Grand final of the Song Contest "Dein Song für EINE WELT!" (Your song for ONE WORLD)

The winning song of the fourth round of the Song Contest was chosen at the Pantheon in Bonn on 3 December 2021. This new EINE WELT song (ONE WORLD song) by Hari Sue from Freiburg entitled "Qui s'élèvera?" will also be the anthem of the current round of the School Competition on Development Policy.

The Bonn Pantheon, a spacious old factory hall in Bonn-Beuel, is darkened and the audience sits together in small groups at tables in front of the stage. KIKA presenter Jess Schöne, who has been supporting the Song Contest as a patron for several years, leads through the nearly two-hour final show on the stage, which is restrainedly lit with blue accents and sparsely decorated.

Due to the pandemic, not all of the winning groups were able to come to Bonn, so Jess is hosting the show in German and English, as the evening will be broadcast live around the world. This means that not only the winning groups who have not travelled to Bonn, but also the families and friends of the finalists will be able to watch the final live.

After welcoming all the guests, Jess explains the judging process of the competition and what will happen tonight. This evening the top 5 will perform their songs live on stage for the first time. Afterwards, the jury will retire and decide which song will win and which two songs will take second and third place.

After Jess, Nicola Fürst-Schuhmacher from Engagement Global, the organisation that runs the Song Contest, welcomes the guests present in the hall and all the virtual guests. She summarises the idea of the Song Contest and emphasises the importance of young people's commitment to the One World: "And that is why it is so very important to us that you young people tell us about your thoughts and ideas on global issues, that you deal with them and share them with us. (...) You have clearly understood where our challenges lie and have put your thoughts, wishes and ideas into great music and lyrics."

Before the performances of the top 5 start, the five-member jury will be introduced, all people whose work deals with children, youth and young adults, global sustainability and development issues or, of course, music. The jury members will be appointed in the following order: Federal Coordinator of UNESCO Project Schools Klaus Schilling, musician and percussionist Rani Khrija, Spiesser editor-in-chief Polina Boyko, deputy rapporteur on ESD of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs  Silke Bell and musician and winner of the Africa Special Award 2015 Ezé Wendtoin are to decide which song will be the new EINE WELT song (ONE WORLD song). All jurors will be invited on stage and asked about their expectations for tonight.

Now it gets exciting. Before Jess asks the young duo Emmylou & Lone to be the first act on stage, the two ten-year-old girls from Freiburg are introduced in a short film. After the performance, juror Klaus Schilling gives a first commentary on the title and the performance on stage. All five performances follow this pattern. After the duo with the title "Ohne ein Zuhause" (Without a Home), 15-year-old Malaika Wainwright from Herrsching faces the jury with her guitar and the song with "In A Dream". Next up is Ben B, who is taking part for the third time, with his rap song "Die weiße Taube fliegt weg" (The white dove flies away). Anna Pilar, 20, from Berlin, also takes to the stage with her guitar and impressively performs her ballad "Minutes to Midnight". Last up, 26-year-old Hari Sue from Freiburg makes the hall shake with "Qui s'élèvera?" (Who will rise up?), asking who is rebelling against the global exploitation of raw materials, also illustrated by the example of her home country Madagascar. "I want the world to see what is happening in my country and that something finally happens, that all people are treated equally," says the young performer about what drives her to get involved.

Every contribution is celebrated by the viewers, among whom are also many friends and relatives of the top 5. There is a great atmosphere.

The jury members are enthusiastic about the individual entries and especially emphasise how much they were touched not only by the great musicality of the artists but also by the titles and their strong statements for One World.

While the jury now retires to deliberate, the audience continues after a short break with a film honouring the international winning groups who could not come to Bonn. In short clips, the young solo artists and groups from Egypt, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe are introduced with their rousing titles.

Then it's time for a musical intermezzo! The music video for the song "Mehr Farbe" (More colour), dedicated to the Song Contest by the Berlin duo "Gorilla Funk", will be presented on the screen above the stage. Song Contest patron Albert N'sanda, who forms the duo together with Johnny Strange, explains that they wanted to set an impulse with the song "so that young people know, even during this pandemic, that their opinion about what can be better in this world is still needed."

The evening slowly approaches its climax, the award ceremony. Dr Claudia Funke-Mandelli from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development enters the stage and is enthusiastic about the strength of the songs' content and the infectious motivation of the top 5. Juror Klaus Schilling first names the top 3 in alphabetical order: Ben B, Hari Sue and Malaika Wainwright have made it one round further.

Then it's time to award the main prizes. Juror Polina Boyko presents third-placed Malaika with her €1,000 prize cheque. Then it's time for the big drum roll.

And the winner is... Hari Sue! Her song "Qui s'élèvera?" is the new EINE WELT song (ONE WORLD song) and wins not only a place on the EINE WELT album (ONE WORLD album) but also a professionally produced music video. Juror Polina Boyko cheers: "You lifted us out of our chairs today. You moved us, your power, your story, your message, all that is what makes the anthem for us."

Ben B is thus in a strong second place and can look forward to €2,000 in prize money.

In a grand gesture, Hari Sue brings all the finalists on stage for the final and together they and the whole hall celebrate the winning performance of the new EINE WELT song (ONE WORLD song).

Congratulations, Hari Sue!