Germany Sends a Blind Vocalist to Tallinn

MAY 15 2002 · 12:00

Corinna May · "I Can't Live Without Music" · Germany · 2002 Placement: 21 · Score: 17 · Language: English · Composers: Stefan Raab · Venue: Saku Suurhall · Host: Tallinn, Estonia · Type: deep cut · Broadcast: digital hd Corinna May — blind German vocalist, 32 — takes the Saku Suurhall stage in a simple dress and delivers an adult-contemporary ballad written by Stefan Raab. 17 points for 21st place. Marie N wins for Latvia. Corinna's blindness is visible but not central to the staging — a Eurovision rarity of acknowledged disability without exploitation. Context Stefan Raab had been Germany's dominant Eurovision impresario since the late 1990s. Corinna May had been blind since childhood and was a successful German adult-contemporary performer. The selection was considered by Raab's team as an argument against Eurovision's youth-and-visual bias — which the 21st-place finish mostly confirmed. Legacy May continued as a German cabaret and adult-contemporary vocalist through the 2020s. Her Eurovision appearance is now cited in disability-representation Eurovision scholarship as one of few visibly-disabled entries. Raab's post-2002 Eurovision producing pivoted toward Lena 2010. The 2002 card exists as quiet counter-evidence to Eurovision's mainstream youth-pop orientation.