Join Us on Eurovision: Udo Jürgens premiered 'Der Mann, der Udo Jürgens ist' in Hamburg!

Udo Bockelmann, better known as Udo Jürgens, was the first Eurovision Winner for Austria back in 1966 with his song 'Mercie Chérie', celebrates his 80th birthday on 30th of September 2014. Reason enough to make a documentation about his life. In the last months the 90-minutes movie was produced from Hans-Bruno Kammertöns and Michael Wech. The title means 'The guy who is Udo Jürgens'.

Do you remember his Eurovision entry?

Udo Jürgens - 'Merci Cherié' (Winner ESC 1966)

On 2nd of September the documention premiered in the center of Hamburg. Udo Jürgens gave a press conference in the cincema in the afternoon and talked about his life, how everything begun, the documentation and of course about his forthcoming 'Mitten im Leben'-Tour 2014.

The documentation will be on German television on 21st of September (ARTE) and 29th of September (ARD).

'Der Mann, der Udo Jürgens ist'

21.09.2014 - 9:40 pm (cet) on ARTE
29.09.2014 - 8:15 pm (cet) on Das Erste

We had the chance to see the preview and we think YOU SHOULDN'T MISS the chance to see it! It's very well done with a lot of very intresting things about his life, his beginning in music buisness as Udo Bockelmann and his very successful career as musician, composer and entertainer. It's very personal, with a lot of reviews and statements from his family, his managers (past and present) and close friends. Udo sold more than 100 million records worldwide. He was the first Eurovision winner for Austria and until 2014 the only winner. Conchita Wurst brought this year the second victory with her 'Rise Like A Phoenix' to Austria.

Manfred Bockelmann (brother), Udo and Jenny Jürgens

Here are some answers from Udo Jürgens:

How do you feel if you see the film about your life?

Udo Jürgens: I haven't seen the film yet. I need distance, it's still to close.

How will you celebrate your 80th birthday?

UJ: I know that my daughter can't celebrate with me on that day, because Jenny has to work on that day in Lüneburg. Well, I think I will celebrate with some very good and close friends of mine.

How important is family for you?

UJ: Family is very important for me. But now it's a different time. We live in different countries (Austria, Switzerland..) and it's not so easy to see each other. If we see us we enjoy it and we try to spend as much time together as we can.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

UJ: I'm very talented. The heaviest in life is the daily life.

Do you think you have everything done right in your life?

UJ: I don't hope that I did. Because who did everything right is boring. You are not loved because you are kind. You are loved because of your faults.

What means Eurovision for you?

UJ: My Eurovision victory is a very important chapter in my life. In the night as I won we got calls from around the world. Everyone was intrested to get the Eurovision Winner. This victory opened a lot of doors in my life and I'm very thankful for that. Eurovision isn't the same event nowadays as in the period as I won. The song isn't that important anymore. It's more about the event, the shows, sexy dresses and the effects. This year you remember that a woman won with a beard. But do the people remember the song....

In the movie his former Manager talked about the year as Udo participated for the third time in a row.

"He wasn't intrested to participate again at Eurovision. He didn't wanted to to it. I had to force him to participate. And remember - he won :) the rest is history.." said Hans R. Baierlein.

Jenny Jürgens (daughter)

Here you can watch one of the interviews from NDR in the cinema:

Video - Udo Jürgens: "Zuviel der Ehre"

We had the chance to talk to one of the producers from the docomentation, Hanns-Bruno Kammertöns, after the preview in Hamburg.

Udo Jürgens haven't seen your documentation before and he left the premiere today before the movie started. Are you disappointed?

Hanns-Bruno Kammertöns: I'm not disappointed. Udo Jürgens never looks films or documentations about him. If he does, than later in private. I'm sure he will watch this documentation sooner or later. It's not a surprise that he left the cinema.

How long did it take to complete the documentation?

HBK: It took more or less one year and we had 20 filming days.

The documentation includes a lot of personal statements, some of them are from his manager (former and recent), his daughter Jenny, his son and his brother. Was it easy to motivate his family and other people which are close to Udo Jürgens?

HBK: Well, at the beginning the people were skeptical. But as we showed them our concept and talked with them about our plans they agreed to be part of our project. We had a lot of fun together.

Freddy Burger (Manager), Manfred Bockelmann, Jenny & Udo Jürgens

The composer, singer and musician Udo Jürgens was awarded on 5th of September with the Medal of Honor "City Taler of Zurich city" in terms of his 80th birthday by the Mayor Corine Mauch. At the presentation ceremony paid tribute to the city president of the impressive life's work of Udo Jürgens as the work of a great artist who wrote the music and lyrics that touch and shape the generations of people.

Corine Mauch & Udo Jürgens

You wanna see the entertainer live on stage? Save your tickets for his 'Mitten im Leben'-Tour. He will play in Austria, Germany and Switzerland between October 2014 and March 2015. Check out all the details on his homepage: