and it's one of these 100 german must read. but 1st contestants have been arriving in tel aviv in israel for this year's your vision song called test and although the final is on saturday rehearsals have started and the knockout stages begin on tuesday 41 countries have entered only 26 get to the finals and here is net i was advised last year's winner of driving greats she knows how to put on a show. and i'm joined by my colleague adrian cannon and the agent is all it is for most have arrived and their households have gotten we can have a sneak preview i think we're going to have a look at the french contribution 1st i thought is one of the favorites the shia his song is as much a political statement as a song is an l g p t plus icon in france the song is about not being defined

by others but staying true to yourself. something i think you can identify with to keep haitian to stay true to myself and party. and spain's entry provides a splash of color this is with love venda. and finally come really have to germany is represented by sisters with that summation instead of the. performing sister sisters and not actually sisters. and. the country's run of bad luck since 2015 germany has come last wipes actually receiving one point. in 2050 from britain in germany top fairing so well in the competition recently but top of the

list when it comes to set design indeed this is the 6 time floor invite vida. has designed sets for revision. the final run up to the euro vision song contest in tel aviv a key test room for florian feeder. he designed the backdrop for the show the biggest competition of its current on the planets. now we get a chance to see whether everything works as planned. boards it's all it's a big set and big venue but the stage itself is actually relatively small and that creates an intimate party atmosphere even though when viewed as a whole it of course looks gigantic it's very close to immunise of course also. it's the 6th time the german stage designers shape the look of the contest the 1st rehearsals every participating country like poland is responsible for its own

performance but one design element reappears again and again the triangle it's a reference to the star of david and it's raining symbol. the expo exhibition center tell of eve is the venue for this year's european song contest the most complex aspect is coordinating with the various country delegations and israeli t.v. producers. it's not easy to do a search for the vision we have 4141 countries when we need a lot of versatility and i think you can see the floor and stage a lot of versatility guys who beat us this concept of course it's important to me that the whole thing looks good and works visually but the most important thing of all is that it works as a whole. you can only judge that after the show. and when it's over i'm happy if it all went well would leave florian vader has done far more than create a stage for

a competition with a 29000 euro vision song contest he sets a new milestone for stage design. so a great sense but one of the big talking points this year aging well the biggest controversy is not a song the ship but rather the venue of course the contest taking place and because it is releasing and it was a lie won the contest in 28 c. the pro palestinian international boycott divestment sanctions movement b.d.'s has called for a boycott and there were protests at the weekend in tel aviv the b.d.'s says the contest allows a white washing of is reagan's policies towards palestinians in the occupied west bank and gaza israel says the international boycott is discriminating and anti said mistake but dozens of european artists have called for the contest to be moved

elsewhere but so far no singers have doubt some of the artists have also defied the boycott calls madonna will be appearing at the final on saturday night's indeed very briefly big question who's going to win well the dutch song is favored duncan lawrence has appeared naked in the video for al-qaeda appears naked on saturday night i predict he could have a good chance of pulling it off. he will be taken. off his clothes. by do very. the german aids foundation annual charity over the weekend in western germany tops our us from the operatic world performed with the beethoven orchestra and raise lots of money for aids charities he was maybe a part of the event and broadcast it live but if you missed it some highlights.

2 do good and take joy in it that's the motto of this year's oprah gala in bone it's been held for the 8th time on behalf of the german aids foundation soprano orly and i took out was one of 10 singers who took part as well as pieces from their d.'s this is silly investments and la traviata the ukrainian singer also performed mini's aria from pretty nice boy. the aria is perfect for this concert in particular because meaning as a character is also in. but she's in love and never loses hope that everything will turn out ok. the artists all perform for free the proceeds from ticket sales are donated to the fight against the still incurable disease. company in this thing as is the city's beethoven orchestra led by conductor derek cuffed on.

it's for a good cause for an important cause that we need to keep in the public eye on a huge sum of money was raised on this evening that's great and we're happy to serve the cause of. the gun as was started by on and helmet under ass hot fake his biggest concerns remain prevention and research globally almost 37000000 people are living with hiv this theme of the subject is played down people act as if it's not such a bad thing no 1st you should protect yourself otherwise you have a lifelong. disease and be reliant on strong medication and that's not fun people should be careful and be informed that our message. the bon oprah gala has become one of the hottest dates in the cultural calendar popular with both concert goers and artists other engaging performances came from soprano iniesta.

and countertenor release of under. 10 hour and break down you know it had an energetic take on line sucked the do it from off from box the tales of hoffmann. this year's got a netted a record 240000 euros but close as dagon of the german aids foundation says the charity's work is far from over anyone's hour by considering our work as a whole it's very important for us that the disease be acknowledged by society for it to be curable one day to finally beat it that would be our greatest success and . that beethoven's ode to joy the anthem of the european union brought the

event to a triumphant close so it's beethoven choir and audience doing together in song to demonstrate their joint resolve to fight aids. now to all series 100 must reads the best books of german language literature from the start of the 20th century today it's a book called by a swiss author called peter. it was written just 20 years ago and it's a tragic love story between an older man and a woman half his age is our man david leavitt's with mole. when people are in love they do some pretty cool raese stuff like buying expensive jewelry opening joint bank accounts going through each other's e-mails some people even write love stories but what happens when the story becomes more important than the love itself .

agnus is the debut novel of swiss author page. it's the story of a love story gone terribly wrong the narrator is a want to be a novelist with writer's block he falls in love with agnes a student he meets at the public library no i'm not giving anything away when i tell you that it is not and as well the author makes that clear from the very beginning. agnes is dead killed by a story all that's left of her now is this story it begins on that day 9 months ago when we 1st met in the chicago public library it was cold when we 1st met and generally is cold in the city. their conversation spanned the big topics love death intimacy when agnes asks her lover if her write a story about her it starts off as a game the narrator documents their love affair as it unfolds but then he starts writing a few chapters ahead. a few days after our excursion to the lake the story

moved into the future now agnes was my creation i felt the new freedom led to wings to my imagination i planned her future for her the way a father would plan his daughters. so where's the line between reality and fantasy does agnes really die or is it just part of the story within the story agnus is a novel about love and loneliness and a parable about the power of literature. finally today the hollywood legend doris day has passed away in california. couple hauffe she dreamt of being damaged her leg badly in a car accident and took up singing then a hollywood beckoned and she became one of the biggest box office stars of the late 1950 s. and sixty's films including pillow talk opposite rock hudson and the man who knew

too much in recent years she had spent most of a time and energy as an animal rights activist doris day was died aged 90. 6 it's a day when sides at d.w. dot com slash culture face book. account.

because. it's only. just in the season. not take the time. w. . i'm not laughing at the jet well i just sometimes i am but i'm standing up in which a couple of german thinks deep into her german culture of looking at the stereotypes bequests put in here think the future of countries that are not. needed seem ridiculous drama they are you know it's cold out there bob

i'm rachel join me for me for a german sunday to. post some say that this world alone. but we're not. just sanctions we come into this world where we need to get. into the human mind. and then we can make him feel different that's what you just saw. in that's why we've. done.

this is g.w. newswire from berlin for a longer poses a curfew after violence against muslims angry ma. have killed one person and attacked mosques and muslim owned businesses the communal on rats follows the deadly easter attacks by islamists also covering up. a number of protesters and an army officer are shot dead in sudan as protests in khartoum turned violent and deadly clashes erupting despite an apparent breakthrough in talks between the military government and opposition groups.