2010, Germanys Year?

Germany are still riding high in the betting according to PaddyPower who have Lena at 3/1 to win this year edition, but Eurovision hasn’t always been kind to Germany. Heres a quick look back at their history and some of their notable entries.

Germany has entered Eurovision every year since 1956 and has taken part in the final every year, except for 1996. That year a pre-selection was used to bring the number of entries down to 23, and German’s entry Leon with “Planet of Blue”,  did not make the cut. Since that year, Germany has been one of the “Big Four” who automatically qualify. Germany also is the largest contributor to Eurovision.

German Wins

You have to go all the way back to the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest in Harrogate, UK, for Germany’s last and only win in Eurovision. In that year Nicole took home the prize with her song “Ein bißchen Frieden”.

2nd Place

Germany have finished in 2nd place on four occasions. Two of these were with the band Wind. Wind finished second in 1985 with “Für alle” and in 1987 with “Laß die Sonne in dein Herz”. Germany also finished second in 1980 and 1981. In 1980 Katja Ebstein with “Theater” and in 1981 it was Lena Valaitis with “Johnny Blue”.

Wind – “Für alle”

3rd Place

Germany have finished in 3rd place five times. Two of those occasions were with Katja Ebstein, in 1970 with “Wunder gibt es immer wieder” and in 1971 with “Diese Welt”. In 1972, for the third time in a row Germany came third with Martina Roos and “Nur die Liebe läßt uns leben”. Skip forward to 1994 when Germany came third with Mekado and “Wir geben ‘ne Party” and again in 1999 Germany came third with “Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs’e seyahat”

Katja Ebstein – “Diese Welt”

Last Place

While above I mentioned the Germany success at Eurovision, it hasn’t always been plain sailing for Germany, apart from 1996, Germany has come last, or joint last on six occasions. In 1964 Nora Nova got nul points for her effort “Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne” and in the following year Ulla Wiesner also got nul points for her song “Paradies, wo bist du?”. After a run of good finishes in the 1970′s that run came to an end in 1974 when Cindy and Bert came last with “Die Sommermelodie”, they did manage 3 points though! 1995 was the next time that Germany came last and they managed to garner one point that year for their entry Stone and Stone with “Verliebt in Dich”. Ten years later in 2005 was the next year Germany came last, that year Gracia came last with four points with the song “Run and Hide”. Keeping up with the bad results in 2008 No Angels came in with 14 points to finish at the bottom of the table with “Disappear”.

Grace – Run and Hide

Overall Eurovision has been a mixed bag for Germany, hopefully this years entry will redeem them and do them well!