Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country	Germany
National selection
Selection process	Unser Lied für Stockholm
Selection date(s)	25 February 2016
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2015 • 2016

Germany will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) had originally announced on 19 November 2015 that they had selected the soul and R&B singer-songwriter Xavier Naidoo to represent the nation at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. A song selection entitled Unser Song für Xavier was planned to be held in February 2016 and would have featured six songs performed by Naidoo with the winning song being selected via public televote. However, following the announcement that Naidoo had been selected to represent Germany, there was public and media backlash in regards to the choice. Naidoo was seen as unfit to represent Germany due to political, homophobic and racial statements the performer had made throughout his career. Two days following the broadcaster's announcement of Naidoo's selection, NDR reneged on their agreement and withdrew the performer as the German representative. ARD and NDR later announced that the German entry would be selected through the national final Unser Lied für Stockholm, which would feature ten acts competing and the winner being selected through a public televote.

Background

Prior to the 2016 Contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-nine times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in the inaugural contest.^[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 2015, the German entry "Black Smoke" performed by Ann Sophie placed last out of twenty-seven competing songs and failed to score any points.

The German national broadcaster, ARD, broadcasts the event within Germany and delegates the selection of the nation's entry to the regional broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). NDR confirmed that Germany would participate in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on 27 May 2015.^[2] Since 2013, NDR had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Germany. On 19 November 2015, the broadcaster had initially announced that they had internally selected Xavier Naidoo to represent the country and would organise a national final to select the song he would perform at the contest.^[3] After facing media fallout and negative public reactions, NDR reneged on their arrangement with Naidoo and later announced that they would organise a multi-artist national final to select the German entry.^[4][5]

Before Eurovision

Unser Song für Xavier

Unser Song für Xavier (English: Our Song for Xavier) was the cancelled song selection planned by the German broadcaster to select the song that Xavier Naidoo would have performed at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The show was to take place on 18 February 2016 and broadcast live on Das Erste. German composers and lyricists were called upon to submit their entries for the competition. A panel of music experts together with Naidoo would have selected the top six songs by 15 December 2015. During the show, Naidoo would have presented the six songs to the German audience and public televoting would have selected the winner. Three music experts, including the 2010 German Eurovision Song Contest winner Lena, were planned to provide feedback in regards to the songs during the show.^[3]

Following NDR's announcement on 19 November 2015 that Naidoo had been selected to represent Germany, negative reactions were expressed by both the German public and media. NDR was criticised for selecting Naidoo, who was viewed as an inappropriate representative for Germany due to his political views in support of the Reichsbürgerbewegung ideology as well as homophobic and racist remarks the performer had made through both statements and his music.^[6][7] Reactions from the German public via Twitter used words such as "unbelievable", "hair-raising" and "unspeakable" to describe Naidoo's selection and online petitions were generated in support of and against Naidoo's participation in the contest.^[8]

The backlash caused NDR to revoke their arrangement with Naidoo two days later on 21 November 2015, which also elicited criticism for the broadcaster's conduct.^[9] NDR issued a press release where Thomas Schreiber, ARD's entertainment coordinator and head of the fiction and entertainment department for NDR, stated: "Xavier Naidoo is a brilliant singer who is, according to my own opinion, neither racist nor homophobe. It was clear that his nomination would polarise opinions, but we were surprised about the negative response. The Eurovision Song Contest is a fun event, in which music and the understanding between European people should be the focus. This characteristic must be kept at all costs. The ongoing discussion about Naidoo could harm the image of the Eurovision Song Contest. This is why Naidoo will not represent Germany. We will quickly decide now, how the German entry for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest will be found."^[9] Naidoo himself issued a statement on his Facebook page where he stated: "A few months ago, ARD approached me and asked me to compete next year for Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. That was solely a proposal from ARD. I finally agreed after careful consideration, because this competition would have been a very special event for me. If now shortly after our contractual agreement with NDR and the completion of preparations it all has changed by unilateral decision by ARD, then that's ok for me. My passion for music and my commitment to love, freedom, tolerance and coexistence is thereby not stopped."^[10]

In a press conference held on 25 November 2015, ARD chairman and the director of NDR, Lutz Marmor, stated that Naidoo's selection by NDR was a "mistake" and announced that a national final with several artists and the winner being selected by the public would likely be organised to select the German entry. During the press conference, ARD program director, Volker Herres, characterized NDR's nomination of the controversial performer as hasty and that the decision should have been discussed internally with ARD.^[11]

Unser Lied für Stockholm

Unser Lied für Stockholm (English: Our Song for Stockholm) will be the competition that will select Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The competition will take place on 25 February 2016 at the Köln-Mülheim Studios in Cologne, hosted by Barbara Schöneberger.^[12] Like in the previous six years, the national final will be 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. Ten acts will compete during the show with the winner being selected through a public televote.^[13]

Competing entries

150 proposals were received by NDR from ARD radio stations, record companies, producers, artist managers and artists themselves. The ten competing entries were selected by a ten-member panel consisting of Tom Bohne (Universal Music Senior Vice President), Carola Conze (NDR representative, head of German delegation for Eurovision), Claudia Gliedt (lead music editor for Brainpool), Nico Gössel (Sony Music head of promotion), Jörg Grabosch (Brainpool managing director), Konrad von Löhneysen (Embassy of Music managing director), Steffen Müller (Warner Music Entertainment managing director for Central Europe), Thomas Schreiber (ARD entertainment coordinator, head of the fiction and entertainment department for NDR), Aditya Sharma (Radio Fritz lead music editor) and Andreas Zagelow (MDR Radio Sputnik music editor).^[14] The ten participating acts were announced on 12 January 2016.^[15]

Final

The televised final will take place on 25 February 2016. Students attending German film and art schools were tasked with developing staging ideas for the participating entries.^[15] The winner will be selected through two rounds of public televoting, including options for landline, SMS and app voting.^[16] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the guest performance will be a joint performance by Dutch band The Common Linnets, who reached second place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, and German band The BossHoss.^[17]

At Eurovision

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 qualified to compete in the final on 14 May 2016. In addition to their participation in the final, Germany is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. This would have been regularly decided via a draw held during the semi-final allocation draw on 25 January 2016, however, prior to the draw, ARD requested of the European Broadcasting Union that Germany be allowed to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final on 12 May 2016, which was approved by the contest's Reference Group.^[18]

References

External links

• Official NDR/ARD Eurovision site

Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1950s Walter Andreas Schwarz Freddy Quinn Margot Hielscher Margot Hielscher Alice & Ellen Kessler 1960s Wyn Hoop Lale Andersen Conny Froboess Heidi Brühl Nora Nova Ulla Wiesner Margot Eskens Inge Brück Wenche Myhre Siw Malmkvist 1970s Katja Ebstein Katja Ebstein Mary Roos Gitte Cindy & Bert Joy Fleming Les Humphries Singers Silver Convention Ireen Sheer Dschinghis Khan 1980s Katja Ebstein Lena Valaitis Nicole Hoffmann & Hoffmann Mary Roos Wind Ingrid Peters Wind Maxi & Chris Garden Nino de Angelo 1990s Chris Kempers & Daniel Kovac Atlantis 2000 Wind Münchener Freiheit Mekado Leon Stone & Stone Bianca Shomburg Guildo Horn Sürpriz 2000s Stefan Raab Michelle Corinna May Lou Max Gracia Texas Lightning Roger Cicero No Angels Alex Swings Oscar Sings 2010s Lena Lena Roman Lob Cascada Elaiza Ann Sophie   Songs 1950s "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück" "So geht das jede Nacht" "Telefon, Telefon" "Für zwei Groschen Musik" "Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n" 1960s "Bonne nuit ma chérie" "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" "Zwei kleine Italiener" "Marcel" "Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne" "Paradies, wo bist du?" "Die Zeiger der Uhr" "Anouschka" "Ein Hoch der Liebe" "Primaballerina" 1970s "Wunder gibt es immer wieder" "Diese Welt" "Nur die Liebe läßt uns leben" "Junger Tag" "Die Sommermelodie" "Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein" "Sing Sang Song" "Telegram" "Feuer" "Dschinghis Khan" 1980s "Theater" "Johnny Blue" "Ein bißchen Frieden" "Rücksicht" "Aufrecht geh'n" "Für alle " "Über die Brücke geh'n" "Lass die Sonne in dein Herz" "Lied für einen Freund" "Flieger" 1990s "Frei zu leben" "Dieser Traum darf niemals sterben" "Träume sind für alle da" "Viel zu weit" "Wir geben 'ne Party" "Verliebt in Dich" "Planet of Blue" "Zeit" "Guildo hat euch lieb!" "Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs'e seyahat" 2000s "Wadde hadde dudde da?" "Wer Liebe lebt" "I Can't Live Without Music" "Let's Get Happy" "Can't Wait Until Tonight" "Run & Hide" "No No Never" "Frauen regier'n die Welt" "Disappear" "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" 2010s "Satellite" "Taken by a Stranger" "Standing Still" "Glorious" "Is It Right" "Black Smoke" (Note: Entries scored out are when Germany did not compete)