Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The German entry was selected through the national final Unser Lied für Israel, organised by the German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR).

Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country	Germany
National selection
Selection process	Unser Lied für Israel
Selection date(s)	22 February 2019
Selected entrant	S!sters
Selected song	"Sister"
Selected songwriter(s)	Laurell Barker Marine Kaltenbacher Tom Oehler Thomas Stengaard
Finals performance
Final result	25th, 24 points
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 • 2019 • 2020►

As a member of the "Big 5", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Background

Main article: Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-two times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in 1956.[1] Germany has won the contest on two occasions: in 1982 with the song "Ein bißchen Frieden" performed by Nicole and in 2010 with the song "Satellite" performed by Lena. Germany, to this point, has been noted for having competed in the contest more than any other country; they have competed in every contest since the first edition in 1956 except for the 1996 contest when the nation was eliminated in a pre-contest elimination round. In 2018, the German entry "You Let Me Walk Alone" performed by Michael Schulte placed fourth of twenty-six competing songs with 340 points.

The German national broadcaster, ARD, broadcasts the event within Germany and delegated the selection of the nation's entry to the regional broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). NDR confirmed that Germany would participate in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 19 May 2018.[2] In 2018, the multi-artist national final Unser Lied für Lissabon determined both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Germany. For their 2019 entry, ARD organised a national final with the same procedure.[2]

Before Eurovision

Unser Lied für Israel

Unser Lied für Israel (transl. Our Song for Israel) was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The national final took place on 22 February 2019 at the Studio Berlin Adlershof in Berlin with seven competing entries.[3][4] The show was hosted by Linda Zervakis and Barbara Schöneberger.[3]

Format

The televised final featured seven competing artists with a candidate song each.[3] The winner was selected by a combination of public voting, a one-hundred-member Eurovision panel, and an international expert jury panel.[5]

The Eurovision panel consisted of one hundred members recruited through surveys on social media in order to reflect the taste of the wider European audience, and it participated in the decision-making process from the candidate selection phase to the televised final. The international expert jury panel consists of twenty members who previously sat on the national juries of their respective countries at the Eurovision Song Contest or participated at the Contest.

Competing entries

Artists were able to submit their bids from 19 May 2018 to 31 July 2018. NDR received 965 applications, and 198 were shortlisted to be considered in the selection process. The one-hundred-member Eurovision panel narrowed the shortlist to fifty artists, and the international expert panel further narrowed the shortlist to twenty artists.[6] These twenty artists were invited to attend a workshop in Cologne from 28 September 2018 to 2 October 2018.[6] Six of the artists who participated at the workshop were selected to advance to the songwriting camp that took place in Berlin from 5 to 9 November 2018.

Shortlisted acts
Aly Ryan
Barna
BB Thomaz
Daniel Schuhmacher
Diana Schneider
Dimi Rompos
Gregor Hägele
Kasalla
Lilly Among Clouds
Linus Bruhn
Makeda
Nicole Cross
Nina Kutschera
Sebastian Schub (withdrew)
S!sters
Thilo Berndt

The six finalists met twenty four international songwriters at the songwriting camp:

Songwriters at the songwriting camp[7]
Steven Bashir Ricardo Bettiol Kristine Bogan Marcus Brosch Lukas Droese Axel Ehnström Nisse Ingwersen Kelvin Jones Richard Judge David Jürgens Michelle Leonard Nina Müller Dennis Neuer Michael Ochs Tom Olbrich Tamara Olorga Laila Samuelsen Tim Schou Jonas Shandel Oliver Som Thomas Stengaard Duncan Townsend Andrew Tyler Tim Uhlenbrock

The six finalists produced circa twenty five songs at the songwriting camp. These song, some additional songs submitted to NRD, as well as two songs by two additional acts who did not participate at the camp, were evaluated by the Eurovision panel and the international expert panel, who could select between six and eight songs for the televised final.[5]

The first six artists selected to compete in the final were revealed on 8 November 2018.[8] On 8 January 2019, S!sters were announced as an extra act participating in the final.

Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)
Aly Ryan	"Wear Your Love"	Aly Ryan, Michelle Leonard, Thomas Stengaard, Tamara Olorga
BB Thomaz	"Demons"	BB Thomaz, Andrew Tyler, Ricardo Bettiol, Tim Schou
Gregor Hägele	"Let Me Go"	Gregor Hägele, Jonas Shandel, David Jürgens, Tamara Olorga
Lilly Among Clouds	"Surprise"	Elisabeth Brüchner, Udo Rinklin
Linus Bruhn	"Our City"	Linus Bruhn, Dave Roth, Pat Benzner, Serhat Sakin, Simon Reichardt, Gianna Roth
Makeda	"The Day I Loved You Most"	Makeda, Tim Uhlenbrock, Kelvin Jones, Kristine Bogan
S!sters	"Sister"	Laurell Barker, Marine Kaltenbacher, Tom Oehler, Thomas Stengaard

Final

The final took place on 22 February 2019. Seven acts competed. The winner was selected by a combination of public voting, a one-hundred-member Eurovision panel, and an international expert jury panel.

Unser Lied für Israel – 22 February 2019
Draw	Artist	Song	Eurovision Panel		International Jury		Televote		Total	Place
1	Gregor Hägele	"Let Me Go"	592	5	100	4	26,053	5	14	6
2	Aly Ryan	"Wear Your Love"	991	12	125	6	39,503	7	25	4
3	Makeda	"The Day I Loved You Most"	840	10	186	10	39,480	6	26	2
4	BB Thomaz	"Demons"	566	4	117	5	20,697	4	13	7
5	Lilly Among Clouds	"Surprise"	789	8	158	7	83,677	10	25	3
6	Linus Bruhn	"Our City"	782	7	167	8	71,490	8	23	5
7	S!sters	"Sister"	640	6	187	12	93,413	12	30	1

Detailed International Jury Votes
Draw	Artist	Song	NLD	ESP	GBR	ITA	BLR	ISL	CYP	LTU	HUN	GRC	NOR	CZE	AUT	SVN	SWE	ROU	FRA	FIN	POL	DEU	Total
1	Gregor Hägele	"Let Me Go"	4	4	4	7	4	7	6	5	4	6	6	7	4	4	6	5	5	4	4	4	100
2	Aly Ryan	"Wear Your Love"	7	8	8	6	7	4	5	4	5	7	8	6	8	5	8	4	4	10	5	6	125
3	Makeda	"The Day I Loved You Most"	8	10	12	10	10	12	12	7	6	12	12	10	10	8	7	12	6	7	8	7	186
4	BB Thomaz	"Demons"	5	5	5	4	6	5	4	6	7	10	4	5	6	10	4	8	7	5	6	5	117
5	Lilly Among Clouds	"Surprise"	6	6	6	12	12	6	8	8	10	4	5	4	7	12	12	7	10	8	7	8	158
6	Linus Bruhn	"Our City"	12	12	7	8	8	10	10	12	8	8	7	8	5	7	5	6	8	6	10	10	167
7	S!sters	"Sister"	10	7	10	5	5	8	7	10	12	5	10	12	12	6	10	10	12	12	12	12	187

In addition to the performances by the competing artists, there was a number of guest performers: Lena, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010; Michael Schulte, who represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018; Udo Lindenberg featuring Andreas Bourani, who performed "Radio Song"; and Revolverheld.[9][10]

Promotion

S!sters made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Sister" as the German Eurovision entry. On 6 April, they performed at the Eurovision in Concert at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, hosted by Cornald Maas and Marlayne, to over 4500 spectators.[11] They also made several radio & television promotions for "Sister" in Germany.

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 took place at Expo Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel and consisted of two semi-finals on 14 and 16 May and the final on 18 May 2019.[12] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big 5", Germany automatically qualifies to compete in the final. In addition to their participation in the final, Germany is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals.

Final

Germany performed fourth in the final, following the entry from Czech Republic and preceding the entry from Russia. At the end of the show, Germany placed 25th, receiving a total of 24 points: 0 points from the televoting and 24 points from the juries. With the old voting system, Germany would have ranked 24th with 8 points.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member, as well as the nation's televoting results, were released shortly after the grand final.[13]

Points awarded to Germany

Points awarded to Germany (final)
Televote
12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Jury
12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
		Denmark		Switzerland
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Lithuania		Australia	Ireland

Points awarded by Germany

Semi-final 2 Score Televote Jury 12 points   Switzerland  North Macedonia 10 points  Norway  Netherlands 8 points  Netherlands   Switzerland 7 points  Russia  Sweden 6 points  North Macedonia  Malta 5 points  Sweden  Denmark 4 points  Azerbaijan  Romania 3 points  Croatia  Azerbaijan 2 points  Albania  Norway 1 point  Lithuania  Austria

Final Score Televote Jury 12 points  Norway  Italy 10 points   Switzerland  Australia 8 points  Russia  Netherlands 7 points  Netherlands  North Macedonia 6 points  Italy   Switzerland 5 points  Australia  Norway 4 points  Denmark  France 3 points  Slovenia  Malta 2 points  Iceland  Sweden 1 point  Sweden  Denmark

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the German jury:[13]

• Michael Schulte – Chairperson – singer, songwriter, represented Germany in the 2018 contest
• Annett Louisan – singer, songwriter
• Nico Santos – singer, songwriter, composer
• Nicola Rost – singer, songwriter, artist
• Joe Chialo – manager, label founder

Split voting results from Germany (Semi-final 2)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		M. Schulte	A. Louisan	N. Santos	N. Rost	J. Chialo	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Armenia	8	15	11	12	15	12		12
02	Ireland	15	14	8	14	17	14		17
03	Moldova	17	13	10	18	11	15		18
04	Switzerland	1	4	5	4	3	3	8	1	12
05	Latvia	12	16	12	11	12	13		16
06	Romania	13	2	6	8	9	7	4	14
07	Denmark	10	5	7	7	2	6	5	11
08	Sweden	3	10	2	6	5	4	7	6	5
09	Austria	5	8	14	9	18	10	1	13
10	Croatia	16	12	13	16	14	17		8	3
11	Malta	4	7	3	5	7	5	6	15
12	Lithuania	18	18	18	15	16	18		10	1
13	Russia	9	11	15	13	10	11		4	7
14	Albania	14	17	17	10	13	16		9	2
15	Norway	7	6	9	17	6	9	2	2	10
16	Netherlands	2	3	4	2	4	2	10	3	8
17	North Macedonia	6	1	1	1	1	1	12	5	6
18	Azerbaijan	11	9	16	3	8	8	3	7	4

Split voting results from Germany (final)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		M. Schulte	A. Louisan	N. Santos	N. Rost	J. Chialo	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Malta	8	8	6	13	7	8	3	24
02	Albania	19	22	21	6	14	14		16
03	Czech Republic	12	20	16	16	13	16		18
04	Germany
05	Russia	18	19	19	8	8	13		3	8
06	Denmark	11	15	9	11	10	10	1	7	4
07	San Marino	25	24	24	25	15	24		25
08	North Macedonia	5	3	7	1	5	4	7	15
09	Sweden	9	14	4	12	11	9	2	10	1
10	Slovenia	14	10	17	19	23	17		8	3
11	Cyprus	15	11	14	22	16	15		21
12	Netherlands	3	4	5	4	3	3	8	4	7
13	Greece	21	12	18	20	25	22		19
14	Israel	23	23	23	18	21	25		20
15	Norway	7	5	11	10	4	6	5	1	12
16	United Kingdom	24	16	15	17	18	21		22
17	Iceland	20	13	20	15	17	19		9	2
18	Estonia	22	21	22	14	24	23		14
19	Belarus	16	7	8	21	19	11		23
20	Azerbaijan	10	18	25	9	9	12		13
21	France	6	9	12	3	12	7	4	11
22	Italy	1	1	1	2	2	1	12	5	6
23	Serbia	17	17	10	23	20	18		17
24	Switzerland	2	6	2	7	6	5	6	2	10
25	Australia	4	2	3	5	1	2	10	6	5
26	Spain	13	25	13	24	22	20		12

References

1. "Germany Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
2. Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (19 May 2018). "Germany: NDR confirms participation in Eurovision 2019". Esctoday. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
3. Geiser, Julian (26 November 2018). "Germany: "Same procedure as last year" – NDR reveals more details of the national final". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
4. Agadellis, Stratos (9 January 2019). "Germany: Unser Lied für Israel to take place on 22 February". Esctoday. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
5. Farren, Neil (27 October 2017). "Germany: Eurovision 2018 Selection Details Released". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
6. Gallagher, Robyn (27 August 2018). "Germany: Eurovision fan jury meets for first time, as 198 candidates are reviewed". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
7. "Die Songschreiber des Song Writing Camps". eurovision.de (in German). NDR. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
8. Granger, Anthony. "Germany: Six Unser Lied für Israel Participants Revealed". Retrieved 26 December 2018.
9. "Lena ist Stargast beim deutschen Vorentscheid" (in German). Eurovision.de. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
10. Granger, Anthony. "Germany: Andreas Bourani Completes Line Up of Interval Acts at Unser Lied für Israel". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
11. "This was Eurovision in Concert 2019 in Amsterdam". Eurovision.tv. 6 April 2019.
12. "Tel Aviv to host Eurovision 2019! - Eurovision Song Contest Israel 2019". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
13. Groot, Evert (30 April 2019). "Exclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2019.

External links

• Official ARD Eurovision site