But let\u2019s first go back to Udo Walz, with whom I\u2019ve maintained a good connection ever since my interview with him on October 4th of last year.<\/p>\n From time to time, we talk on the phone \u2014 I ask how he\u2019s doing, what\u2019s new, and I\u2019ve also visited him in his salon three times since then. Every time I\u2019ve flown to Berlin, a visit to him was a must. There\u2019s one thing you need to know about Udo: if you want to tell him something, it has to be in person or via mobile phone. You can\u2019t email him, and he doesn\u2019t read text messages \u2014 which doesn\u2019t exactly make him easy to reach. Before Christmas, I wanted to wish him a Merry Christmas by phone, but I couldn\u2019t get through. The same happened before New Year\u2019s and at the beginning of the year \u2014 no luck reaching him, which left me with an uneasy feeling that maybe he was intentionally ignoring me. So on January 18, 2013, I thought twice about whether I should visit Udo or better not. Not being able to reach him had unsettled me a little.<\/p>\n So despite my uncertainty, I decided to find out what was going on and whether he didn\u2019t want to talk to me anymore. Since my hotel was located right on Ku\u2019damm, practically around the corner from his salon, I found myself standing in front of his shop window very shortly after making that decision. I was lucky\u2014Udo was there. Which isn\u2019t always the case, as he often travels all over the world. But because of Fashion Week, he had stayed in Berlin. He saw me through the window, and I could tell he was trying to figure out who I was.<\/p>\n Then he came to the door, opened it, looked at me, and asked, „Do I know you? You look so familiar.“<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n To which I immediately replied, „Udo, it\u2019s me\u2014Oliver from D\u00fcsseldorf. Don\u2019t tell me you don\u2019t remember me?“ So we went into his salon together and sat down on the white guest couch on the left.<\/p>\n After I confronted him about the fact that I had tried to contact him several times and asked whether he no longer wanted to speak with me, he immediately said that was absolute nonsense. He had just received so many calls recently that mine probably got lost among them. And there was no reason for him to ignore me.<\/p>\n Then came one of those moments that make Udo so likable: he asked me if I\u2019d seen his new commercial on TV and what I thought of it. His eyes literally sparkled with pride as he waited eagerly for my feedback. I simply said, „You\u2019re pretty much everywhere these days\u2014I\u2019ve seen that commercial all over the place!“ I laughed. „But you come across really well in it.“<\/p>\n Udo\u2019s smile widened, and he added, „I got paid a lot of money for that.“<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It wasn\u2019t a brag\u2014it was pride. Pride that he had been chosen for the campaign and had been paid handsomely for it. Even though most Germans know who Udo is, Udo himself is a celebrity chaser. The background photo on his iPhone is of him with Celine Dion on the red carpet at the last Bambi Awards in D\u00fcsseldorf. His phone is filled with photos of him and countless celebrities. Who would\u2019ve thought\u2014Udo, the celebrity hunter, making his rounds at exclusive events.<\/p>\n In the salon, he runs a strict but fair ship. Watching how his employees behave and interact with him, I noticed he tends to hire mostly extroverted personalities, who aren\u2019t afraid to joke around with their boss now and then. It was just a brief snapshot, but I would say: as long as his team is punctual, responsible, and gets their work done properly, they enjoy a lot of creative freedom in the salon.<\/p>\n Oh yes\u2014back to Fashion Week and the Michalsky StyleNite. I asked him whether he might be able to pull some strings to get me a ticket. Normally, yes. But not on the last day\u2014or on the day of the event itself.<\/p>\n My Encounter with Udo Walz at the Michalsky StyleNite<\/strong><\/p>\n Nevertheless, he pulled out his iPhone and dialed Michael Michalsky\u2019s number. Naturally, he couldn\u2019t reach him\u2014he was probably busy with more important things, like preparing his big event that same evening. But Udo immediately assured me that he would definitely<\/em> get me into the after-show party. We agreed to speak again later to coordinate when I should show up in front of the Tempodrom so he could bring me in.<\/p>\n Just as I was about to leave, Mirja du Mont walked in to get a stylish hairstyle for the Michalsky show. Moments later, Joachim Heider appeared in front of us\u2014someone I had never heard of until that moment. He said goodbye to Udo and disappeared again. Udo then explained to me that \u201cJo\u201d was a composer and producer who had worked with the likes of Marianne Rosenberg, Udo J\u00fcrgens, Roland Kaiser, Freddy Quinn, and so on. Definitely not my generation, I thought. One thing\u2019s for sure: at Udo\u2019s salon, there\u2019s always some kind of celebrity alert.<\/p>\n I eventually left, went back to my hotel, slowly got ready, and called Udo again just before 9 p.m. He quickly told me to be at the Tempodrom exit at 9:50 p.m. so he could get me into the after-show party. At 9:45 p.m., a taxi dropped me off at the Tempodrom, and in what felt like -10\u00b0C, I waited outside the entrance, which also served as the exit, for Udo to arrive. I started to panic a little, worried my ears might fall off if I stayed in that brutal cold any longer. So I said to myself\u2014screw it\u2014and headed into the VIP pre-tent.<\/p>\n Michael Michalsky himself was there\u2014and after just 2 or 3 minutes, Udo suddenly appeared. It\u2019s worth noting here that this entrance area had a long, wide counter staffed with five or six hostesses. They had surely been responsible for handing out wristbands to celebrities and invited guests earlier in the evening. There were also clusters of security guards posted at every corner and entrance.<\/p>\n Udo spotted me, and I walked over to him, quietly asking, \u201cHow do I get in? Where do I get my wristband?\u201d He immediately said, \u201cCome behind the barrier!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut Udo, I still need a wristband, don\u2019t I?\u201d I asked again.<\/p>\n At that point, he snapped a bit and said, \u201cOh, stop fussing and just come behind the barrier.\u201d<\/p>\n The barrier consisted of stanchions connected by thick black ropes. A narrow opening allowed me to slip through. Udo instantly grabbed my arm and said I should follow him. A roughly 10-meter-long corridor led us to a glass door, behind which the after-show party was already in full swing. The previously oh-so-intimidating security guards didn\u2019t even glance at us. Not because they hadn\u2019t seen us, but because of Udo\u2019s direct and confident manner\u2014they simply didn\u2019t question whether I had a wristband or not.<\/p>\n He opened the glass door and said, \u201cHere you go\u2014have fun! I\u2019m done with the party scene. I\u2019m heading home. Have a great evening and good luck!\u201d And with that, he turned and walked toward the exit.<\/p>\n Udo doesn’t really need to do this, because what could I possibly say or offer him right now that would benefit him for supporting me? So there I was, inside the Michalsky After-Show Party, and it was quite fascinating to see who was there. The venue itself wasn\u2019t exactly mind-blowing, but for mr.uniQue, I was able to make some important and new connections. I had a personal conversation with Mirja du Mont, I stopped Ursula Karven as she was rushing to the bar, and I directly approached Tom Lemke (the star photographer) about the message I\u2019d sent him on Facebook.<\/p>\n All three already confirmed that they’d be happy to do an interview with me. So for me, it was definitely a successful evening. I also ran into some familiar faces and was once again surprised by how small the world really is. Around 2 or 3 a.m., I took a taxi back to the hotel and crashed into bed \u2014 dead tired and slightly tipsy.<\/p>\n Once I got back to D\u00fcsseldorf, I called Udo on Monday right away to thank him properly for his help \u2014 as one should. And finally, I told him I\u2019d definitely get in touch when I\u2019m next in Berlin. To which he immediately replied, \u201cDo that, I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d And with that, we said our goodbyes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fashion Week was once again held in Berlin (from January 15 to January 20, 2013), and this time I wanted to be a part of it. However, due to work commitments, I could only fly to the capital on January 17 \u2014 and by then,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1259,1307],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive-stories","category-vip-events"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.misterunique.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/michi.jpg?fit=1120%2C747&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6UJkf-g9V","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62119"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62121,"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62119\/revisions\/62121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"abreise-nach-berlin\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.misterunique.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/abreise-nach-berlin.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Kaffee und Kuchen im Salon von Udo Walz<\/h5>\n\n
He answered, „Ah, Oliver, it\u2019s you! I see you\u2019ve got a new hairstyle.“ And just like that, his hand was on my head, running down to the back as he said, „Well, you should\u2019ve had it cut a bit differently back here.“
I replied, „Udo, I would\u2019ve gladly had you cut my hair, but you don\u2019t do men\u2019s hair.“
It\u2019s worth mentioning here: although Udo is openly gay, he\u2019s always stayed true to himself when it comes to hairstyling\u2014he only cuts women\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>von links: Mirja du Mont & mr.uniQue<\/h5>\n
He helps because he genuinely wants to \u2014 apparently, he finds me likeable. At least, that\u2019s the impression he gives me. And I have to admit, I really like him too \u2014 he\u2019s got his heart in the right place.<\/p>\n