Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988

Eurovision Song Contest 1988
Country  Germany
National selection
Selection process National Final 1988
Selection date(s) 31 March 1988
Selected entrant Maxi & Chris Garden
Selected song "Lied für einen Freund"
Finals performance
Final result 14th, 48 points

Germany was represented by mother and daughter duo Maxi & Chris Garden, with the song "Lied für einen Freund", at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 30 April in Dublin. "Lied für einen Freund", written by prolific Eurovision duo Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger, was the winner of the German national final, held on 31 March. Maxi & Chris Garden had finished second in the 1987 German final.

One of the songs which failed to qualify for the 1988 German national final, "Das Beste" by male/female duo Duett, later became embroiled in controversy when it was entered by the same performers in the 1990 Austrian selection, which it duly won in dramatic circumstances after the female singer had appeared to faint onstage during the initial performance. When the song's previous history subsequently came to light, Austrian broadcaster ORF had no choice but to disqualify it as a clear violation of Eurovision rules, handing the 1990 Austrian ticket to original runner-up Simone Stelzer.

Contents

Final

The final was held at the Frankenhalle in Nuremberg, hosted by Jenny Jürgens. 12 songs took part and the winner was chosen by a panel of approximately 600 people who had been selected as providing a representative cross-section of the German public. Among the other participants was Cindy Berger, who had represented Germany as half of Cindy & Bert in 1974.[1]

Draw Artist Song Informal translation Votes Place
1 Thomas & Thomas "Träumen kann man nie zuviel" One can't dream too much 2388 12
2 Tommy Steiner "Insel im Wind" Island in the wind 3185 6
3 Tammy Swift "Tanzen geh'n" Going dancing 3172 7
4 Bernhard Brink & Gilda "Komm' ins Paradies" Come to Paradise 3538 3
5 Michaela "Ein kleines Wunder" A little miracle 3171 8
6 G. G. Anderson "Hättest du heut' Zeit für mich" Have you got time for me today? 3508 4
7 Rendezvous "Du bist ein Stern für mich" You're a star for me 2826 10
8 Ann Thomas "Regenbogenland" Rainbow land 3351 5
9 Heartware "Ich geb' dir mein Herz" I give you my heart 3021 9
10 Maxi & Chris Garden "Lied für einen Freund" Song for a friend 4475 1
11 Christian Francke "In deiner Hand" In your hand 2596 11
12 Cindy Berger "Und leben will ich auch" And I want to live, too 3769 2

At Eurovision

On the night of the final the duo performed 11th in the running order, following Ireland and preceding Austria. At the close of voting "Lied für einen Freund" had received 48 points (the highest being 8s from Iceland and Yugoslavia), placing Germany 14th of the 21 entries. The German jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Switzerland.[2]

See also

References