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.
As a member of the "Big 5", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Background
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. 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 confirmed that Germany would participate in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 19 May 2018. 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.
Before Eurovision
''Unser Lied für Israel''
Unser Lied für 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. The show was hosted by Linda Zervakis and Barbara Schöneberger.Format
The televised final featured seven competing artists with a candidate song each. The winner was selected by a combination of public voting, a one-hundred-member Eurovision panel, and an international expert jury panel.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. These twenty artists were invited to attend a workshop in Cologne from 28 September 2018 to 2 October 2018. 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.The six finalists met twenty four international songwriters at the songwriting camp:
| Songwriters at the songwriting camp |
|
Steven Bashir
Kristine Bogan
Axel Ehnström
Michael Ochs
Tamara Olorga
Laila Samuelsen
Jonas ShandelThe 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.
The first six artists selected to compete in the final were revealed on 8 November 2018. On 8 January 2019, S!sters were announced as an extra act participating in the final.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter |
| 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.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.
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. 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. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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.Points awarded to Germany
Points awarded by Germany
Split voting results
The following five members comprised the German jury:- 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