Nicole celebrates her 60th birthday: A little party

spot on news Nicole celebrates her 60th birthday: A little party Article by (tj/spot) • 2 hours • 4 minutes reading time Still uses her iconic white ESC guitar When the then 17-year-old singer Nicole (60) won the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson (now the Eurovision Song Contest) on April 24, 1982 with her song "Ein bißchen Frieden" (A little peace), it was not only a musical but also a political sensation. With her snow-white guitar in her hands, she brought a straightforward peace anthem to the stage in the frosty times of the Cold War, the clear message of which was understood worldwide. Pacifist super hit: "Ein bißchen Frieden" For the first time in the history of the song contest, a German singer won, and the fact that she also received 12 points from Israel in the vote was also perceived at the time as a gesture of reconciliation and a turning point. After her Grand Prix victory, the young singer even received an official invitation from the Israeli government and performed the peace anthem in front of soldiers who were moved to tears during her visit to the country. The fact that Nicole released her pacifist super hit in collaboration with her then producer Ralph Siegel (79) in six other languages, such as English ("A little Peace"), Dutch ("Een beetje vrede"), Danish ("En smule fred") and Spanish ("Un poco di paz"), also contributed to international understanding - and international chart success. In the further course of history, the single sold over five million copies worldwide and was awarded gold and platinum several times. Singer with socially critical messages The fact that "Ein bißchen Frieden" was to remain her biggest hit and that she never again reached the top of the charts and won gold with her 30 other albums released since 1982 did not stop the singer from simply carrying on - and always staying true to herself. To this day, she has continued to release further songs at regular intervals in which she consistently takes a stand on socio-political issues. For example, in the song "Nie Nie mehr" from 2001, in which she takes aim at neo-Nazis, or in "Das Schweigen der Machos", which tackles outdated masculine behavior: "You know a real macho by the fact that he only knows thirty words / And he talks to you with them." Nicole does not want to be a pop singer The artist, who was born on October 25, 1964 in Saarbrücken, never saw herself as a pop singer. In a conversation with "Planet Interview" a few years ago, she said the following about this: "In Germany, you are immediately categorized. I have been fighting against this pigeonholing for 30 years. I want to experiment, and also deal with topics that, as some say, have no place in classic pop music. When you listen to my albums, you have to differentiate a lot, and then there is no category for me." Although she is an entertainer, she has always refused to pretend to her fans that she is not really, just to be more commercially successful. "No, I can't bend myself," says Nicole. "I can only do what I can 100% support. I can't suddenly put on a leather suit, ride around on a Harley and sing rock songs. I don't want to do that, that is the responsibility of others." ESC as a frightening mega-spectacle As she recently revealed in an interview with "Schlager.de", she can't do much with the development of the "Eurovision Song Contest" into a bombastic mega-spectacle. What she has seen there in recent years has raised "some concerns" in her, which has led to her "somehow being out of it". "It's shrill now, it's loud, it's sometimes frightening for me," said the former Grand Prix queen. "Titles are winning where I can't detect any songs or great singing. The technical possibilities are now being exploited to such an extent that you actually forget what kind of competition it is. It's a song competition! It's about the best song, the best composition, the best text and the best interpretation. The whole thing has to be a unit." Family always comes first Despite her ongoing success, Nicole's critical view of the entertainment industry has never allowed her to get carried away, and the mother of two daughters has always kept her distance from too much media hype. She assured the "Augsburger Allgemeine" that family always came first for her: "Fortunately, I've managed to reconcile work and family quite well in life thanks to my parents and in-laws. But I also had an iron rule that I lived by: ten days at work, 20 days with family. I never deviated from that."