Entertainment

Born in Jugenheim in 1963, he won the national competition "Youth Trains for the Olympics" in swimming in Berlin. After graduating from high school, he studied medicine through the Bundeswehr in Mainz and was part of the military triathlon squad. He became an age group triathlon world champion, competed in the 1st Triathlon Bundesliga, and participated in the Ironman Hawaii seven times. From 2011 to 2015, he was the team doctor for SV Darmstadt 98, overseeing their rise from the third to the first Bundesliga, and again from 2019 to 2021. He managed the youth performance center players of SV 98 from its inception in 2013 until 2022. From 2022 to 2023, he accompanied 1. FC Kaiserslautern as a team doctor with a focus on nutritional medicine, regeneration, and performance medicine. He is also a member of the scientific advisory board of the German Triathlon Union and the Sports Doctors' Journal. From 2002 to 2015, he was the medical director of the Ironman Frankfurt, where he developed an anti-doping control system and served as an expert in the case of speed skater Claudia Pechstein. As the chief physician of two medical practices in Frankfurt and Darmstadt, he advises athletes on specific topics of anti-inflammatory nutrition in the context of prevention or after injuries. He has never left water sports, including diving, windsurfing, and kiting, and when the water freezes, he skis in the mountains.

Marco Völler, born January 6, 1989, is a former German professional basketball player who most recently played for the Frankfurt Skyliners in the German Basketball League (BBL), both on the court and as Manager Sport. Growing up in a sports-loving family with roots in soccer, he decided early on to pursue his own career in basketball. Völler established himself as a solid and reliable player in the Bundesliga for many years and also took part in the prestigious EuroCup. His style of play and commitment on the court made him a valuable team member in all the teams he played for. In addition to his athletic accomplishments, Völler is characterized by his ability to present himself as a leader both on and off the court. With his retirement from professional basketball, Marco Völler has closed an impressive chapter in his sporting career, but remains an inspirational figure for young athletes.

Shida brings over 20 years of experience across business, sports, and yoga. Her work ranges from amateur athletes to elite professionals, including Bundesliga teams and international top performers. In collaboration with Blackroll®, she developed the concept “Blackroll meets Yoga,” which she later published with renowned experts in the book Optimale Regeneration mit Yoga & BLACKROLL®. Her clients include former swimming world champion Marco Koch, the NY Breakers of the International Swimming League, and professional triathletes. Shida also works regularly with elite youth football players in Frankfurt, supporting performance and recovery through yoga, breathwork, and sleep optimization. Internationally, she is active as a trainer, speaker, and workshop leader.

GOP stands for the Georgspalast in Hanover, a variety theatre with a long tradition. The brand name has since been taken to seven other locations in Germany and is now the most successful variety theatre company in Europe.

Under the motto ‘Entertainment for all the senses’ and the artistic language of imagination and skill, the GOP utilises the tension between avant-garde and tradition to create a new world of variety theatre, delighting over 800,000 visitors every year.

The GOP shows were created exclusively for the Europa 2, full of artistry at the highest level and audiovisual experiences in the productions. The boundaries between fiction and reality seem to blur, physics appears to be suspended and the impossible appears to become possible. The physical artistry of the fantastic artists, artistic pearls that are woven into a glittering chain of all facets of variety art, create modern, highly impressive show experiences.

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Alma Naidu is an award-winning jazz singer, pianist, and composer based in Munich, Germany. She studied jazz singing at the University of Music and Theatre Munich and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and completed a master’s degree in jazz composition and arrangement in Cologne. Her music combines contemporary jazz with singer-songwriter influences and is characterised by lyrical depth, expressive storytelling and a strong personal voice. Described by the press as “one of Germany’s most promising voices”, Naidu has become a distinctive figure within the young European jazz scene. Her debut album „Alma“ reached the Top 10 of the German Jazz Charts and led to performances at festivals and concert halls across Europe, Japan, Nepal and India. In 2025, Alma Naidu released her self-produced second album „Redefine", which explores themes of identity and social norms and entered the German Jazz Charts at number three. Her work reflects a constant exploration of musical spaces between genres, shaped by both compositional clarity and ensemble interplay.

Photocredit: Viktoriya Zaika

The Salome Chamber Orchestra was co-founded by the Carpenter siblings in 2010. It is comprised of the top graduates from the Curtis Institute, The Juilliard School, Princeton University, and Yale University.  The Orchestra has performed with leading singers and soloists including Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Rufus Wainwright, John Legend, Daniel Hope, Sharon Isbin, Natasha Bedingfield, and Karen Gomyo. With their artistic director, David Aaron Carpenter, they recorded the "12 Seasons" CD on Warner Classics.  

Christoph Kuch, born in 1975, studied business administration, but his true passion has always been magic since childhood. Although he looks like an ordinary family man living in a cozy suburb of Nuremberg, he is Germany’s most popular mentalist and a frequent guest on TV shows.

He is the German Champion and World Champion in the field of mentalism. With over 20 years of experience on major international stages, he has gained deep insights into human behavior, which he shares in seminars and coaching sessions. In May 2014, he published his first book, "Don’t Be Superstitious, It Brings Bad Luck!", humorously and expertly addressing the common questions he’s asked after his performances.

Carol Mühlenbrock, born in 1980 in Kenya, has lived in Germany since 2006 and is a mother of two. She runs the restaurant La[Kula] in Schermbeck, where she combines her passion for good food with a welcoming atmosphere, joy, and dance. In addition to her restaurant, Carol has a YouTube channel, 'Afrika kulinarisch,' where she shares authentic African recipes, heavily influenced by East African cuisine. She provides practical tips on spices and herbs central to African cooking and aims to raise awareness of the richness and cultural depth of African cuisine. Carol also appears on various TV programs, including ‘Kölner Treff,’ ‘Der Vorkoster,’ ‘Einfach & köstlich: Heimatküche mit Björn Freitag,’ and ‘The Taste on Tour,’ where she shares her love for African cuisine. She also contributes culinary tips to ARD Servicezeit. 

Christian Schoppe is one of Germany’s most renowned photographers. His career began in Vienna, working with figures like Oliver Hirschbiegel and Martin Kippenberger. In 1989, at just 23, he won the Austrian State Prize for portrait photography. From 1992, he created artist portraits including Gilbert & George and Jeff Koons, exhibited at the Centre Pompidou. He was the first German photographer to document the Romanée-Conti winery and also photographed Paul Bocuse. Back in Hamburg, he captured famous actors like Marie Bäumer, Daniel Brühl, and Loriot, as well as international personalities such as Philippe Starck, Karl Lagerfeld, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sports and political figures like Steffi Graf and Franz Beckenbauer also posed for him. His work regularly appears in top publications like Stern, Vogue, and Spiegel. He has produced campaigns for brands including Deutsche Bank, SAP, and Gillette. Since 2009, he has documented his travels in the “Postcards” series; Hapag Lloyd acquired 180 fine art prints. He also photographs art projects for Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Maison Margiela, with a special focus on backstage haute couture photography.

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