ESC: Germany's five candidates for the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv

In a three-hour live transmission on German public broadcasting on February 9, five young talents will vie for the privilige of representing Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest, held this year in Ukraine. They are: Wilhelm "Sadi" Richter, Isabella "Levina" Lueen, Helene Nissen, Axel Maximilian Feige, and Felicia Lu Kürbiss.

19-year-old Sadi lives in Dortmund and studies composition at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen. His voice spans a four-octave range, and he uses it on jazz and soul numbers. The young singer from the Ruhr District is no newcomer to show business: at the tender age of 15, he appeared as Sylvie Meis's vocal trainer on the broadcast "Shooting Stars."

Coming from Bonn, Levina began classical voice studies at age nine. From there, she went to London to study vocal performance and composition, once earning the distinction of "Best Vocal Performer." She has always dreamed of a career as a singer, and commuting between London and Berlin, she currently appears with her band in bars.

20 years old, Helene Nissen comes from the northern German town of Schleswig. Still at school, she plays guitar and sings for every occasion. Helene regularly performs in public together with her brother Kjell. Her great loves are Johnny Cash as well as soul music and the blues. One of her favorite artists is the British singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin, with whom she dreams of singing in duet.

At 28, Axel Feige is the oldest of this year's contenders for a ticket to the ESC in Kyiv. Playing piano, bassoon, guitar and bass, Axel feels at home in nearly every music genre: blues, soul, jazz, funk, R'n'B, pop and rock are all in his repertory. Having once earned his living as a street musician, the Hamburg resident now plays in the bands "Absolem Max" and "Diazpora."

Felicia Lu Kürbiss comes from the Berchtesgardener Land region of the German Alps. She'll try to woo the television voting audience with electropop. The 21-year-old had musical training in school in the areas of pop music and vocal coaching. Felicia also has TV experience, making it to the finale of the casting show "Rising Star" in 2014. She's had her own YouTube channel since 2015.

Florian Silbereisen, Lena Meyer-Landrut and Tim Bendzko are the troika presiding over Germany's choice for the ESC. All three are successful in the German music business. The Schlager expert, the former ESC winner and the singer-songwriter will comment on what is going on onstage and advise the audience in determining who will stand up for Germany in Kyiv. The three cannot vote, however.