Stefan Raab is a German musician, comedian, and television personality. Born in Cologne in 1966, Raab tried his hand at law school and put in time as a butcher before breaking into the music industry in 1990. He worked as a freelance producer and jingle writer until 1996, when he was picked up as the host of the VIVA channel's comedy show #Vivavision. He went on to host his own show, #TV Total, in 1999. Though he's primarily known as a late-night host (kind of like a cross between Conan O'Brien and Ricky Gervais), Raab has continued to write and produce a number of charting singles. He wrote "Guildo Hat Euch Lieb" (performed by Guildo Horn), which went on to represent Germany in the 1998 ~Eurovision contest, and Raab himself went on to perform in the ~Eurovision contest two years later with a novelty disco tune called "Wadde Hadde Dudde Da?" (What Do You Have There?). In 2004, Raab ran a talent search for Germany's next ~Eurovision representative on a segment he called SSDSGPS, or "Stefan Seeks the Super Grand Prix Star" (a parody of #Deutschland Sucht den Superstar, which is commonly referred to as #DSDS). The winner of that competition, Maximilian Mutzke, went on to claim eighth place in that year's ~Eurovision contest. Raab developed ~the Bundesvision Song Contest the following year. Comprised of 16 contestants representing each of Germany's 16 lander (states), the contest featured high-profile winners like Juli (2005), Seeed (2006), and Oomph! (2007).

~ Margaret Reges, Rovi