Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox song contest country

Germany has officially participated in every Eurovision Song Contest since its inaugural edition in Template:Escyr, except in Template:Escyr when its entry did not qualify past the audio-only pre-selection round, and consequently was not seen in the broadcast final and does not count as one of Germany's 68 appearances. No other country has been represented as many times. Along with Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, and the Template:Esccnty, Germany is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to their participating broadcasters being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The final is broadcast in Germany on ARD's flagship channel, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.

Germany first won the contest in Template:Escyr with "Ein bißchen Frieden" performed by Nicole. The second German victory came 28 years later at the Template:Escyr contest, when "Satellite" performed by Lena won. Katja Ebstein, who finished third in Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr, then second in Template:Escyr, is the only performer to have made the top three on three occasions. Germany has a total of 11 top three placements, also finishing second with Lena Valaitis (Template:Escyr) and twice with the group Wind (1985 and 1987), and finishing third with Mary Roos (1972), Mekado (1994) and Sürpriz (1999). Germany has finished last on nine occasions, receiving nul points in Template:Escyr, Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr.

While having not reached the top ten in 15 of the last 20 contests (2005–205), Michael Schulte achieved Germany's second-best result of the 21st century, by finishing fourth at the Template:Escyr contest. Although German contestants have had varied levels of success, public interest remains high and the contest is one of the most-watched events each year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HistoryEdit

The Federal Republic of Germany has participated in the contest since its inception in Template:Escyr.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Before German reunification in 1990, the country was occasionally presented as "West Germany". The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, and instead took part in the Intervision Song Contest.

With one win (Template:Escyr) and four second-place results (Template:Escyr, Template:Escyr, Template:Escyr, and Template:Escyr), Germany was the second most successful country in the contest in the 1980s, behind Ireland, who had two wins in the decade.

1996 absenceEdit

ARD had selected an artist and song to represent them at the Template:Escyr, to be held in Oslo, Norway. Due to the large number of countries wanting to compete at Eurovision, the EBU determined that only 23 of the 30 countries could compete. Hosts Norway qualified automatically, the other 29 songs went into an audio-only pre-qualification round, with the top 22 going on to compete alongside Norway in Oslo. Unfortunately for Germany, its entry, Leon with "Planet of Blue", failed to earn enough points to progress to the final, finishing 24th. ARD and the EBU were not happy with this, as Germany was the biggest financial contributor at the time. This is the only time that Germany has been absent from the contest.

2000sEdit

In the 2000s, Germany has been notable for their adoption of musical styles which are not typical of Eurovision, such as country and western (Texas Lightning – "No No Never" in Template:Escyr) and swing (Roger Cicero – "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" in Template:Escyr and Alex Swings Oscar Sings – "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" in Template:Escyr). Germany had some successes throughout the decade, Lou - "Let's Get Happy" came in 11th place out of 26 in Template:Escyr and Stefan Raab came 5th in 2000, which was Germany's best placement during the 2000's. Germany tied for last in Template:Escyr for points, but was awarded 23rd of 25 places when the results were posted. In 2009, ARD held an internal selection for the first time since 1995 due to lack of interest and viewing figures of the German national finals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Alex Christensen and Oscar Loya were selected to represent Germany at the 2009 contest, where they performed on stage with burlesque artist Dita Von Teese. However they only managed to receive 35 points, placing 20th of 25 competing countries.

2010sEdit

In Template:Escyr, ARD approached former entrant and songwriter Stefan Raab and private network ProSieben to co-operate in finding a winning entry for the country. It has been said that Raab was approached due to his good record at the contest, finishing 5th in Template:Escyr as well as writing entries in Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr, which finished 7th and 8th, respectively. Raab agreed and conducted a TV casting show called {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} which was broadcast on ARD and ProSieben. A winner arose in Lena Meyer-Landrut with "Satellite", who went on to win the contest. Two further collaborations with ProSieben provided the second and third top ten result in a row respectively in Template:Escyr (Lena, who returned to defend her title with "Taken by a Stranger") and Template:Escyr (Roman Lob with "Standing Still").

The streak of top 10 finishes was broken in the Template:Escyr contest, when Cascada's song "Glorious" finished 21st with 18 points. The group Elaiza in Template:Escyr, Ann Sophie in Template:Escyr, Jamie-Lee in Template:Escyr and Levina in Template:Escyr finished in 18th, 27th (last), 26th (last) and 25th (second to last) place respectively. Ann Sophie became the country's third entry to finish with nul points, after Nora Nova in Template:Escyr and Ulla Wiesner in Template:Escyr, and the first since the introduction of the current scoring system in 1975.

Germany's luck changed in Template:Escyr, when Michael Schulte brought them back to the top 5 for the first time since 2010 with "You Let Me Walk Alone", finishing in fourth place. This is the first time since 2012 that more than one country from the "Big Five" has made the top ten (with Italy finishing fifth) and the second time (after 2002) that two "Big Five" countries have made the top five since the establishment of the rule. Template:Escyr, the duo Sisters with the song "Sister" was not able to replicate the same success, receiving no points from the televote and finishing in 25th place with 24 points.

2020sEdit

Three further bottom five results were recorded by Germany at the start of the decade, that of Jendrik in Template:Escyr (also receiving no points from the televote), Malik Harris in Template:Escyr (receiving no points from the juries) and Lord of the Lost in Template:Escyr. This streak was broken by Isaak, whose entry "Always on the Run" placed 12th in Template:Escyr with 117 points, and Abor & Tynna, who placed 15th with 151 points in Template:Escyr.

OrganisationEdit

Since 1996, ARD consortium member {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (NDR) is who participates in the contest representing Germany. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (SWR) will take over from NDR as lead broadcaster from Template:Escyr.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The responsibility within the consortium for the participation in the contest has changed hands between its different members over the years:<ref name="ESC-Acts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1991, SFB worked in partnership with the East German broadcaster Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF) to select the German entry for that year's contest. Between 2010 and 2012, private broadcaster {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} worked in partnership with NDR.<ref name="ESC-Acts" /> In 2025, RTL Deutschland will partner with NDR.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The process to select the German entry in the contest has changed over the years, with both national finals and internal selections (occasionally a combination of both formats) having been held.<ref name="ESC-Acts" />

Germany and the "Big Five"Edit

Since 1999, Germany, along with Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty and the Template:Esccnty, have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final regardless of their results in previous contests.<ref name="50yrs">Template:Cite book</ref> The participating broadcasters from these countries earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU, and subsequently became known as the "Big Four". In 2008, it was reported that the "Big Four" could lose their status and be forced to compete in the semi-finals;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> however, this never materialised, and the rule remained in place.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When Italy returned to the contest in 2011, it was given the same status, resulting in the countries becoming members of a "Big Five".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Germany was the first Big Five country to win the contest after the rule was introduced, courtesy of Lena in Template:Escyr. In terms of success, it is currently second behind Italy, which won in Template:Escyr with Måneskin, and finished second in Template:Escyr with Raphael Gualazzi and again in Template:Escyr with Mahmood. However, taking into account Italy's absence from the contest for the first 11 years of the rule's existence, Germany remains the only country to have won out of the original "Big Four".

Participation overviewEdit

Table key
1 First place
2 Second place
3 Third place
Last place
X Entry selected but did not compete
Upcoming event
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points
Template:Escyr Walter Andreas Schwarz lang}}" German rowspan="2" Template:N/ATemplate:Efn rowspan="2" Template:N/ATemplate:Efn colspan="2" rowspan="38" data-sort-value="99999" Template:N/A
Freddy Quinn lang}}" German
Template:Escyr Margot Hielscher lang}}" German 4 8
Template:Escyr Margot Hielscher lang}}" German 7 5
Template:Escyr Alice and Ellen Kessler lang}}" German 8 5
Template:Escyr Wyn Hoop lang}}" German 4 11
Template:Escyr Lale Andersen lang}}" German, French 13 3
Template:Escyr Conny Froboess lang}}" German 6 9
Template:Escyr Heidi Brühl lang}}" German 9 5
Template:Escyr Nora Nova lang}}" German 13 ◁ 0
Template:Escyr Ulla Wiesner lang}}" German 15 ◁ 0
Template:Escyr Margot Eskens lang}}" German 10 7
Template:Escyr Inge Brück "Anouschka" German 8 7
Template:Escyr Wencke Myhre lang}}" German 6 11
Template:Escyr Siw Malmkvist lang}}" German 9 8
Template:Escyr Katja Ebstein lang}}" German 3 12
Template:Escyr Katja Ebstein lang}}" German 3 100
Template:Escyr Mary Roos lang}}" German 3 107
Template:Escyr Gitte lang}}" German 8 85
Template:Escyr Cindy and Bert lang}}" German 14 ◁ 3
Template:Escyr Joy Fleming lang}}" German, English 17 15
Template:Escyr Les Humphries Singers lang}}" German 15 12
Template:Escyr Silver Convention "Telegram" English 8 55
Template:Escyr Ireen Sheer lang}}" German 6 84
Template:Escyr Dschinghis Khan lang}}" German 4 86
Template:Escyr Katja Ebstein lang}}" German 2 128
Template:Escyr Lena Valaitis "Johnny Blue" German 2 132
Template:Escyr Nicole lang}}" German 1 161
Template:Escyr Hoffmann and Hoffmann lang}}" German 5 94
Template:Escyr Mary Roos lang}}" German 13 34
Template:Escyr Wind lang}}" German 2 105
Template:Escyr Ingrid Peters lang}}" German 8 62
Template:Escyr Wind lang}}" German 2 141
Template:Escyr Maxi and Chris Garden lang}}" German 14 48
Template:Escyr Nino de Angelo lang}}" German 14 46
Template:Escyr Chris Kempers and Daniel Kovac lang}}" German 9 60
Template:Escyr Atlantis 2000 lang}}" German 18 10
Template:Escyr Wind lang}}" German 16 27
Template:Escyr Münchener Freiheit lang}}" German 18 18 colspan="2" Template:N/A
Template:Escyr Mekado lang}}" German 3 128 colspan="2" rowspan="2" Template:N/A
Template:Escyr Stone and Stone lang}}" German 23 ◁ 1
Template:Escyr Leon "Planet of Blue" German colspan="2" Template:N/ATemplate:Efn X 24 24
Template:Escyr Bianca Shomburg lang}}" German 18 22 colspan="2" rowspan="7" Template:N/A
Template:Escyr Guildo Horn lang}}" German 7 86
Template:Escyr Sürpriz "Journey to Jerusalem – Kudüs'e Seyahat" German, Turkish, English 3 140
Template:Escyr Stefan Raab lang}}" German, English 5 96
Template:Escyr Michelle lang}}" German, English 8 66
Template:Escyr Corinna May "I Can't Live Without Music" English 21 17
Template:Escyr Lou "Let's Get Happy" English 11 53
Template:Escyr Max "Can't Wait Until Tonight" English, Turkish 8 93 colspan="2" rowspan="7" Template:N/A
Template:Escyr Gracia "Run & Hide" English 24 ◁ 4
Template:Escyr Texas Lightning "No No Never" English 14 36
Template:Escyr Roger Cicero lang}}" German, English 19 49
Template:Escyr No Angels "Disappear" English 23 14
Template:Escyr Alex Swings Oscar Sings! "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" English 20 35
Template:Escyr Lena "Satellite" English 1 246
Template:Escyr Lena "Taken by a Stranger" English 10 107 colspan="2" Template:N/A
Template:Escyr Roman Lob "Standing Still" English 8 110 colspan="2" rowspan="15" Template:N/A
Template:Escyr Cascada "Glorious" English 21 18
Template:Escyr Elaiza "Is It Right" English 18 39
Template:Escyr Ann Sophie "Black Smoke" English 27 ◁ 0
Template:Escyr Jamie-Lee "Ghost" English 26 ◁ 11
Template:Escyr Levina "Perfect Life" English 25 6
Template:Escyr Michael Schulte "You Let Me Walk Alone" English 4 340
Template:Escyr S!sters "Sister" English 25 24
Template:Escyr Ben Dolic "Violent Thing" English colspan="2" Template:N/ATemplate:Efn X
Template:Escyr Jendrik "I Don't Feel Hate" English 25 3
Template:Escyr Malik Harris "Rockstars" English 25 ◁ 6
Template:Escyr Lord of the Lost "Blood & Glitter" English 26 ◁ 18
Template:Escyr Isaak "Always on the Run" English 12 117
Template:Escyr Abor & Tynna "Baller" German 15 151
Template:Escyr Confirmed intention to participate <ref name="SWR">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song ContestEdit

Template:Further

Artist Song Language At Congratulations At Eurovision
Final Points Semi Points Year Place Points
Nicole lang}}" German colspan="2" Template:N/A 7 106 Template:Escyr 1 161

HostingsEdit

Year Location Venue Presenter(s)
Template:Escyr Frankfurt Großer Sendesaal Anaid Iplicjian
Template:Escyr Munich Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle Marlene Charell
Template:Escyr Düsseldorf Esprit Arena Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers and Stefan Raab

AwardsEdit

Barbara Dex AwardEdit

Template:Further

Year Performer Host city Template:Abbr
Template:Escyr Guildo Horn Template:Flagicon Birmingham citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Related involvementEdit

ConductorsEdit

Year ConductorTemplate:Efn Musical Director Notes Template:Abbr
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Fernando Paggi Template:N/A Host conductor <ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Escyr Willy Berking Template:Efn
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Dolf van der Linden rowspan="25" Template:N/A Host conductor
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Franck Pourcel
Template:Escyr Franz Josef Breuer
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Franck Pourcel Host conductor
Template:Escyr Rolf-Hans Müller
Template:Escyr Willy Berking
Template:Escyr
Template:Escyr Alfred Hause
Template:Escyr Willy Berking
Template:Escyr Hans Blum
Template:Escyr Horst Jankowski
Template:Escyr Hans Blum
Template:Escyr Christian Bruhn <ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Escyr Dieter Zimmermann
Template:Escyr Paul Kuhn
Template:Escyr Günther-Eric Thöner
Template:Escyr Werner Scharfenberger
Template:Escyr Rainer Pietsch
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Les Humphries
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Ronnie Hazlehurst Host conductor
Template:Escyr Jean Frankfurter
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Norbert Daum
Template:Escyr Wolfgang Rödelberger <ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Escyr
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Norbert Daum
Template:Escyr Dieter Reith
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Pierre Cao rowspan="14" Template:N/A Host conductor
Template:Escyr Rainer Pietsch
Template:Escyr Hans Blum
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon László Bencker
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Michael Thatcher
Template:Escyr Template:N/A
Template:Escyr Rainer Pietsch
Template:Escyr Hermann Weindorf
Template:Escyr Template:Flagicon Norbert Daum
Template:Escyr
Template:Escyr
Template:Escyr Hermann Weindorf
Template:Escyr Template:N/A
Template:Escyr Stefan Raab Template:Efn

Heads of delegationEdit

Year Head of delegation Template:Abbr
Template:EscyrTemplate:Escyr Jürgen Meier-Beer citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Template:EscyrTemplate:Escyr Manfred Witt citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Template:Escyr Torsten Amarell citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Template:EscyrTemplate:Escyr Carola Conze citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Template:EscyrTemplate:Escyr Christoph Pellander citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Template:Escyr–present Alexandra Wolfslast citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Commentators and spokespersonsEdit

Over the years, commentary on ARD has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Ado Schlier, Thomas Gottschalk, Jan Hofer, Wolf Mittler, Fritz Egner and Werner Veigel. Peter Urban has provided commentary on Das Erste every year since 1997, and has only been absent once, in 2009, when he was forced to step down due to illness, with Tim Frühling from HR filling in to commentate in Moscow.<ref name="Urban">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For the later-cancelled Template:Escyr contest, Michael Schulte was set to commentate together with Urban. Both commentated the official EBU replacement show Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light instead, as well as the German replacement show Eurovision 2020 – das deutsche Finale from the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Urban stepped down as the German commentator after the Template:Escyr.<ref name="2023commentator">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His successor is Thorsten Schorn.<ref name="Schorn" />

Template:Sticky header

Other showsEdit

Show Commentator Channel Template:Abbr
Songs of Europe Template:N/A Deutsches Fernsehen check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest Peter Urban SWR, WDR citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest HitsTemplate:Efn NDR, MDR, EinsFestival
{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Eurovision: Europe Shine a LightTemplate:Efn Peter Urban, Michael Schulte Das Erste citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Photo galleryEdit

See alsoEdit

Notes and referencesEdit

NotesEdit

Template:Notelist

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

Works citedEdit

External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

Template:Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest Template:Eurovision Song Contest Template:Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits Template:Authority control