter, it would be my pleasure to give you some tips for Berlin.
Thank you for following my blog!

by Yolanda Rother

Party impressions from the Berlinale – watch the short video:
http://blog.young-germany.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/video-short.flv.

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One thing Neuner and Riesch don’t know about: Relegation

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“Hau den Ball ins Tor hinein!” – Bundesliga blog for the 23rd day of play

There’s one thing my coach never tired of saying to me: “Hau den Ball ins Tor hinein!” – best translated with: “Just slam it into the back of the net!” Of course, every country has got its stock footie-phrases – football isn’t a complicated game, after all. One of the classics in every language is: “Either we win today, or we get relegated”. Every professional footballer has heard that one at least once in his career; either that, or he has always played and will always play for a team that always wins the league cup – but there aren’t many players with that kind of luck. That makes the danger of dropping down a division a permanent – and exciting – part of professional football; the fear of losing is always audible in the background, like the moody music in a good thriller film. In a way, the fights at the bottom end of the league table are just as fascinating at the duels at the top.

This isn’t the case in other sports: just take a look at the current Winter Olympics, where Germany is experiencing quite some success, what with Magdalena Neuner winning the biathlon and Maria Riesch speeding down the mountain to victory. Then again, woe betide the “winner” of a silver medal: in these kinds of sports, “silver” rhymes with “loser” – and by the time the commentators get to the last places, there’s nobody left watching: unless there’s some exotic African cross-country skier who heroically makes it over the line three hours after the winner, of course. But you take my point: bronze for Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy in the pairs’ figure skating? It’s not gold, is it? So they lost. These kinds of sports don’t focus on losers; there are no divisions to drop down.

The same can be said of American sports: American football, basketball, baseball, ice-hockey – the only interesting games are the playoffs or the finals, the only interesting teams are the winning teams. American sports have taken this method of organising leagues abroad with them, with the German ice-hockey league (DEL) working without a relegation system: teams in the divisions under the premier league simply have to wait until one of the teams in it withdraws or goes bankrupt. Now, although I like and understand the rules of these sports (and who can say that of a two-point conversion?), I have to admit that I need the adrenalin of relegation! I want to know which loser is the best of the losers! I want to see fans hugging each other and shedding tears because their team has, with one single solitary goal, kept up a better goal difference and can stay in the top league! And I want (this is the icing on the cake) the play-off between the third-to-last of the first league and the third-to-last of the second league: this is nothing less than an epic battle of life and death!


This weekend, another chapter in the relegation-thriller was written as SC Freiburg played against Hertha BSC Berlin: in this match, Germany’s weakest home side was pitched against Germany’s weakest away team, and Freiburg fought so poorly than Hertha was able to considerably improve its disastrous away record this season, winning with a clear 3:0. This puts Berlin only two points behind what they need to get out of the relegation zone; in the meantime, Freiburg will be kicking themselves for not having got their hands on a reliable striker during the winter pause. After all, just five goals spread over eleven home games is a very, very poor performance: so poor that it can only really lead to relegation.

Meanwhile,1. FC Nürnberg and Bayern München fought a rather special duel against one another: Nürnberg is threatened with relegation and Munich was playing to take the league title. Furthermore, this is a meeting of historical proportions, with the Franconia region around Nürnberg looking to teach its old enemy Bavaria a good lesson. Nevertheless, no-one would have expected this generally weaker side to be able to hold up the Colossus of Munich – but they did, putting an end to an unbroken series of nine wins on the side of Bayern München. With this surprising victory, Franconians are now hoping that there might still be time to avoid the eighth relegation from the Bundesliga in the club’s history.

Before this defeat, the expectation was that Bayern München would steal the top spot in the league table from Bayer Leverkusen. The team from the Rhine, however, have a tight grip on first place and aren’t letting go: they drew 2:2 in Bremen and stay where they are. Nevertheless, Leverkusen were on a course to victory and Mertesacker’s goal for Bremen in extra time robbed them of the points they really should have won. Leverkusen should be disappointed – and that’s not something I would have expected to be saying at the beginning of the season.

In another surprise, the return of Schalke 04 coach Felix Magath to his former field of victory at Wolfsburg ended in a disappointing 1:2 defeat to the “Wolves” of this city in Lower Saxony, with Grafite hitting form again and helping to lengthen the distance between Schalke and the top of the table to four points.

The best player on this, the 23rd day of play this season, was Cacau from VfB Stuttgart: he scored four of Stuttgart’s five goals in their demolition of Köln. That’s good news for Germany as a whole, since this striker is in the national side for the World Cup this summer and will be sure to “slam it into the back of the net!” with no questions asked.

(Stefan Reichart/Brian Melican)

Results Matchday 23:

1899 Hoffenheim   -  Borussia Mönchengladbach  2:2
1. FC Nürnberg   -  Bayern München  1:1 
1. FC Köln   -  VfB Stuttgart  1:5 
Borussia Dortmund   -  Hannover 96  4:1 
Hamburger SV   -  Eintracht Frankfurt  0:0  
1. FSV Mainz 05   -  VfL Bochum  0:0
SC Freiburg   -  Hertha BSC Berlin 0:3 
VfL Wolfsburg   -  FC Schalke 04  2:1  
Werder Bremen   -  Bayer Leverkusen  2:2 

Table

1   Bayer Leverkusen    49 P
2   Bayern München    49 P
3   FC Schalke 04      45 P
4   Hamburger SV      40 P
5   Borussia Dortmund     39 P
6   Werder Bremen  35 P
7   Eintracht Frankfurt     35 P
8   1. FSV Mainz 05  32 P
9   VfB Stuttgart      31 P
10   1899 Hoffenheim      29 P
11   Borussia Mönchengladbach    29 P
12   VfL Wolfsburg   28 P
13   VfL Bochum     26 P
14   1. FC Köln     25 P
15   SC Freiburg  19 P
16   Hannover 96      17 P
17   1. FC Nürnberg   17 P
18   Hertha BSC Berlin    15 P

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Was Neuner und Riesch nicht kennen: Abstiegskampf

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“Haach de Klicker in’s Goal enei!” – der Fußball-Bundesliga-Blog: 23. Spieltag

“Haach de Klicker in’s Goal enei!”, hat mein Trainer immer zu mir gesagt. So einfach ist Fußball. “Hau den Ball ins Tor hinein!” Oder hat Ihrer statt dessen gesagt: “Heute müssen wir Gras fressen, sonst steigen wir ab.“? Wahrscheinlich schon, denn fast jeder Fußballer hört in seiner Karriere irgendwann mal diesen Satz des unbedingten „Gewinnenmüssens“. Es sei denn vielleicht, er kickt bei einem Team, das immer Meister wird. Aber das tun die wenigsten in all ihren Fußballerjahren. Und so ist die Abstiegsgefahr, die Abstiegsangst, der Abstiegskrimi ein permanenter, spannender Begleiter im Fußball und besonders in der Bundesliga, der Fans genauso fasziniert wie der Meisterschaftskampf.

Ganz anders in anderen Sportarten. Deutschland feiert derzeit große Erfolge bei Olympia. Magdalena Neuner triumphiert im Biathlon, Maria Riesch rast den Berg hinunter zu Gold. Doch schon die Silbermedaille gebührt oft nur dem ersten Verlierer. Was sich auf den hinteren Plätzen tut interessiert niemanden (außer vielleicht der exotische afrikanische Langläufer, der drei Stunden nach dem Sieger ins Ziel taumelt). Aljona Savchenko und Robin Szolkowy holen Bronze im Paar-Eiskunstlauf? Loser! Verlierer will man hier nicht, Absteiger kennt man hier nicht.

Genauso bei den amerikanischen Sportarten American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Eishockey. Immer interessieren nur die Playoffs, nur die Finals, nur die Sieger. Auch die Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) hat diesen Modus übernommen und spielt keinen Absteiger mehr aus. Wer aus der zweiten Liga aufsteigen will, muss darauf hoffen, dass ein Team der ersten Liga freiwillig zurückzieht oder pleite ist. Und obwohl ich mich für all diese Sportarten durchaus interessiere und ihre Regeln weitestgehend verstanden habe (wer kann das bei einer Two-Point-Conversion schon behaupten?), muss ich doch sagen: Ich brauche den Abstiegskampf! Ich will wissen, wer der Bester der Verlierer ist! Ich will jubelnde Fans sehen, sich glücklich in den Armen liegend, weil ihr Team nur aufgrund der um ein Tor besseren Tordifferenz die Klasse gehalten hat. Und das i-Tüpfelchen ist die Relegation, die der Drittletzte der 1. Liga gegen den Dritten der 2. Liga spielen muss. Existenzkampf pur!


Am Wochenende ging es nun weiter im Krimi gegen den Abstieg. Dabei traf mit dem SC Freiburg das schwächste Heimteam der Liga auf die bis dato schwächste Auswärtsmannschaft Hertha BSC Berlin. Die Freiburger präsentierten sich dermaßen desolat, dass Hertha seine Auswärtsbilanz kräftig aufpolieren konnte und mit 3:0 deutlich gewann. Damit haben die Berliner nur noch zwei Punkte Rückstand auf den Relegationsplatz und schöpfen kräftig Hoffnung. Die Freiburger hingegen werden mit sich hadern, nicht in der Winterpause einen treffsicheren Stürmer verpflichtet zu haben. Denn gerade einmal fünf Tore in elf Heimspielen sind dermaßen erbärmlich, dass daraus eigentlich nur der Abstieg resultieren kann.

Ein Duell der besonderen Art lieferten sich der 1. FC Nürnberg und Bayern München. Es verband nicht nur den Abstiegs- mit dem Meisterschaftskampf, es war auch das Spiel der sich tapfer wehrenden Franken gegen die bayerische Übermacht. Mit einem Punktgewinn der Nürnberger hatte kaum einer gerechnet, doch die „Cluberer“ stoppten die Siegesserie der Münchner von neun Siegen in Folge. Hoffnung also im Frankenland, den achten Bundesligaabstieg der Vereinsgeschichte noch zu verhindern.

Wöchentlich erwartet wird, dass Bayern München Bayer Leverkusen an der Tabellenspitze ablösen wird. Doch die Leverkusener lassen sich nicht verdrängen. Mit einem 2:2 in Bremen bleibt Leverkusen auf Rang 1. Doch der Bremer Treffer in der Nachspielzeit durch Mertesacker raubte Leverkusen den sicher geglaubte Sieg und so muss Bayer eigentlich über die Punkteteilung enttäuscht sein. Eine Entwicklung, die man vor der Saison auch nicht erwartet hätte.

Die Rückkehr des Schalker Trainers Felix Magaths nach Wolfsburg an die Stätte seines großen Triumphs endete mit einer Enttäuschung. 1:2 gegen die „Wölfe“, bei denen Grafite seine Treffsicherheit wiedergefunden hat. Schalkes Abstand zur Spitze vergrößert sich auf vier Punkte.

Mann des 23. Spieltags war der Stuttgarter Cacau. Er schoss vier Tore beim 5:1 des VfB in Köln. Rechtzeitig zur WM ein deutscher Nationalspieler, der weiß, wo das Tor steht und „de Klicker in’s Goal enei haacht“.

(von Stefan Reichart)

Wie ist Ihre Meinung zur Bundesliga und zum Abstiegskampf? Schreiben Sie uns doch einen Kommentar in unseren Blog.
For an englisch Bundesliga Blog click here.

Die Ergebnisse des 23. Spieltags im Überblick:

1899 Hoffenheim   -  Borussia Mönchengladbach  2:2
1. FC Nürnberg   -  Bayern München  1:1 
1. FC Köln   -  VfB Stuttgart  1:5 
Borussia Dortmund   -  Hannover 96  4:1 
Hamburger SV   -  Eintracht Frankfurt  0:0  
1. FSV Mainz 05   -  VfL Bochum  0:0
SC Freiburg   -  Hertha BSC Berlin 0:3 
VfL Wolfsburg   -  FC Schalke 04  2:1  
Werder Bremen   -  Bayer Leverkusen  2:2 

Tabelle

1   Bayer Leverkusen    49 P
2   Bayern München    49 P
3   FC Schalke 04      45 P
4   Hamburger SV      40 P
5   Borussia Dortmund     39 P
6   Werder Bremen  35 P
7   Eintracht Frankfurt     35 P
8   1. FSV Mainz 05  32 P
9   VfB Stuttgart      31 P
10   1899 Hoffenheim      29 P
11   Borussia Mönchengladbach    29 P
12   VfL Wolfsburg   28 P
13   VfL Bochum     26 P
14   1. FC Köln     25 P
15   SC Freiburg  19 P
16   Hannover 96      17 P
17   1. FC Nürnberg   17 P
18   Hertha BSC Berlin    15 P

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