The ''ZDF-Hitparade'', or ''Hitparade'' for short, by German TV channel

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

, was one of the most popular and most well-known music

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

presenting mostly German Schlager. From 1969 to 1984 the presenter was

Dieter Thomas Heck Dieter Thomas Heck (born Carl-Dieter Heckscher; 29 December 1937 – 23 August 2018) was a German television presenter, singer and actor. He is known as the presenter of the popular TV program ''ZDF-Hitparade'', featuring German Schlager mus ...

. The last show was aired on 16 December 2000.

History

The music show was developed by ''Truck Branss'' and Dieter Thomas Heck and first broadcast on January 18, 1969. The original theme song was written in 1968 by

James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015), also known as Hansi, was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist (Last won the award for "best bassist" in Germany in each of ...

and remained a hallmark of the show until the last show of

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

Dieter Thomas Heck on December 15, 1984. The first host was Dieter Thomas Heck, who presented once a month on Saturday at half past seven. Various performers sang their current songs, predominantly Schlager. Whereas the first show was produced in the studio, subsequent events were

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

. The next host of the ''Hitparade'' was

Viktor Worms Viktor Worms (born 30 August 1959) is a German radio and television host and producer. Career Worms was born in Düsseldorf. After graduating from high school Koblenzer Straße in Düsseldorf in 1981, Worms completed a traineeship at Radio Luxemb ...

in 1985, succeeded by Uwe Hübner in 1990. The last episode aired on 16 December 2000.

Idea

When the show was conceived by Dieter Thomas Heck, he established some innovations to the Schlager genre, which already had adapted a somewhat conservative reputation compared to the current musical trends of the time. Among those innovations was the rule that each singer had to present his or her song live (to music from half-playback). Earlier musical TV-shows had already switched to full-playback. Also, with the exception of the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, each episode was live, which also was unusual. Another innovation of ''Hitparade'' was the stage design. All earlier musical shows in German television had a somewhat theatre-like design which created a huge distance between singer and audience. Also, their stage design was quite opulent with heavy decorations and curtains. Singing at the ''Hitparade'' in contrast meant that the audience sat all around the singer while the stage design was a modern latticework of chrome and steel. The most important innovation introduced by Dieter Thomas Heck was that the audience members had the chance to assert influence in the choice of musical artists. The viewers could select their favorite acts by postcard, which were then allowed to return in the subsequent broadcast. One artist got the chance to come back on subsequent shows with one song, twice.

Awards

*1971:

Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show is usually held in early February in Hamburg, but has also taken place in Berlin in the past. The gold-plate ...

in the category ''Beste Sendung für junge Leute'' (best feature for young people) *1972: Achievement Award of "Record World" for the most popular live show of Europe *1973:

Goldene Europa Goldene Europa award is the oldest German Television award for artists and entertainers. It was awarded from 1968 to 2003. In the years 1989 and 2001, there were no ceremonies. Since 1981, the gala was broadcast on television. The original sculptu ...

of Europawelle Saar (now SR 1 Europawelle),

Saarländischer Rundfunk Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR; ''Saarland Broadcasting'') is a public radio and television broadcaster serving the German state of Saarland. With headquarters in the Halberg Broadcasting House in Saarbrücken, SR is a member of the ARD consort ...

References

External links

ZDF-Hitparade

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Die ZDF-Hitparade / D 1969-2000
fernsehserien.de

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zdf-Hitparade German music television series ZDF original programming 1968 German television series debuts 1984 German television series endings 1960s German television series 1970s German television series German-language television shows