Fans of Udo Jürgens († 80) have a clear opinion: the lyrics of their idol must not be changed. But that’s exactly what Giovanni Zarrella (44) did in his show on ZDF. And attracts the anger of the fans and the broadcaster.
The moderator wanted to pay tribute to the hit star and sang a hit medley with Roland Kaiser (70) and Namika (31). The classic “But please with cream” was not missing. Zarella sings: «They blow and snort, almost nothing goes in. Just a chocolate kiss at most, because there has to be order.”
Zarella uses chocolate kiss, in the original Udo Jürgens sings “Mohrenkopf”. However, this term is hardly used anymore, the Duden provides it with the note “obsolete, today discriminatory”.
The reformulation is “crazy”, writes a Jürgens fan on social media. Another complains that a cult text has to be changed so that Zarella doesn’t get too close to anyone. Another fan thinks it “pukes”. ZDF would ban and censor Udo Jürgens.
Compared to the “Abendzeitung”, the broadcaster commented on the loudly criticized text adjustment: They decided on a “temporary and one-time adjustment” of the song text. The reformulation had also been agreed with the music publisher and the heirs of the original lyricist.
