Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The German entry was selected through the national final Unser Song für Malmö, which was organised by the public broadcasters NDR and ARD. Cascada represented Germany with the song "Glorious", which placed 21st and scored 18 points in the final.
Before Eurovision
Unser Song für Malmö
Unser Song für Malmö was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The competition took place on 14 February 2013 at the TUI Arena in Hanover, hosted by Anke Engelke. Collaboration with private broadcaster ProSieben terminated after three years, however like in the previous three years, the national final was co-produced by the production company Brainpool, which also co-produced the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf and the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku. Twelve acts competed during the show with the winner being selected by a combination of an expert jury panel, radio voting and public voting.
The televised final took place on 14 February 2013. The winner was selected by a combination of an expert jury panel, radio voting and public voting, including options for landline and SMS voting. The expert jury panel consisted of Tim Bendzko, Roman Lob, Anna Loos, Mary Roos and Peter Urban. For the radio vote, the participating songs were aired on the nine ARD radio channels between 7 February 2013 and 14 February 2013 and listeners were able to vote for their favorite entries online. At the conclusion of the show, Cascada was selected as the winner with the song "Glorious". Over 837,000 public votes were cast during the program.
Controversy
"Glorious" has come under investigation following allegations that it is a copy of the 2012 winning song, "Euphoria" by Loreen. German regional broadcaster NDR had investigated whether the Eurodance song bares too much of a similarity to "Euphoria". NDR spokeswoman, Iris Bents said the station would publish the results of the study when they were available but played down the allegations, "Every year there are attempts to create scandals around the Eurovision Song Contest and the participants", she reported. It was later announced on 25 February 2013, that the song was cleared of plagiarism and would represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.
At Eurovision
As a member of the "Big Five", Germany automatically qualified for a place in the final, held on 18 May 2013. In addition to their participation in the final, Germany was assigned to vote in the second semi-final on 16 May 2013. During the German delegation's press conference on 15 May, Germany was allocated to perform in the first half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Germany would perform 11th, following Russia and preceding Armenia. Germany scored 18 points in the final and placed 21st. In Germany, the first semi-final aired live on EinsFestival and on delay on NDR, while the second semi-final aired live on Phoenix and on delay on EinsFestival and NDR. The final of the competition aired on Das Erste. All shows were commentated by Peter Urban. The national jury that provided 50% of the German vote in the second semi-final and the final consisted of: Lena, Tim Bendzko, Alina Süggeler, Carolin Niemczyk and Florian Silbereisen. The German spokesperson in the grand final was Lena. The song was widely tipped to do well, being the 2nd favourite to win with the British Bookmakers and also being number 6 in Austrian Airplay, and number 21 in British Airplay in the week leading up to Eurovision night.
