Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican: Hape Kerkeling sows his vulnerability to small countries and travels to them in Vox’s documentary series “Hape and the 7 dwarf States”. The start is tomorrow, Sunday, November 21, at 7.10 pm. The artist promises the format to be “historical, satirical, educational, and touristic”.
“I thought about what I’d like to do again on TV,” the best-selling author (“Paws off the table”) was quoted by RTL Media Group. “And I’ve always wanted to travel to the Seven Dwarf Countries and know how these strange structures have managed to survive through the ages and still exist today.”
Kerkeling made her announced TV comeback in March with Vox. The comedian, who turns 57 on December 9, was already on talk shows this year, sang on Florian Silbereisen’s music show “Schlagerboom” and was honored for his life’s work in a TV award, but the so-called docutainment series is now his first TV special – Form after years of abstinence from the screen.
Just in time to celebrate his 50th birthday, Kirkling completely disappeared from the scene in 2014. But he says it differently: “I’ve done a lot of things, and I’ve been dubbed Olaf in Disney’s ‘Frozen’. I’ve written a book and been in movies.”
As an introduction as “Vox-Reise-Influencer” (an ironic self-description) goes to Malta, the island nation between Sicily and Libya, Kirkling because of the language there, a mixture of English, Spanish, Italian, French and Arabic, as most European countries feel in Europe. The small capital, Valletta, is entirely laid out on the drawing board – “just like Mannheim, it’s just beautiful,” Kirkling jokes.
In Malta, the Italian fan meets designer couple Charles and Ron as well as opera singer Joseph Calliga, with whom he sings “Nesun Dorma”. He bakes a Maltese pie with Julia Hering of Saxony-Anhalt, who fell in love with Gozo. It is a crunchy bread dough covered with goat cheese. Kerkeling also wears costumes, for example, playing a royal role by telling as much about the Malta archipelago as Queen Elizabeth II, who spent her honeymoon there. He explores filming locations, because Malta is considered the Hollywood of the Mediterranean. More than 300 films and series have been filmed here, including the blockbuster “Game of Thrones”.
After Malta comes Liechtenstein (November 28), the Vatican State (December 5), Monaco (December 12) and San Marino (December 19). In the new year, Vox will also show Andorra (January 2) and Luxembourg (January 9). In the Principality of Liechtenstein, Kirkling meets a falcon, in the Vatican even the Pope, in the rich state of Monaco on the Mediterranean, former racing driver Nico Rosberg and in San Marino the multiple Eurovision song contestant Valentina Moneta. In Andorra, the author of “I’m Going” celebrates a short revival of St James and in Luxembourg he explores the history of RTL, that is Radio Télévision Luxembourg, with RTL journalist Ulrike von der Groeben.
(Service – www.vox.de/cms/sendungen/hape-und-die-sieben-zwergstaaten.html)
