Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
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Participating broadcaster |
Former members
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Participation summary | |
Appearances | 66 |
First appearance | 1956 |
Highest placement | 1st: 1982, 2010 |
Host | 1957, 1983, 2011 |
Participation history | |
External links | |
NDR page | |
Germany's page at Eurovision.tv | |
For the most recent participation see Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 |
Germany has officially participated in every Eurovision Song Contest since its inaugural edition in 1956, except in 1996 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 66 appearances. No other country has been represented as many times. Along with France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, Germany is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The final is broadcast in Germany on ARD's flagship channel, Das Erste .
Germany first won the contest in 1982, when Nicole won with "Ein bißchen Frieden". The second German victory came 28 years later at the 2010 contest, when Lena won with "Satellite". Katja Ebstein, who finished third in 1970 and 1971, then second in 1980, 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 (1981) 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 ten occasions, receiving nul points in 1964, 1965 and 2015.
While having not reached the top-ten in 14 of the last 19 contests (2005–24), Michael Schulte achieved Germany's second-best result of the 21st century, by finishing fourth at the 2018 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. [1]
The Federal Republic of Germany has participated in the contest since its inception in 1956. [2] 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 (1982) and four second-place results (1980, 1981, 1985 and 1987), Germany was the second most successful country in the contest in the 1980s, behind Ireland, who had two wins in the decade.
ARD had selected an artist and song to represent them at the 1996 contest, 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.
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 2006) and swing (Roger Cicero – "Frauen regier'n die Welt" in 2007 and Alex Swings Oscar Sings – "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" in 2009). Germany had some successes throughout the decade, Lou - "Let's Get Happy" came in 11th place out of 26 in 2003. Germany tied for last in 2008 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. [3] 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.
In 2010, 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 2000 as well as writing entries in 1998 and 2004, which finished 7th and 8th, respectively. Raab agreed and conducted a TV casting show called Unser Star für Oslo 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 2011 (Lena, who returned to defend her title with "Taken by a Stranger") and 2012 (Roman Lob with "Standing Still").
The streak of top 10 finishes was broken in the 2013 contest, when Cascada's song "Glorious" finished 21st with 18 points. The group Elaiza in 2014, Ann Sophie in 2015, Jamie-Lee in 2016 and Levina in 2017 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 1964 and Ulla Wiesner in 1965, and the first since the introduction of the current scoring system in 1975.
Germany's luck changed in 2018, 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. The year after, 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.
Three further bottom five results were recorded by Germany at the start of the decade, that of Jendrik in 2021 (also receiving no points from the televote), Malik Harris in 2022 (receiving no points from the juries) and Lord of the Lost in 2023. This streak was broken by Isaak, whose entry "Always on the Run" placed 12th in 2024 with 117 points.
Since 1996, ARD consortium member Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) has been responsible for Germany's participation in the contest. The responsibility for Germany's participation in the contest has changed hands between the different broadcasters over the years: [4]
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 ProSieben worked in partnership with NDR. [4]
Germany has often changed the selection process for the country's entry in the contest, with both national finals and internal selections (occasionally a combination of both formats) having been held. [4]
Since 1999, Germany, along with France, Spain and the United Kingdom, have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final regardless of their results in previous contests. [5] 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; [6] however, this never materialised, and the rule remained in place. [7] When Italy returned to the contest in 2011, it was given the same untouchable status, thus upgrading the countries to members of a "Big Five". [8] [9]
Germany was the first Big Five country to win the contest after the rule was introduced, courtesy of Lena in 2010. In terms of success, it is currently second behind Italy, which won in 2021 with Måneskin, and finished second in 2011 with Raphael Gualazzi and again in 2019 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".
1 | First place |
2 | Second place |
3 | Third place |
◁ | Last place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
† | Upcoming event |
Artist | Song | Language | At Congratulations | At Eurovision | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Final | Points | Semi | Points | Year | Place | Points | |||
Nicole | " Ein bißchen Frieden " | German | Failed to qualify | 7 | 106 | 1982 | 1 | 161 |
Year | Location | Venue | Presenter(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1957 | Frankfurt | Großer Sendesaal | Anaid Iplicjian |
1983 | Munich | Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle | Marlene Charell |
2011 | Düsseldorf | Esprit Arena | Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers and Stefan Raab |
Year | Performer | Host city | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Guildo Horn | Birmingham |
Year | Conductor [lower-alpha 5] | Musical Director | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Fernando Paggi | N/A | Host conductor | [11] |
1957 | Willy Berking | [lower-alpha 6] | ||
1958 | Dolf van der Linden | N/A | Host conductor | |
1959 | Franck Pourcel | |||
1960 | Franz Josef Breuer | |||
1961 | Franck Pourcel | Host conductor | ||
1962 | Rolf-Hans Müller | |||
1963 | Willy Berking | |||
1964 | ||||
1965 | Alfred Hause | |||
1966 | Willy Berking | |||
1967 | Hans Blum | |||
1968 | Horst Jankowski | |||
1969 | Hans Blum | |||
1970 | Christian Bruhn | [12] | ||
1971 | Dieter Zimmermann | |||
1972 | Paul Kuhn | |||
1973 | Günther-Eric Thöner | |||
1974 | Werner Scharfenberger | |||
1975 | Rainer Pietsch | |||
1976 | Les Humphries | |||
1977 | Ronnie Hazlehurst | Host conductor | ||
1978 | Jean Frankfurter | |||
1979 | Norbert Daum | |||
1980 | Wolfgang Rödelberger | [13] | ||
1981 | ||||
1982 | Norbert Daum | |||
1983 | Dieter Reith | |||
1984 | Pierre Cao | N/A | Host conductor | |
1985 | Rainer Pietsch | |||
1986 | Hans Blum | |||
1987 | László Bencker | |||
1988 | Michael Thatcher | |||
1989 | No conductor | |||
1990 | Rainer Pietsch | |||
1991 | Hermann Weindorf | |||
1992 | Norbert Daum | |||
1993 | ||||
1994 | ||||
1995 | Hermann Weindorf | |||
1997 | No conductor | |||
1998 | Stefan Raab | [lower-alpha 7] |
Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
---|---|---|
1996–2005 | Jürgen Meier-Beer | |
2007–2008 | Manfred Witt | |
2015 | Torsten Amarell | |
2016–2017 | Carola Conze | |
2018–2019 | Christoph Pellander | |
2020–present | Alexandra Wolfslast |
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. [20] For the later-cancelled 2020 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 2023 contest. [21] His successor is to be announced in April 2024. [22]
Show | Commentator | Channel | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Songs of Europe | Deutsches Fernsehen | ||
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest | Peter Urban | SWR, WDR | |
Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits [lower-alpha 8] | NDR, MDR, EinsFestival | ||
Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light [lower-alpha 9] | Peter Urban, Michael Schulte | Das Erste |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Madrid, Spain, following the country's victory at the 1968 contest with the song "La La La" by Massiel. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE), the contest was held at the Teatro Real on 29 March 1969 and was hosted by Spanish television presenter and actress Laurita Valenzuela.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who agreed to stage the event after France, who had won the 1962 edition, declined to host it due to financial shortcomings, also having hosted the competition in 1959 and 1961. The contest was held at the BBC Television Centre on Saturday 23 March 1963 and was hosted by Katie Boyle for a second time.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the tenth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Naples, Italy, following the country's victory at the 1964 contest with the song "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at Sala di Concerto della RAI on 20 March 1965, and was hosted by Italian singer Renata Mauro.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1967 was the 12th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the 1966 contest with the song "Merci, Chérie" by Udo Jürgens. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), the contest was held at the Großer Festsaal der Wiener Hofburg on 8 April 1967, becoming the first contest held in the month of April, and was hosted by Austrian actress Erica Vaal.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1970 was the 15th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), the contest was held at the RAI Congrescentrum on 21 March 1970, and was hosted by Dutch television presenter Willy Dobbe.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the 16th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1970 contest with the song "All Kinds of Everything" by Dana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre on 3 April 1971, and was hosted by Irish television presenter Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1987 was the 32nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brussels, Belgium, following the country's victory at the 1986 contest with the song "J'aime la vie" by Sandra Kim. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF), the contest was held at the Centenary Palace on 9 May 1987 and hosted by French-Belgian singer Viktor Lazlo.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the 1985 contest with the song "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), the contest was held at Grieghallen on 3 May 1986 and was hosted by previous Norwegian contestant Åse Kleveland.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following Johnny Logan's win at the 1987 contest with the song "Hold Me Now". Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 30 April 1988 and was hosted by Irish broadcaster Pat Kenny and the Miss Ireland 1980 Michelle Rocca, marking the first time since the 1979 contest that two presenters had hosted the contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the 1978 contest with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979 and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1983 was the 28th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Munich, West Germany, following the country's victory at the 1982 contest with the song "Ein bißchen Frieden" by Nicole. Although this was Germany's first victory, 1983 was the second time Germany had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1957. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) on behalf of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD), the contest was held at the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle on 23 April 1983 and was hosted by German dancer Marlene Charell.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1984 was the 29th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 5 May 1984 in the Théâtre Municipal in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Télévision Luxembourg (RTL), the contest was held in Luxembourg following the country's victory at the 1983 contest with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" by Corinne Hermès. The event was presented by Désirée Nosbusch, who, at 19 years old, remains the youngest person to have hosted the contest as of 2024.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the 18th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the 1972 contest with the song "Après toi" by Vicky Leandros. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), the contest was held at the Grand Théâtre on 7 April 1973 and was hosted by German television presenter Helga Guitton.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who agreed to stage the event after Monaco, who won in 1971, were unable to meet the demands of hosting the event and could not find a suitable venue. The contest was held at the Usher Hall on 25 March 1972 and was hosted by Scottish ballet dancer Moira Shearer.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1978 was the 23rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Paris, France, following the country's victory at the 1977 contest with the song "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" by Marie Myriam. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Télévision Française 1 (TF1), the contest was held at the Palais des Congrès on 22 April 1978 and was directed by Bernard Lion. The contest was presented by French television presenters Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone. This was the first time that more than one presenter had hosted the contest as well as the first to have a male presenter since 1956.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1977 was the 22nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's victory at the 1976 contest with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at the Wembley Conference Centre on 7 May 1977, marking the first time the event took place in the month of May since the first contest in 1956. The contest was directed by Stewart Morris and hosted by English journalist Angela Rippon.
The Eurovision Young Dancers 1987 was the second edition of the Eurovision Young Dancers, held at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen, Germany on 31 May 1987. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), dancers from fourteen countries participated in the televised final. Austria, Canada, Denmark and Yugoslavia made their debut at the contest, while Belgium and Netherlands competed together with a joint entry.
The Eurovision Young Musicians 1986 was the third edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians, held at the Koncerthuset, in Copenhagen, Denmark on 27 May 1986. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR), musicians from five countries participated in the televised final. Despite the contest being held in Copenhagen, host country Denmark failed to qualify for the final alongside Germany, Austria, Israel, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands and Italy. The participant artists could not be older than 19 by the time of the contest. The finalists were all accompanied by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the leadership of Hans Graf.
The Eurovision Young Musicians 1990 was the fifth edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians, held at Musikverein in Vienna, Austria on 29 May 1990. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), musicians from five countries participated in the televised final. A total of eighteen countries took part in the competition. All participants performed a classical piece of their choice accompanied by the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pinchas Steinberg. Greece and Portugal made their début at the 1990 contest.
Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 with the song "Zeit" written by Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. The song was performed by Bianca Shomburg. The German entry for the 1997 contest in Dublin, Ireland was selected through the national final Der Countdown läuft, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 27 February 1997 and featured nine competing acts with the winner being selected through public televoting. "Zeit" performed by Bianca Shomburg was selected as the German entry for Dublin after gaining 40.2% of the votes.