Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996

Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Participating broadcaster	ARD [lower-alpha 1] – Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR)
Country	Germany
National selection
Selection process	Ein bisschen Glück
Selection date(s)	1 March 1996
Selected artist(s)	Leon
Selected song	"Planet of Blue"
Selected songwriter(s)	Anna Rubach Hanne Haller
Finals performance
Final result	Failed to qualify (24th)
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1995 • 1996 • 1997►

Germany was represented at the qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Planet of Blue", written by Hanne Haller and Anna Rubach, and performed by Leon. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), organised the national final Ein bisschen Glück in order to select their entry for the contest. The entry failed to make it through the pre-selection round, meaning Germany was not represented at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first and only time.

The national final took place on 1 March 1996 and featured ten competing acts with the winner being selected through public televoting. "Planet of Blue" performed by Leon was selected as the German entry for Oslo after gaining 37.9% of the votes.

On 23 March 1996, Germany was not announced among the top 22 entries of the qualifying round of the Eurovision Song Contest on 20 and 21 March 1996 and therefore did not qualify to compete in the contest which took place on 18 May 1996, making it the nation's first and only absence from the contest to date. It was later revealed that Germany placed twenty-fourth out of the 29 participating countries in the qualifying round with 24 points.

Background

Main article: Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 1996 Contest, ARD had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Germany forty times since its debut in 1956. ^[1] It has won the contest on one occasion: in 1982 with the song " Ein bißchen Frieden " performed by Nicole. 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. In 1995, the German entry "Verliebt in Dich" performed by Stone and Stone placed twenty-third (last) out of twenty-three competing songs scoring only one point.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, ARD organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. In 1996, ARD delegated the participation in the contest to its member Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), replacing another regional broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) which had been participating between 1992 and 1995. NDR organised a multi-artist national final to select their entry for the 1996 contest. ^[2]

Before Eurovision

Ein bisschen Glück

The Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Hamburg was the host venue of Ein bisschen Glück

Ein bisschen Glück (English: A bit of Luck) was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. The televised final took place on 1 March 1996 at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Hamburg, hosted by Jens Riewa and broadcast on Das Erste. ^[3] Ten entries, selected by a panel consisting of representatives of the German Music Competitions Association and GEMA from 737 proposals received by NDR, participated and the winner, "Planet of Blue" performed by Leon, was selected solely through public televoting. ^{[4] [5]}

Final – 1 March 1996

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Televote	Place
1	Ibo	"Der liebe Gott ist ganz begeistert"	Walter Gerke, Mick Hannes	—	5
2	Anett Kölpin	"Für dich, mein Kind"	Thomas Natschinski, Ingeburg Branoner	—	4
3	Enzo	"Wo bist du?"	Michael Reinecke	—	10
4	Rendezvouz	"Ohne dich"	Werner Petersburg	—	7
5	Nina Falk	"Immer nur du"	Klaus-Peter Schweizer	—	8
6	Leon	"Planet of Blue"	Hanne Haller, Anna Rubach	37.9%	1
7	Angela Wiedl and Dalila Cernatescu	"Echos"	Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger	11.9%	3
8	André Stade	"Jeanny, wach auf!"	Jean Frankfurter, Irma Holder	16.4%	2
9	Euro-Cats	"Surfen-Multimedia"	Erich Offierowski	—	6
10	Jacques van Eijck	"Ja, das kann nur Liebe sein"	Jacques van Eijck, John Möring	—	9

At Eurovision

In 1996, all nations with the exceptions of the host country were required to qualify from an audio qualifying round, held on 20 and 21 March 1996, in order to compete for the Eurovision Song Contest; the top twenty-two countries from the qualifying round progress to the contest. ^{[6] [7]} During the allocation draw which determined the running order of the final on 22 March 1996, Germany was not announced among the top 22 entries in the qualifying round and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the contest. It was later revealed that Germany placed twenty-fourth in the qualifying round, receiving a total of 24 points. ^[8] This was the first, and so far only time Germany did not participate in the contest, having competed since the first edition in 1956, which caused some discontent between ARD and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) because Germany was one of the biggest financial contributors to the contest due to its population size. This qualification failure, among other things, led to the formation of the "Big Five" status. ^[7]

In Germany, the contest which was broadcast live on N3 and on a 3 hour and 35 minute delay on Das Erste, both featuring commentary by Ulf Ansorge, was watched by only 370,000 viewers, the lowest TV rating ever recorded in Germany for a Eurovision final. ^{[9] [10]}

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Germany and awarded by Germany in the qualifying round of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Sweden in the qualifying round.

Points awarded to Germany (qualifying round) [11] [12] Score Country 12 points 10 points   United Kingdom 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points   Denmark   France 4 points 3 points   Israel 2 points 1 point   Sweden

Points awarded by Germany (qualifying round) [11] [12] Score Country 12 points   Sweden 10 points   Poland 8 points   Estonia 7 points    Switzerland 6 points   Malta 5 points   United Kingdom 4 points   Romania 3 points   Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 points   Croatia 1 point   Austria

Notes

1. Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

References

1. "Germany Country Profile". EBU . Retrieved 21 September 2014.
2. "1996 bringt ESC-Neuanfang für Deutschland". eurovision.de (in German). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
3. "Germany: Ein bißchen Glück". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
4. Deutschland, RedaktionsNetzwerk (18 January 2022). "ESC-Desaster 1996: Als Deutschland in der Vorausscheidung rausflog". www.rnd.de (in German). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
5. aufrechtgehn (1 March 1996). "Deutscher Vorentscheid 1996: Der Countdown läuft". aufrechtgehn.de (in German). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
6. "Recalling Ireland's record seventh win in 1996". European Broadcasting Union. 18 May 2014. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
7. "Oslo 1996 - Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
8. Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 255–261. ISBN   978-1-84583-163-9.
9. "Radio & Televisie Zaterdag" [Radio & Television Saturday]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 18 May 1996. p. 8. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
10. Schröder, Jens (26 May 2008). "Das Auf und Ab des "Eurovision Song Contests"". meedia.de (in German). Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
11. Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. p. 259. ISBN   978-1-84583-163-9.
12. "The 1996 preselection - the full scoresheets". ESCNation.com. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2021.

External links

• German National Final 1996