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Ralph Siegel
Background information
Born (1945-09-30) 30 September 1945 (age 79)
Munich, Germany
Genres
Occupations
  • Producer
  • songwriter
Years active1964–present

Ralph Siegel (born 30 September 1945) is a German record producer and songwriter.[1] Siegel is one of the most notable figures at the Eurovision Song Contest, in which he has participated with 24 songs so far, among them the 1982 winner song Ein bisschen Frieden.

Life and career

Ralph Siegel was born the son of composer Ralph Maria Siegel [de] and of singer Ingeborg Döderlein.[2]

Siegel is a prolific producer in the German genre of Schlager music. Since the early 1970s, he worked with artists like Udo Jürgens, Mary Roos, Heino, Rex Gildo, Michael Holm, Chris Roberts, Costa Cordalis, Mireille Mathieu, Peter Alexander, Roy Black, Karel Gott and Marianne Rosenberg.

Since 1972 has participated with 24 songs in the Eurovision Song Contest, the latest being the 2017 Sammarinese entry "Spirit of the Night" by Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson.

In 1982, Siegel's and Bernd Meinunger's song Ein bißchen Frieden (A Little Peace), performed by Nicole won the Contest and became a hit in Europe. In 2003, both writers had success with Let's Get Happy, performed by Lou which came in 11th. In February 2010, it was announced by RTÉ that he would have an entry in the Irish National Final-Eurosong 2010. The song titled River of Silence was performed by Lee Bradshaw. It finished in last place. He also composed 'C'était ma vie', performed by Lys Assia for representing Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest. She reached an 8th position in Swiss National Final.

Siegel organized a comeback event for the Disco band Dschinghis Khan in June 2018.[3] Dschinghis Khan had been originally organized by Siegel and Dr. Bernd Meinunger to compete in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest.[4] After the success of their first hit, Dschinghis Khan, both men continued to write popular songs for this band, including "Moskau" and "Hadschi Halef Omar".[5] Siegel makes a rare appearance playing classical guitar in 1984 video footage of Dschinghis Khan performing "Corrida" and "Olé Olé".[6]

In 2021, Siegel premiered his musical Zeppelin.[7]

Personal life

Church wedding of Ralph Siegel and Laura Siegel
2018 Church wedding of Ralph Siegel and Laura Siegel in the Thomaskirche in Munich-Grünwald

Ralph Siegel's first marriage was to Dunja Siegel from Slovakia in 1975, with whom he had two daughters Giulia Siegel (born 1974) and Marcella Siegel (born 1976). The couple divorced in 1989.

In 1992 he married Dagmar Kögel, (née Weber). His third daughter Alana Siegel[8] was born in 1996. The couple separated in 2002.

His third marriage to the soprano Kriemhild Siegel, (née Jahn), lasted from 2006 until the official separation in August 2014. The legal divorce then took place in 2016.[9]

In 2015 he met the Swiss music manager Laura Käfer.[10] After a 3-year relationship, the couple got married in September 2018 in the church Grünwald near Munich.[11] Laura Siegel brought her daughter Ruby Siegel (born 2000), (née Käfer) into the marriage.

Eurovision Song Contest participations

Table key
1st First place
2nd Second place
3rd Third place
Year Song Artist Country Position
1974 "Bye Bye I Love You" Ireen Sheer  Luxembourg 4th
1976 "Sing Sang Song" Les Humphries Singers  Germany 15th
1979 "Dschinghis Khan" Dschinghis Khan 4th
1980 "Theater" Katja Ebstein 2nd
1980 "Papa Pingouin" Sophie & Magaly  Luxembourg 9th
1981 "Johnny Blue" Lena Valaitis  Germany 2nd
1982 "Ein bißchen Frieden" Nicole  Germany 1st
1985 "Children, Kinder, Enfants" Margo, Ireen Sheer, C. & M. Roberts, Olivier, Solomon  Luxembourg 13th
1987 "Lass die Sonne in dein Herz" Wind  Germany 2nd
1988 "Lied für einen Freund" Maxi & Chris Garden 14th
1990 "Frei zu leben" Chris Kempers & Daniel Kovac 9th
1992 "Träume sind für alle da" Wind 16th
1994 "Wir geben 'ne Party" Mekado 3rd
1997 "Zeit" Bianca Shomburg 18th
1999 "Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs'e seyahat" Sürpriz 3rd
2002 "I Can't Live Without Music" Corinna May 21st
2003 "Let's Get Happy" Lou 11th
2006 "If We All Give a Little" six4one   Switzerland 17th
2009 "Just Get Out of My Life" Andrea Demirović  Montenegro SF: 11th
2012 "The Social Network Song" Valentina Monetta  San Marino SF: 14th
2013 "Crisalide (Vola)" SF: 11th
2014 "Maybe" 24th
2015 "Chain of Lights" Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini SF: 16th
2017 "Spirit of the Night" Valentina Monetta & Jimmie Wilson SF: 18th

National final participations

Year Song Artist Country Position
1972 "Hallelujah Man" Marion Maertz  Germany 5th, 12th & 6th
"Mein Geschenk an dich" Adrian Wolf
"Meine Liebe will ich dir geben" Edina Pop
1975 "Alles geht vorüber" Peggy March  Germany 2nd
"San Francisco Symphony" Die Jokers 12th
1979 "Ein Blick sagt mehr als jedes Wort" Gebrüder Blattschuß
1980 "Pan" Costa Cordalis 2nd
1981 "Mannequin" The Hornettes
1982 "Peter Pan" Paola
"Blue-Jeans-Kinder" Marianne Rosenberg 8th
1984 "Tingel Tangel Man" Harmony Four 3rd
1985 "Grün Grün Grün" Caro Pukke 4th
"Die Glocken von Rom" Heike Schäfer 2nd
1986 "Telefon" That's Life 12th
"Clowns" Clowns 6th
"Die Engel sind auch nicht mehr das was sie war'n" Chris Heart Band 3rd
"Wir gehör'n zusammen" Dschinghis Khan 2nd
1987 "Aus" Cassy 7th
"Frieden für die Teddybären" Maxi & Chris Garden 2nd
1988 "Tanzen geh'n" Tammy Swift 7th
1989 "Ich hab' Angst" Dorkas 3rd
1990 "So ein wunderschones Leben" Waterloo  Austria 4th
1996 "Echoes" Angela Wiedl & Dalila Cernatescu  Germany 3rd
1997 "Engel" All About Angels 7th
1998 "Can Can" Ballhouse 6th
"Carneval" Köpenick 7th
1998 "Kids" Sharon Brauner 8th
2000 "I Believe in God" Corinna May 2nd
2001 "A Song for our Friends" German Tenors 4th
"Happy Birthday Party" Lou & Band 3rd
2003 "This Night Should Never End" Petra Frey  Austria 2nd
2004 "It's a Wonderful Life" Ali & Lis  Malta 5th
2005 "Time to Fall in Love Again" Louiseann Tate 14th
"Don't Stop the Party" Ali & Lis 8th
"The Angels Are Tired" Manuel 7th
"He" Eleanor Cassar 10th
"Addio, Ciao" Aldo Busuttil 5th
"Sunshine in Your Eyes" Keith Camilleri 4th
"A Miracle of Love" Nicole Süßmilch & Marco Matias  Germany 2nd
"Sometimes I Wish I Were a Child Again" Tinka Milinović  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2nd
2009 "Innocent Heart" Ruth Portelli  Malta eliminated at SF4
"Tonight at the Opera" Classic Rebels 5th
"Blame it on Your Heart" Ruth Portelli eliminated at SF5
2010 "Rivers of Silence" Lee Bradshaw  Ireland 5th (Last)
2011 "Não estamos sós" Emanuel Santos  Portugal 20th on online selection
2011 "I'll Follow the Sunshine" Domenique Azzopardi  Malta Final 24
"This Is My Life" Valeria Tarasova  Moldova 7th
2012 "C'était ma vie" Lys Assia   Switzerland 8th
"Save a Little Sunshine" Irina Tarasiuc & MC Gootsa  Moldova 6th
"Mondo blu" Oksana Nesterenko  Ukraine 3rd
2013 "All in Your Head" Lys Assia feat. New Jack   Switzerland eliminated on online selection
2014 "Over the Limit" Edona Gjinaj
2016 "Under the Sun We Are One" Laura Pinski  Germany 4th
2017 "Join Us in the Rain" Marks & Stefanet  Moldova

References

  1. ^ Ralph Siegel discography at Discogs Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "Wer? Der Schlager-Produzent". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 26 June 1982. p. 15. ISSN 0174-4909. OCLC 644830569.
  3. ^ "Germany: Eurovision legends Dschinghis Khan stage comeback performance at Ralph Siegel event". 5 June 2018.
  4. ^ "History".
  5. ^ "Songs written by Ralph Siegel | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.
  6. ^ YouTube, a Google company. YouTube. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Zeppelin - Das Musical". Festspielhaus Management GmbH. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Ralph Siegel: So hübsch ist seine jüngste Tochter Alana". vip.de (in German). 17 April 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Kriemhild Jahn: Die Scheidung ist durch!". BUNTE.de (in German). 19 October 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Ralph Siegel ist frisch verliebt". GALA (in German). 22 March 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Ralph Siegel: Er sagte zum vierten Mal 'Ja'". GALA (in German). 15 September 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2019.