The third edition of the “Giovanni Zarrella Show” on ZDF was all about love shortly before Valentine’s Day on February 14th. However, some of the interpretations of world-famous songs by Zarrella (43) and his guests were not well received by the audience. The fact that English songs were now translated into German was apparently not well received, according to the network reactions. Above all, Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love Of All” (1963-2012) was felt by some to insult majesty.
“There is blasphemy on ZDF right now,” writes a Twitter user about a clip of a shocked Whitney. Another wrote: “Please Giovanni, now don’t screw us up with Whitney Houston. Oh dear, too late.” A user, however, wonders: “Roxette and Whitney Houston in German. What’s next? Depeche Mode in German?” Together with Adriano, Zarrella had rewritten the song “Die Liebe Siegt” from “Greatest Love Of All”.
“It doesn’t work at all”
So did others: “Now ‘She’s Got The Look’ isn’t even one of my favorite Roxette songs. And I’m furious. Massless.” or “Okay, it ends with Roxette in German! It doesn’t work at all”, are just some of the comments. The duo Neonlicht had made the version “Sie hat den Look” from the hit “The Look”.
Duet against my will
But it wasn’t just the urge to translate that caused resentment, but also Zarrella’s habit of singing along always and everywhere: “Vicky Leandros alone = outstanding. With Zarrella in a duet – and it goes down to ‘DSDS’ level,” complained a viewer. Or also: “Giovanni Zarrella is like my aunt Anita, who constantly has to sing along drunk at family celebrations and thus breaks the mood.”
(pcs/spot)