Germanys

GERMANY is pinning its Eurovision hopes on one of the country’s best-known entertainers.

Sarah Engels will fly the flag for the nation in the Grand Final with her empowerment anthem Fire.

Who is Germany’s Eurovision entrant Sarah Engels?

Sarah Engels, 33, is a German singer and TV personality of Italian descent who has been a household name in her homeland for more than a decade.

She first burst onto the scene in 2011 when she finished as runner-up on the eighth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS) – Germany’s equivalent of The X Factor.

Her debut single Call My Name reached number two in the German charts and earned her an Echo Award nomination.

Engels, who was previously known by her married name Sarah Lombardi, has carved out an incredibly successful career on German reality TV.

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She finished second on Let’s Dance – Germany’s answer to Strictly Come Dancing.

The multi-talented star went on to lift the trophy on Das große Promibacken – the German version of The Great Celebrity Bake Off – as well as The Masked Singer Germany and Dancing on Ice.

She also works as a presenter, actress and voice artist.

Since November 2025, Sarah has been playing the lead role of Satine in the Cologne production of hit musical Moulin Rouge!

In her personal life, Sarah married fellow DSDS star Pietro Lombardi – who won the show the same year she came second – in March 2013.

The couple welcomed son Alessio in 2015, but split a year later.

She later tied the knot with former footballer Julian Büscher in May 2021, with the groom taking her surname.

Their daughter Solea was born later that year.

What is her Eurovision song ‘Fire’ about?

On February 28, Sarah was crowned Germany’s Eurovision pick after winning the national final Berlin.

She pipped wavvyboi’s Black Glitter and Molly Sue’s Optimist (Ha Ha Ha), with 38.3% of the public vote.

Fire was written by Sarah alongside Dario Schürmann, Luisa Heinemann, Raphael Lott and Valentin Boes.

On the surface, it is a punchy synth-pop banger about a lying, two-faced ex.

In the lyrics, Sarah brands a former flame a “vampire” who only comes out at night, telling him to stop denying his deceit and saying: “Boy, I’m out of your league”.

But the song’s deeper message is one of empowerment, solidarity and self-determination.

These themes are close to Sarah’s heart thanks to her foundation Stiftung Starke Mädchen, or Strong Girls, which she set up to inspire young women.

Sarah said taking part in Eurovision was a chance to share her message, “which comes deep from my heart”.

She added: “My motto for Vienna is: I’m on fire. I truly have no fear at all – I’m just incredibly excited.”

As one of Eurovision’s Big Four, Germany has automatic qualification to Saturday’s Grand Final at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle.

The country has won the contest twice – in 1982 with Nicole’s Ein bißchen Frieden, and also in 2010 with Lena’s Satellite.

German chancellor warns the US risks becoming bogged down in another quagmire similar to Iraq and Afghanistan.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the United States is being “humiliated” in its war with Iran, warning that Washington lacks a clear path out of the conflict as Tehran gains the upper hand.

Speaking to students in the German town of Marsberg on Monday, Merz said the situation has exposed a deeper strategic problem for the US as he drew comparisons with past military debacles.

“The problem with conflicts like this is always you don’t just have to get in – you have to get out again. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq,” he said.

Merz said Iranian officials were “obviously negotiating very skilfully” and appeared “clearly stronger than one thought”, adding that “an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership”, particularly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Merz urged a rapid end to the war, warning that the fallout was already hitting Germany’s economy.

“It is, at the moment, a pretty tangled situation,” he said. “And it is costing us a great deal of money. This conflict, this war against Iran, has a direct impact on our economic output.”

The German leader said Berlin remains ready to deploy minesweepers to help secure shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global petroleum supplies, but stressed that such steps depend on a cessation of hostilities.

Merz made the comments as concerns are growing across Europe over the wider impact of the conflict, including energy disruptions and economic instability.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul warned that nuclear threats continue to shape the security environment, even as Berlin reaffirmed its commitment to nonproliferation.

“As long as nuclear threats against us and our partners continue, we will need a credible deterrent,” he said before meetings at the United Nations on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

France and Germany have recently moved to deepen cooperation on nuclear deterrence, reflecting mounting anxiety in Europe over both the Iran war and broader regional instability.