Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
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| Germany | |
|---|---|
|
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| Member station | NDR ARD |
| National selection events | Unser Star für...(host city) (2010, 2012) |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 55 |
| First appearance | 1956 |
| Best result | 1st: 1982, 2010 |
| Worst result | Last: 1964, 1965, 1974, 1995, 2005 |
| External links | |
| NDR page | |
| Germany's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Germany has participated in every Eurovision Song Contest since its beginning in 1956, although its entry in 1996 did not qualify past the pre‐selection round, and therefore was not seen in the broadcast final. No other country has been represented as often. France and the United Kingdom come in a close second, missing only two contests each. Before German reunification in 1990, it occasionally presented as West Germany, representing the Federal Republic of Germany. East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) did not compete.
Germany has won two contests, in 1982 and 2010. Although German contestants have had limited success compared to their neighbours, public interest remains high and the contest is one of the most watched events each year.
Germany, along with the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain, is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically qualified to the final, regardless of the placing. This is due to being the largest financial contributors to the contest. However it was reported that the "Big Four" could lose their status and have to compete in the semi-finals for the first time in the 2009 contest.[1] However this never progressed, and the "Big Four" will keep their status.[2]
The Eurovision Song Contest semi-final is broadcast on NDR Fernsehen, and the final is broadcast on Das Erste, the flagship channel of ARD.
In recent years Germany have 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 tied for last at the 2008 contest for points, but was awarded 23rd of 25th place 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 famous 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" ("Our star for Oslo") which was broadcasted on ARD and ProSieben. A winner arose in Lena Meyer-Landrut with "Satellite", who went on to win the contest.
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[edit] 1996 absence
ARD had selected an artist and song to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, set to be held in Oslo, Norway. Due to the large number of countries wanting to compete at Eurovision, the EBU decided to use a pre-selection method to reduce the 30 countries wanting to compete down to 23. Unfortunately for Germany its entry, Leon with "Planet of Blue", failed to get enough points to progress to the final. ARD and the EBU were not happy with this, as Germany was the biggest financial contributor at the time. This was the only time that Germany was absent from the broadcast final.
[edit] Germany and the "Big Five"
Since 1998, four particular countries have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final, regardless of their positions on the scoreboard in previous Contests.[4] They earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU (without which the production of the Eurovision Song Contest would not be possible). These countries are the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain. Due to their untouchable status in the Contest, these countries became known as the "Big Four". Italy returned to the contest in 2011, thus becoming part of a "Big Five".[5][6]
[edit] Contestants
- In 1996 Germany failed to qualify to the contest from the pre-qualification round.
[edit] Voting history (1975–2011)
Germany traditionally gives high marks to Turkey, which could be due to the large Turkish minority living in the country. Germany has received most points from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal).
Germany has given the most points to...
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Turkey |
162 |
| 2 |  United Kingdom |
146 |
| 3 |  Ireland |
130 |
| 4 |  France |
115 |
| = |  Sweden |
115 |
Germany has received the most points from...
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Spain |
184 |
| 2 |  Denmark |
149 |
| 3 |  Portugal |
147 |
| 4 | United Kingdom |
138 |
| 5 |  Belgium |
134 |
NOTE: The totals in the above tables include only points awarded in Eurovision finals, and not the semi-finals since 2004.
[edit] Hostings
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 |  Frankfurt am Main |
Big studio of the Hessischer Rundfunk | Anaïd Iplicjian |
| 1983 | Munich |
Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle | Marlene Charell |
| 2011 | Düsseldorf |
Esprit Arena | Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers and Stefan Raab |
[edit] Commentators
Over the years ARD commentary has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Ado Schlier, Thomas Gottschalk, Jan Hofer, Wolf Mittler and Werner Veigel. However Peter Urban provided ARD TV commentary every year since 1997[9], however due to his health issues in 2009 he was forced to step down as role as German commentator with HR disc jockey Tim Frühling filling in to commentate at Moscow. Urban returned to commentate for Germany in 2010.
| Year(s) | Commentators |
|---|---|
| 1956-1958 | Wolf Mittler |
| 1959 | Elena Gerhard |
| 1960-1961 | Wolf Mittler |
| 1962 | Ruth Kappelsberger |
| 1963 | Hanns-Joachim Friedrichs |
| 1964-1965 | Hermann Rockmann |
| 1966-1969 | Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach |
| 1970 | Marie-Louise Steinbauer |
| 1971-1973 | Hanns Verres |
| 1974-1978 | Werner Veigel |
| 1979 | Gabi Schnelle Ado Schlier |
| 1980-1986 | Ado Schlier |
| 1987 | Christoph Deumling Lotti Ohnesorge |
| 1988 | Nicole Claus-Erich Boetzkes |
| 1989 | Thomas Gottschalk |
| 1990 | Fritz Egner |
| 1991 | Max Schautzer |
| 1992-1994 | Jan Hofer |
| 1995 | Horst Senker |
| 1996 | Ulf Ansorge |
| 1997-2008 | Peter Urban |
| 2009 | Tim Frühling |
| 2010-present | Peter Urban |
[edit] References
- ^ Murray, Gavin (2008-05-28). "Big 4 (France; Germany; Spain; United Kingdom): May lose automatic place in Eurovision final". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12025. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- ^ Viniker, Barry (2008-09-14). "Eurovision 'Big Four' final spots confirmed". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12281. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ Floras, Stella (2008-12-16). "Germany: No national final for 2009". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12704. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest 50 Years The Official History. London: Carlton Books Limited. ISBN 1-84442-586-X.
- ^ http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=234
- ^ Fulton, Rick (2007-05-14). "The East V West Song Contest". Daily Record. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2007/05/14/the-east-v-west-song-contest-86908-19098830/. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
- ^ Barclay, Simon (June 17, 2010). The Complete and Independent Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Silverthorn Press. p. 24. ISBN 9781445784151. http://books.google.com/books?id=BfuBF7fOnyoC&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
- ^ Barclay, Simon (June 17, 2010). The Complete and Independent Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Silverthorn Press. p. 24. ISBN 9781445784151. http://books.google.com/books?id=BfuBF7fOnyoC&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
- ^ http://www.duesseldorf2011.de/dr-peter-urban-kommentiert.html
[edit] External links
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Wikinews has related news: Eurovision '82 winner Nicole talks about 'Ein bißchen Frieden', her success and the Contest today |
- Eurovision official website
- Eurovision Club Germany
- OGAE Germany
- German ESC official website
- Points to and from Germany eurovisioncovers.co.uk
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