Thank you Andrea Ney

I want to sincerely thank Andrea Ney. She is the fanclub leader of the Axel Becker fanclub "Amore Amore" in Germany. She was kind enough to publish my Axel Becker Cleveland performance report on her fanclub website and all the pictures. She published it in "English" just the way I wrote it, but she also translated the whole piece into German. She did a fantastic job. Andrea, thank you so much!!!

Take a look at her website. She is a very talented writer and has a lot of pictures at her site if your German is a little rusty. She features concert reports that are very detailed and interesting to read. Stay in touch with what this popular German entertainer is doing. Axel received standing ovations everywhere he

appeared in the US and Canada. If you have the opportunity to see this singer, don't miss it.

On December 26, Axel Becker was back in

Germany and performing in Bad Fussing for a Christmas concert. Andrea was there and took pictures that are great which include the Chicago favorite, Romy, and here is also a link to her concert report. CLICK. If you go to my Links page, I have added Andrea's link under the heading "Friends of the Stimmung Stunde" ... check it out.

Frohe Weihnachten from Oberallgaeu Musikanten

I received an e-mail from Michl of the Oberallgaeu Musikanten. This band joined forces with the Widderstein Buaba this summer when they appeared at German Fest.

Michl was very happy to report that they will again be at the 2010 German Fest in Milwaukee. I am sure all their fans will be happy to welcome them back. They have been at German Fest twice and their next appearance will make it three.

Michl would like to send wishes to Milwaukee for a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

Christmas Show in Cleveland was a hit

On Friday we traveled for 7 hours to see this fabulous German Christmas show. Gisela Lewis of New Jersey organizes a German Christmas tour every year. The closest it came to Milwaukee was Cleveland. So I made my reservations months ago and finally the day came to travel to Cleveland. It was held at the Donauschwaben house in Cleveland and it was nice to see some old friends again. There were about 350 people in attendance. If you look at my other post on this website you can see a complete list of where they will and have appeared. I am so happy we were able to attend this show. It was one of the best I have every seen.

The headliner was Axel Becker, who is a big star in Germany. It is amazing that Gisela was able to land a big name like Axel, but even more amazing was his voice. Axel Becker has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard and is also quite the showman. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand and at the end of each set, he received a standing Ovation. Although, Axel was clearly the star, he was gracious to his fellow performers and brought them up on stage to share the thunderous applause.

The beautiful Styrina was also on the bill. Many people in Milwaukee remember this charming young girl from Austria with her long flowing blonde hair. This little "firecracker" really brought energy and excitement to the floor. She had traditional songs in her first set and changed into a glittery red dress for the 2nd half that made her shine like a red diamond. Styrina told me later she really enjoyed her time in Milwaukee and would love to return again.

Filling out the program was a band from Austria, Kristall. They had only 3 members of their band with them. We saw them in May in Austria when we were on the bus tour with Gisela Lewis. They were a lot of fun and some very talented musicians. The trumpeter, Werner George, was very talented and even sang a few songs.

This was clearly a top notch Christmas Show. Now I really feel in the festive mood. If you still have an opportunity to see this show while they are still in the states, please do not miss it. I have a slideshow below with pictures I took that evening. If you would like one of the pictures, just click on view all images and it will take you to the slide website. Click gallery view, then find the photo you want and right click to download. It's free.

Claudia & Alexx are headliners at 2009 Christmas Show in Milwaukee

On December 4th, Robert Deglau, host of the Continental Showcase German radio show, sponsored the 2009 German Christmas Show coordinated by Chicago radio host, Armin Homann. This year the headliners were Claudia & Alexx. They are 2 young and energetic entertainers that are often compared to Marianne & Michael. Perhaps because Claudia is from Niederbeyern & Alexx is from the Steiermark in Austria. Claudia has the more dominant voice and what a voice it is. She is a very talented singer and always has a quick smile for the camera. Alexx's voice blends beautifully with Claudia and was more the moderator of the two.

This was their first visit to the US and they were busy with performances as soon as they landed. Armin Homann had them lined up at many locations to sold out crowds. Although Claudia & Alexx are young and relative newcomers to the

Volksmusik scene, they have had several successful attempts at the Grand Prix der Volksmusik. In 2006 they placed 3rd at the finale with their song, Siebsehn Sommer and last year they were again in the finale with Mama Danke. I found them both very charming and really enjoyed the evening.

Also performing that night was Chris Holzer. I was not familiar with this singer, however, was pleasantly surprised at the quality of his voice. He has a strong voice

and it was very evident when he sang Ava Maria. He chose a nice group of familiar songs and encouraged people to sing along. As usual the first half of the show featured the songs that the performers are best known for and the second half was strickly Christmas music. Often people joined right in and got us all ready for the holidays ahead. As is tradition the last song was everyone's favorite, Silent Night.

After the show, the duo, M & M, played some great dance music for the people who had enough of sitting in one spot so long and welcomed the chance to dance the rest of the evening. The Bavarian Inn was a great place to hold this event and hope Robert will be able to host other German artists there in the future. If we want to continue to bring talent from Germany to Milwaukee to entertain us, we need to attend these events when they are available. It is really nice to see these entertainers up close and live. I encourage you to attend the next time there is a show in town and show support to Robert who works hard to get these artists to Milwaukee.

Christkindl Market in Chicago

Date & Time
November 25 - December 24, 2008

Ticket Info

Admission is Free

Hours -- Sundays - Thursdays: 11 am - 8 pm

Fridays & Saturdays: 11 am - 9 pm

Description
The 14th Annual Christkindlmarket in Chicago starts the day before Thanksgiving Day, November 25, through Christmas Eve, December 24. For more details go to their website: http://www.christkindlmarket.com/ or call their information line: 312-494-2175.

There will be 42 vendors this year from both the US and direct from Germany. There will be beautiful linens, Christmas ornaments, wood carvings, and lots of good things to eat. Here are just a few of the vendors that will be there: Bethlehem Nativity Products, Frank's Bavarian Gift Shop, Bayrische Glasstrasse, Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks, Lenk & Sohn, Der Lindwurm, and, of course, Kathe Wohlfahrt. I cannot wait for the hot Gluhwein that they serve there.

Also, a group from Milwaukee will be entertaining the crowd on December 19. Again, for a complete list, please visit their website.

Location

Daley Plaza (across from what used to be Marshall Fields) - Washington, Clark & Dearborn Streets

Click on the map to the left to get a closer look.