Kanzler winner
June 20, 2009
An 18-year old from Brandenburg has won the German reality show "Ich kann Kanzler" (I can be Chancellor).
German public broadcaster ZDF bargained that it could get young people more interested in politics by using a popular show format with some new subject matter.
Friday evening, six candidates went head-to-head on the issues on live television from the Bundestag in Bonn, where previous Chancellors held sway for 40 years. In the end, the winner with the clear majority of 72.6 percent was Jacob Schrot. Around 180,000 people participated in the vote according to ZDF.
Schrot is a member of the youth group of the Christian Democratic Union or CDU, who ran on the slogan "Recognize the strength of pluralism."
Among Schrot's other platform issues were his demands for more nuclear power for Germany and more cooperation and less political bickering.
On the ZDF Web site, one can still watch the videos submitted by six finalists, who lay out their political agendas. Most of the videos are simple and grainy, and appear to have been shot almost spontaneously in a family basement.
But some did go a bit further. One candidate, Philip Kalisch, 31, who came in second place, got a friend to film him on his balcony, and is styled like a long lost member of the popular rock band Kings of Leon.
Television's allure
ZDF is betting that the youth of Germany might well warm to politics if it gets them on a TV casting show. Some 2,500 people between the ages of 18 and 35 submitted videos through the network's Web site.
That's a far cry from the 30,000 who tried out for the last season of "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" - Germany's version of Pop Idol - or the mob scene that ensued in Duesseldorf earlier this year when Heidi Klum held an open casting for "Germany's Next Top Model." But producers said they thought the turnout for Kanzler was good, considering it's a show that nobody has ever seen.
From that pool of 2,500 applicants, 40 were selected to come to Bonn. There, each one made a brief speech in the old Bundestag. Sizing them up was a panel of judges made up of a politician, a TV talk show host who's interviewed quite a few politicians, and a comedy actress with experience in sending them up.
Grooming candidates early
The show is not really meant to find the country a future head of government. But the exposure gained on the show, some believe, might well catapult the contestants into public roles within their chosen parties that could lead to much more in the future.
"Among the 40 that we had at the audition;" the host of the show Steffen Seibert said, "there were definitely at least 10 that I could see, 10 or 15 years from now, in leading positions."
For the most part, however, said the politician on the panel, the former premier of the German city-state of Bremen, Henning Scherf, the show is an attempt to make politics an exciting topic - or even a career choice - among young people.
"I hope it will embolden smart, young, engaged people to participate in the political process. They have to have role models, and they have to have incentives," said Scherf. "We have to strive to make sure they are convinced it's worth their while, and arouse their curiosity - not just preach to them."
The push to get young people involved is stepping into high gear, as Germany prepares to vote for a new government on September 27.
Canadian import
The show is patterned after the CBC program "Canada's Next Great Prime Minister." It grew up out of an essay contest, made it to the network three years ago, and ended up as a surprise hit.
For the latest edition, the fourth on the CBC, the network even lured Alex Trebek, superstar host of the American game show "Jeopardy!" to come back to his native Canada to present the program. The show also has some even bigger names on its panel of judges: former prime ministers Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell, Joe Clark and Paul Martin.
The CBC has been selling the concept around the world and Germany's version is set to be followed by others in Australia and Britain.
mrh/sjt/dpa/KNA
Editor: Susan Houlton