Elton’s appearance at the ESC divided minds: Some found him successful, but many also completely wrong and embarrassing. Now he justifies himself on his Instagram channel.
There was some criticism of Elton’s appearance at the ESC, both in the media and on Twitter and Instagram. The reason: he offered the British presenter Hannah Waddingham a biscuit – and his English pronunciation left a lot to be desired in the eyes of many. Shortly after midnight, Elton announced how the German jury had voted.
The harsh criticism did not leave the 52-year-old unimpressed. In fact, it bothered him so much that he felt the need to explain his point of view. The fact that he hesitated whether he should now express himself can already be seen in his introductory sentence: “Moin !!! Now a statement,” says his Instagram post.
He clarifies: “First of all: yes, I was incredibly nervous because the action had not been agreed with the NDR and I didn’t know how Hannah Waddingham would react either.”
Elton explains his embarrassing appearance at ESC
But he really wanted to impress the 48-year-old: “But that was the goal alone, to at least make this great actress laugh and be a little different from the rest of the nationspeakers, I think I’ve done that.”
With his biscuit gesture, he alluded to a film role by Waddingham: In the Apple TV series “Ted Lasso”, the trainer of the same name gives her a biscuit in a box every day. The reason: Lasso is new and Waddingham’s character belongs to the football club, he wants to be on good terms with her. Elton tried that too – but many didn’t understand the allusion because they didn’t know the series.
But not only his choice of words, but also his outfit Elton wanted to be understood correctly afterwards: “As far as my clothes are concerned…well…a matter of taste. The shirt was chosen very deliberately (Europe stars in rainbow colors…if anyone doesn’t understand it) and at least a jacket .”
He firmly defends himself against the accusation of having “ridiculed or embarrassingly represented Germany”. BBC presenter Mel Giedroyc found him funny during the broadcast, as he writes: “She laughed too and seemed to like me very much.”
Elton admits, however, that an accusation is justified: “Well, my English may not have been good because of the nervousness … I apologize for that.”
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
