"Schlagerbooom Open Air" Silbereisen seeks reconciliation with Bohlen - who counters with a laugh

Before the "Schlagerbooom Open Air" (ARD), Florian Silbereisen had announced Dieter Bohlen's appearance as a major TV event. The pop star was a little unsure whether his guest was really friendly.

Pop titan Dieter Bohlen meets pop titan Florian Silbereisen. There was tension in the air. Because back then, Florian snatched DSDS away from Dieter, who had just been fired by RTL, for one season. Now, after five years, the first reunion took place at Flori's "Schlagerbooom Open Air" in Kitzbühel, of all places. But there was no booming between the two. On stage, however, they did.

Three hours of rhythm, you have to like that. But rockers know that from Status Quo - and that's just one band. Florian Silbereisen, on the other hand, pushed 25 artists across the stage in the tennis stadium in Kitzbühel. And three songs were also performed in a non-rock rhythm. Somehow funny that these were also the vocal highlights.

And no, Dieter Bohlen wasn't one of them. But the pop titan - at 71, he was actually the oldest artist on stage after Mireille Mathieu, 78, and Bernhard Brink, 73 - still has what it takes. Only Jürgen Drews, who swayed in the audience to his daughter Jolina's performance and celebrated his 80th birthday, was older.

A lot of experienced pop stars. But they rocked the place. It was a really great show, which made everyone's heart skip a beat and, thanks to the drone, pyro and torch show and balloon and confetti parade, was also a feast for the eyes. The audience was grateful and in a good mood and sang along at the top of their lungs when Flori asked for vocal reinforcement.

Andreas Gabalier commemorates the victims of Graz with his most beautiful ballad

For 161 long days, Florian Silbereisen was off or on the road as "Traumschiff" captain for the competition. You could tell that a bit from his presentation. Captain's dinner could be easier. In any case, many of the transitions from one star to the next seemed contrived and some of the punchlines fell flat, which was down to the presenter.

When Andreas Gabalier from Graz sang his beautifully moving "Amoi seg ma uns wieder" in memory of the victims of Graz and their survivors "as a consolation", the world stood still for a moment and tears flowed in the wide audience. Then, in conversation with the alpine rocker, Flori demystified the emotional moment by casually mentioning that the performance of this very song had been planned for a long time, i.e. before the tragedy. Too bad. But still nice.

Silbereisen naturally had his strong moments. Whether as a rocker with the Styrian harmonica with Alpine barbie Melissa Naschenweng, or as a dog sitter with a slobber cloth for Michelle's St. Bernards Bonnie and Ronja. It was wonderful how he paid homage to the great Mireille Mathieu on his knees. The surprise for Andrea Berg's husband Uli, to whom his wife sang "Aber dich gibt's nur einmal für mich" on stage with Semino Rossi for their 18th wedding anniversary, was rather embarrassing. Uli, who was sung to, tripped nervously at Silbereisen's side, because: "I've forgotten the wedding day."

Florian Silbereisen gets down on one knee in front of Mireille Mathieu

The show was a spectacular firework display of hits. From the younger generation, the Esteriore Brothers, Matt & Sam, Eric Philippi, Alina, Jolina Drews (with Lucas Cordalis and Achim Petry) and Vincent Gross were at the start, Voxxclub, Maite Itoiz & John Kelly and Ella Endlich represented the established adults and the transition to cult and superstars such as Semino Rossi and Andy Borg.

Much of the event was themed around anniversaries. DJ Ötzi sang his popular hit once again for the 25th anniversary of his "Hey, Baby". 50 years old this year was "In 't kleine café aan de haven" by Vader Abraham. Hardly anyone knows it. The German version is: "Die kleine Kneipe" was sung by Andy Borg and Flori together. Stefanie Hertel celebrated her 40th stage anniversary. 60 years old is Nicole, who presented her greatest hits in a medley. All of them - including "Ein bisschen Frieden" - in a pop groove.

Nicole has 60 years of life, Mireille Mathieu has 60 years on stage! The "Sparrow of Avignon" thrilled the fans and Florian Silbereisen with a magnificent version of "New York, New York" - and then a live and a capella performance of "La vie en rose". No less than highly deserved and appropriate that Flori went down on his knees in awe.

Michelle also gave a great performance with "Ich gehör nur mir" from the musical "Elisabeth", which she performed on stage for the first time. And of course the Schlagerboom anthem "Sierra Madre" by Sigrid and Marina was an early highlight. The late highlight was Gabalier's farewell ballad.

Silbereisen lashes out at Bohlen: "Known for big hits and a big mouth"

But then - "It has to go on" - the alpine folk rocker performed a lively medley. And thus paved the way for the hyped climax. Silbereisen didn't even announce it alone at 11.15 pm, but was supported by "Bild" entertainment boss Tanja May: "Dieter has respect for you, he appreciates you. He's in a good mood, it's going to be a blast." How nice, that made Flori's heart light. Just three hours earlier, he had doubted: "Dieter is not only known for his big hits, but also for his big mouth."

The pop titan then opened his mouth for three of his big hits. His voice sounded different for each song. Three different playback voices - not everyone can do that! He also rocked out together with Flori to "You Can Get It, If You Really Want" in a routine and sociable manner. When Silbereisen handed him the guitar, Bohlen said: "It's like Modern Talking, I'm playing guitar again."

Dieter Bohlen teases Florian Silbereisen: "You can call me Helene from tomorrow"

There was a little verbal sparring after all. "We should do more together", said Bohlen and suggested "a new show, a program". Or: "There's usually tennis here, we could play tennis against each other." Flori took up the suggestion: "We could have a bash."

During the transition to the finale with "We Have A Dream", which Bohlen once wrote for the top ten of the first DSDS season (and which - of course - ended up in first place), Silbereisen rambled on about the supposedly strained relationship between him and Dieter in the direction of world peace: "We can speak our minds, but we can also get along. It would be desirable if we could all get along more, even if we have different opinions." Dieter had had too much of a good time: "Where are the rings? You can call me Helene from tomorrow."