Updated June 7, 2020, 5:19 p.m.
It was supposed to be a Holland edition, it was an evening with many moments of foreign shame. The two Dutch Sylvie Meis and Lilly Becker competed against each other on the ProSieben show “Beat the Star” on Saturday evening. The fact that Sylvie Meis won in the end became a minor matter – because commentator Ron Ringguth made an absolute low with a tasteless comparison.
A criticism
from Christian Vock,
Freelance author
–
Sylvie Meis and Lilly Becker. Both once had a well-known top athlete at their side and both have been on TV for so long that you no longer really know why. Well, there is still one thing in common and it should even become a permanent topic this evening: Both women were born in the Netherlands.
At ProSieben this is enough in common to be able to compete against each other for the Saturday evening entertainment show “Schlag den Star”. And other than that, the evening did not place too much emphasis on differentiation.
It only took a few minutes for moderator Elton to set the first fragrance brand, what kind of humor this time you had to reckon with “Schlag den Star”, and at the beginning of the Holland edition it was a caravan joke. And because you were so keen on cliché turning, the two women had to play cheese for the first time, well what?
“Now one or the other thinks again: uh, cliché, Holland”, Elton knew about the creative level of this game, but as a justification he only got a “why not?” a. Even if it says “Why not?” There are several good answers, the caravan joke and the cheese grater game were harmless compared to what was to come.
Lilly Becker with “Black Lives Matter” lettering
When the two women first entered the studio with their Saturday evening outfits, commentator Ron Ringuth turned to all the male viewers: “Now I have bad news: They will probably change immediately, because they have to do that for various games. But we will keep these images in mind. ” Afterwards, moderator Elton followed up with a “No matter what the ladies wear today, they always look great” and even if he meant it nicely, you shouldn’t have to wonder why women in 2020 when saying such things still be reduced to their looks.
But Lilly Becker didn’t always hit the right note that evening either. The 43-year-old appeared with “Black Lives Matter” lettering on her arms to protest against racism – and then shortly afterwards fell into the everyday racism trap herself. In the game “Who is that?” images of prominent personalities were shown that the two candidates had to recognize. When it came to the image of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Lilly Becker had an idea, but she couldn’t remember the name. So Becker poked around in Chinese clichés: “Uchang Yong, Chu Chan Won, Wan-Tan, Wan-Tan-Soup.”
Ron Ringguth makes a tasteless comparison
Commentator Ron Ringguth should then take care of the negative climax of the evening. Meis and Becker had to heat with a tracked vehicle through a muddy course. When Becker took his sights on a round, she shouted: “I can’t see”, whereupon commentator Ringguth was carried away by the following saying: “Not I can’t breathe, but I can’t see.”
As a reminder: “I can’t breathe” were the words that African American George Floyd used to ask for help a few days ago when a policeman pushed his neck down for several minutes when he was arrested. A little bit later Floyd lost consciousness and later died in the hospital. For several days now, thousands of people with “I can’t breathe” slogans have been protesting racism and police violence in numerous US cities.
The outrage was great on Twitter. “Fantastic that tens of thousands demonstrate against racism and for ‘Black Lives Matter’. And open at prime time ProSieben Lilly Becker says the star ‘I can’t see in a game at Schlag.’ The commentator says: ‘Oh. Not I can’t breathe, but I can’t see. ‘ It sucks, “wrote author Christian Huber.” A career as a moderator is likely to end today, “said another Twitter woman and posted the questionable scene.
Ringguth apologized live on the show
After all, Ringguth noticed a little later what he had said and apologized on the show: “I made an inappropriate comment earlier and it happened in the heat of a live broadcast – but it mustn’t. I have been there long enough , so I can only apologize again very briefly. Has nothing to do with my attitude. ” A minimal ray of hope in a dark moment.
And the show? It was exciting at least in between when Becker won a few games. In the end it was only 4 out of 13 and thus a clear victory for Meis. The way the two friends interacted did little to create a real competitive atmosphere. They helped one another to fasten the protective helmets, handed themselves the water and strolled together for the next game.
It was all very polite and fair, but it was a bit stressful. At some point, it also dawned on Elton that one did not notice that the whole thing is actually a competition for 100,000 euros. “You are still opponents,” warned the moderator Becker and Meis when the two exchanged ideas about the right technique for playing the wheel.
There was not much left of the contesting puns in the run-up to the show, that one would play “Katz und Meis” or make “Meis Popcorn” apart from a lot of swearing by the candidates.
All the more regrettable that other sayings then dominated the evening negatively.
