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Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

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Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Germany
National selection
Selection processUnser Lied für Lissabon
Selection date(s)22 February 2018
Selected artist(s)Michael Schulte
Selected song"You Let Me Walk Alone"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Michael Schulte
  • Thomas Stengaard
  • Nisse Ingwersen
  • Nina Müller
Finals performance
Final result4th, 340 points
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "You Let Me Walk Alone" written by Michael Schulte, Thomas Stengaard, Nisse Ingwersen and Nina Müller. The song was performed by Michael Schulte. The German entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal was selected through the national final Unser Lied für Lissabon, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 22 February 2018 and featured six competing acts with the winner selected by the votes of a 100-member Eurovision panel, a 20-member international jury panel and a public televote. "You Let Me Walk Alone" performed by Michael Schulte was selected as the German entry for Lisbon after gaining the most points following the combination of votes.

As a member of the "Big Five", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 11, Germany placed fourth out of the 26 participating countries with 340 points.

Background

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Main article: Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2018 contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-one 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 2017, the German entry "Perfect Life" performed by Levina placed twenty-fifth out of twenty-six competing songs and scoring six 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 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 16 May 2017.[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 8 June 2017, the broadcaster announced that they would organise a multi-artist national final to select the German entry.[3]

Before Eurovision

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Unser Lied für Lissabon

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Unser Lied für Lissabon (English: Our Song for Lisbon) was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The competition took place on 22 February 2018 at the Studio Berlin Adlershof in Berlin, hosted by Linda Zervakis and Elton.[4][5] The national final was co-produced by the production companies Kimmig Entertainment and Lodge of Levity, after collaboration with the company Brainpool terminated after seven years.[6] Six acts competed during the show with the winner being selected through a combination of votes from a 100-member Eurovision panel, a 20-member international jury panel and a public televote.[7] The show was broadcast on Das Erste and One as well as online via the broadcaster's Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.de. The national final was watched by 3.17 million viewers in Germany with a market share of 9.9%.[8]

Competing entries

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Interested performers were able to apply by submitting an online application between 27 October 2017 and 6 November 2017. Additional artists were also invited by NDR and proposed by composers, producers and record companies.[9] By the end of the process, it was announced that over 4,000 applications were received and 211 performers were longlisted by a panel of music experts. A Eurovision panel, consisting of 100 German television viewers put together according to selected criteria in cooperation with Simon-Kucher & Partners and Digame through surveys on social media in order to reflect the taste of the wider European audience, shortlisted 17 artists to go through a workshop where they received vocal coaching and choreography training. 90-second videos of each artist during the workshop were recorded and presented to the Eurovision panel and an international jury panel that ultimately selected the six competing artists. The international jury consisted of 20 members who had been national juries for their respective countries at the Eurovision Song Contest.[10][11] The six participating acts were announced on 29 December 2017.[12] In January 2018, the six artists worked with 15 German and international composers and lyricists in a three-day songwriting camp to create their candidate songs for the national final. The participating songs were announced on 13 February 2018.[13]

Shortlisted acts
Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Ivy Quainoo "House on Fire" Jörgen Elofsson, Ali Tamposi
Michael Schulte "You Let Me Walk Alone" Michael Schulte, Thomas Stengaard, Nisse Ingwersen, Nina Müller
Natia Todua "My Own Way" Loren Nine Geerts, Ricardo Bettiol, Martin Gallop, Jaro Omar
Ryk "You and I" Rick Jurthe
Voxxclub "I mog Di so" Merty Bert, Mike Busse, Philipp Klemz, Lennard Oestmann, Joe Walter, Martin Simma
Xavier Darcy "Jonah" Xavier Darcy, Loren Nine Geerts, Axel Ehnström, Thomas Stengaard

Final

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The televised final took place on 22 February 2018. The winner, "You Let Me Walk Alone" performed by Michael Schulte, was selected through a combination of votes from a 100-member Eurovision panel (1/3), a 20-member international jury panel (1/3) and public televoting which included options for landline and SMS voting (1/3).[10][14] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, German singer Mike Singer performed his song "Deja Vu".[15] 427,519 televotes were cast during the show.[16]

Final – 22 February 2018
Draw Artist Song Eurovision Panel Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points Votes Points
1 Natia Todua "My Own Way" 630 5 122 6 37,343 6 17 6
2 Ryk "You and I" 931 10 169 8 35,700 5 23 3
3 Voxxclub "I mog Di so" 718 6 118 5 121,336 10 21 5
4 Xavier Darcy "Jonah" 770 8 185 10 45,010 7 25 2
5 Ivy Quainoo "House on Fire" 736 7 148 7 47,639 8 22 4
6 Michael Schulte "You Let Me Walk Alone" 1,015 12 218 12 140,491 12 36 1
Detailed International Jury Votes
Draw Song
NED
ISL1
BEL
GBR
SWE1
SWE2
SWE3
CYP
ARM
NOR
LTU
SLO
ROU
FRA
ESP
GER
ISL2
POL
SWE4
AUT 		Total
1 "My Own Way" 5 8 6 5 7 7 7 5 6 6 6 6 7 6 5 6 5 7 6 6 122
2 "You and I" 10 7 10 6 10 10 10 7 8 7 12 8 10 7 6 10 10 6 7 8 169
3 "I mog Di so" 6 5 5 10 6 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 6 10 7 5 7 5 5 5 118
4 "Jonah" 8 10 7 8 12 8 12 10 10 12 8 10 5 5 10 12 6 10 12 10 185
5 "House on Fire" 7 6 8 7 5 6 6 8 7 8 7 7 8 12 8 7 8 8 8 7 148
6 "You Let Me Walk Alone" 12 12 12 12 8 12 8 12 12 10 10 12 12 8 12 8 12 12 10 12 218
Members of the International Jury[17]
Name Country Profession
Florent Luyckx [nl]  Netherlands Radio executive
Einar Bardarson  Iceland Composer, music producer, concertist, artist agent
Typh Barrow  Belgium Singer, composer
Mark de Lisser  United Kingdom Vocal coach
Henrik Johnsson [sv]  Sweden Television presenter and producer
Maria Marcus  Sweden Music producer, songwriter
Filip Adamo  Sweden Product manager at record label
Argyro Christodoulidou  Cyprus Composer, songwriter
Gore Melian  Armenia Singer, songwriter, producer
Margaret Berger  Norway Singer, songwriter, represented Norway in the 2013 contest
Rafailas Karpis [lt]  Lithuania Opera singer
Tinkara Kovač  Slovenia Singer, flautist, represented Slovenia in the 2014 contest
Anca Lupes  Romania Music manager
Bruno Berberes [fr]  France Casting director, producer, composer, coach
Ruth Lorenzo  Spain Singer, songwriter, represented Spain in the 2014 contest
Ferris MC  Germany Musician, rapper, actor
Helga Möller [is]  Iceland Singer, represented Iceland in the 1986 contest as part of ICY
Grzegorz Urban  Poland Composer, arranger, pianist
Rennie Mirro [sv]  Sweden Dancer, choreographer, actor
Sasha Saedi  Austria Music manager

Promotion

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Michael Schulte made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "You Let Me Walk Alone" as the German Eurovision entry. On 5 April, Schulte performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[18] On 14 April, Schulte performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Cornald Maas.[19] On 21 April, Schulte performed during the ESPreParty event which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain and hosted by Soraya Arnelas.[20]

At Eurovision

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According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to compete in one of two semi-finals, and qualify in order to participate in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big Five", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final on 12 May 2018.[21] In addition to their participation in the final, Germany is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 29 January 2018, Germany was assigned to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final on 10 May 2018.[22]

In Germany, the two semi-finals and the final were broadcast on One. ARD also broadcast the final on Das Erste and Deutsche Welle. All broadcasts featured commentary by Peter Urban.[23][24] The final was watched by 7.87 million viewers in Germany, which meant a market share of 33.4 per cent.[25][26] The German spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the German jury during the final, was Barbara Schöneberger.

Final

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Michael Schulte during a rehearsal before the final

Michael Schulte took part in technical rehearsals on 4 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9, 11 and 12 May. This included the semi-final jury show on 9 May where an extended clip of the German performance was filmed for broadcast during the live show on 10 May and the jury final on 11 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[27] After technical rehearsals were held on 6 May, the "Big Five" countries and host country Portugal held a press conference. As part of this press conference, the artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. Germany was drawn to compete in the first half.[28] Following the conclusion of the second semi-final, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Germany was subsequently placed to perform in position 11, following the entry from Serbia and before the entry from Albania.

The German performance featured Michael Schulte performing on stage in a black sweater, dark jeans and white trainers. The staging presentation included Schulte in front of a LED projection screen that displayed hand-drawn illustrations, images of people with their fathers and a series of vector animations in white, black and red colours which included several of the lyrics from the song's chorus and an infinite series of Schulte with white outlines against a black background when he spread his arms as the song progressed.[29][30] Germany placed fourth in the final, scoring 340 points: 136 points from the televoting and 204 points from the juries.[31]

Voting

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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.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Germany and awarded by Germany in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Germany

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Points awarded to Germany (Final)[32]
Score Televote Jury
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points  Sweden
4 points
3 points
2 points
 Azerbaijan
1 point

Points awarded by Germany

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Detailed voting results

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The following members comprised the German jury:[34]

Detailed voting results from Germany (Semi-final 2)[33]
Draw Country Jury Televote
M. Roos M. Giesinger S. Stadler M. Singer Lotte Rank Points Rank Points
01  Norway 6 14 4 8 7 6 5 7 4
02  Romania 14 10 10 13 14 13 13
03  Serbia 11 15 12 11 6 10 1 5 6
04  San Marino 9 17 18 18 17 17 16
05  Denmark 7 12 14 14 9 11 2 10
06  Russia 12 13 16 10 15 15 12
07  Moldova 5 11 8 12 4 7 4 6 5
08  Netherlands 8 3 5 4 3 4 7 8 3
09  Australia 3 4 3 3 2 3 8 4 7
10  Georgia 13 9 13 15 12 14 15
11  Poland 10 7 9 6 18 9 2 1 12
12  Malta 4 6 6 5 11 5 6 17
13  Hungary 15 16 17 17 8 16 3 8
14  Latvia 2 2 2 2 5 2 10 14
15  Sweden 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 11
16  Montenegro 18 18 15 16 13 18 18
17  Slovenia 16 5 7 7 10 8 3 9 2
18  Ukraine 17 8 11 9 16 12 10 1
Detailed voting results from Germany (Final)[32]
Draw Country Jury Televote
M. Roos M. Giesinger S. Stadler M. Singer Lotte Rank Points Rank Points
01  Ukraine 8 9 12 7 19 11 20
02  Spain 7 4 6 6 7 5 6 25
03  Slovenia 11 11 13 17 21 14 24
04  Lithuania 16 7 7 10 6 7 4 7 4
05  Austria 4 3 2 3 2 2 10 6 5
06  Estonia 19 8 20 9 3 9 2 19
07  Norway 9 23 17 25 16 18 14
08  Portugal 24 18 14 13 8 13 18
09  United Kingdom 15 13 19 18 20 20 10 1
10  Serbia 22 17 24 15 17 21 13
11  Germany
12  Albania 25 14 18 8 15 16 12
13  France 12 12 15 12 13 12 16
14  Czech Republic 14 20 9 23 12 15 3 8
15  Denmark 13 21 23 20 22 22 8 3
16  Australia 2 5 4 4 4 4 7 17
17  Finland 18 25 25 24 25 25 23
18  Bulgaria 20 24 22 19 24 24 22
19  Moldova 21 22 11 22 14 19 15
20  Sweden 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 21
21  Hungary 23 19 21 21 18 23 9 2
22  Israel 5 16 8 11 11 10 1 2 10
23  Netherlands 10 6 5 14 10 6 5 11
24  Ireland 3 2 3 2 5 3 8 4 7
25  Cyprus 6 10 10 5 23 8 3 5 6
26  Italy 17 15 16 16 9 17 1 12

References

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  1. ^ "Germany Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  2. ^ Granger, Anthony (16 June 2017). "Germany: Eurovision 'Withdrawal is Not An Option'". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  3. ^ Granger, Anthony (8 June 2017). "Germany: ARD Working On New Eurovision Selection Format". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  4. ^ Agadellis, Stratos (21 December 2017). "Germany: Unser Lied für Lissabon to be held on 22 February". Esctoday. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  5. ^ Welsh, Eleanor (8 January 2018). "Germany: Linda Zervakis and Elton to host Unser Lied für Lissabon". ARD. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Unser Lied für Lissabon". programm.ARD.de (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  7. ^ Farren, Neil (27 October 2017). "Germany: Eurovision 2018 Selection Details Released". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  8. ^ "ESC-Vorentscheid und "Goldene Kamera" liefen nur mau". DWDL.de. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Für den deutschen Vorentscheid bewerben!". eurovision.de (in German). 27 October 2017. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Alle Infos zum deutschen ESC-Vorentscheid 2018". ARD (in German). 23 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  11. ^ Granger, Anthony (21 December 2017). "Germany: Eurovision 2018 Selection to be Held on February 22". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Diese sechs Acts sind im ESC-Vorentscheid 2018". ARD (in German). 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  13. ^ Agadellis, Stratos (13 February 2018). "Germany: Unser Lied für Lissabon song titles revealed". Esctoday. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Michael Schulte to represent Germany with 'You Let Me Walk Alone'". eurovision.tv. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Mike Singer ist Stargast beim ESC-Vorentscheid" (in German). Eurovision.de. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  16. ^ Granger, Anthony (1 March 2018). "Germany: Full Results of the Voting In Unser Lied für Lissabon Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  17. ^ ""Unser Lied für Lissabon": Das ist die internationale Jury". Eurovision.de (in German). 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  18. ^ Granger, Anthony (5 April 2018). "Tonight: London Eurovision Party 2018". Eurovoix. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Eurovision in Concert 2018 Videos". Eurovisionworld.com. 15 April 2018. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Over 20 acts to appear at Madrid's ESPreParty this weekend". eurovision.tv. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  21. ^ Jordan, Paul (25 July 2017). "Lisbon revealed as Host City of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  22. ^ "Eurovision 2017: Which country is in which Semi-Final?". 31 January 2017.
  23. ^ "Alle Teilnehmer und Länder in Lissabon". eurovision.de. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017.
  24. ^ "ESC-Kommentator: Wer ist eigentlich dieser Peter Urban?". tz.de. 22 February 2018. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  25. ^ Quotenmeter; AGF; GfK. "TV-Reichweite des Eurovision Song Contests in den Jahren 1976 bis 2023 nach der Anzahl der Zuschauer". Statista. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  26. ^ Quotenmeter; AGF; GfK (14 May 2023). "Durchschnittlicher Zuschauermarktanteil der Übertragungen des Eurovision Song Contests in den Jahren 2001 bis 2023". Statista. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Lisbon 2018: Rehearsal Schedule". eurovisionworld.com. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  28. ^ Groot, Evert (6 May 2018). "Portugal and 'Big Five' rehearse for the second time". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  29. ^ "Day 6: Michael Schulte delivers stunning first performance – REVIEW". escXtra. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  30. ^ Adams, William Lee (4 May 2018). "Germany: Michael Schulte weaves emotional narrative with stunning projections during first rehearsal". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  31. ^ "Second Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  32. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  33. ^ a b "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  34. ^ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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