"Can't Wait Until Tonight" was the entry in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2004 The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the 49th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Istanbul, Turkey, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everyway That I Can" by Sertab Erener. Organised by the European Broa ...

, performed in English and Turkish by

Maximilian Mutzke Maximilian Nepomuk Mutzke (born 21 May 1981) is a German singer, songwriter and television personality. He gained public interest in early 2004 when he won ''SSDSGPS'', a talent contest hosted in Stefan Raab's late-night show ''TV total''. Mutzke ...

. The song was written and composed by

Stefan Raab Stefan Konrad Raab (born 20 October 1966) is a German television producer, businessman, musician, and former entertainer and television host. From 1999 to 2015, he hosted the late-night comedy talk show ''TV total'' and has also created a numbe ...

, who previously had written both

Guildo Horn Horst Heinz Köhler (born 15 February 1963), known under his stage name Guildo Horn (), is a German Schlager singer. He is best known for his eccentric stage persona, which includes outrageous clothes and extroverted antics. At the Eurovision ...

's entry "

Guildo hat euch lieb! "Guildo hat euch lieb!" (; "Guildo loves you!") was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, performed in German by Guildo Horn & Die Orthopädischen Strümpfe. The song was performed ninth on the night, following 's Dana International w ...

" and his own "

Wadde hadde dudde da? "Wadde hadde dudde da?" (; a derivative of the expression "what do you have there?") was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, performed in an invented dialect of German by comedian Stefan Raab. The song was the fifteenth performed on ...

" in . Despite Germany having finished 11th at the 2003 contest and thus missing the automatic qualification that a top-ten berth would bring, the song was pre-qualified for the final as Germany (along with , and the ) was part of the "

Big Four Big Four or Big 4 may refer to: Groups of companies * Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC * Big Four (airlines) in the U.S. in the 20th century: American, Eastern, TWA, United * Big Four (banking), several groupings ...

" and guaranteed a final placing at any contest. Thus, it was performed eighth on the night, following the ' Re-union with " Without You" and preceding 's

Anjeza Shahini Anjeza Shahini (born 4 May 1987) is an Albanian singer. She is best known for representing Albania at 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, after winning the 42nd edition of Festivali i Këngës. Career 2003–2009 Anjez ...

with "

The Image of You "The Image of You" is a song by Albanian singer Anjeza Shahini. The song was composed by Edmond Zhulali and written by Agim Doçi. Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) released it as a CD single in 2004. A rhythmic English-language electropop bal ...

". At the close of voting, it had received 93 points, placing 8th in a field of 24. Until the 2009 contest, it was the last top 10 finish for a "Big Four" country. It also was Germany's last Top 10 place until its victory in . The song is a ballad, with Max singing about his desire for his lover and telling her that he "can't wait until tonight / for being with er. He goes on to tell her about how he felt the first time he saw her and how much he wants to prove his love. The song was a jazz number, which UK commentator

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...

likened to the music of the recent jazz phenomenon,

Jamie Cullum Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...

(who would write an entry for Germany 8 years later). Max appeared dressed casually in a black jumper and trousers. The performance was relatively subdued, however Max performed one chorus in

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, which was greeted with considerable applause by the crowd – the contest being held that year in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. In an interview after the performance, writer

jokingly told

Sertab Erener Sertab Erener (born 4 December 1964) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. With her coloratura soprano voice, she started working as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu, and with Aksu's help she released her first studio album in the 1990s ...

that he had written the song specifically for her. Max was accompanied by Raab (on the acoustic guitar) and some members of the Heavytones (the band from ''

TV total ''TV total'' is a German late-night television comedy talk show which originally aired from 8 March 1999 to 16 December 2015 on ProSieben, hosted, created and produced by entertainer Stefan Raab. Following a six-year hiatus, it was revived on 10 ...

'') during his gig. It was succeeded as German representative at the 2005 contest by Gracia with " Run & Hide".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Schild

Official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year

Detailed info & lyrics, Diggiloo Thrush
{{authority control Eurovision songs of Germany Eurovision songs of 2004 English-language German songs 2004 songs Songs written by Stefan Raab Warner Music Group singles 2004 debut singles