Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

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Eurovision Song Contest 1998
CountryFlag of Germany.svg  Germany
National selection
Selection processCountdown Grand Prix 1998
Selection date(s)26 February 1998
Selected entrant Guildo Horn
Selected song"Guildo hat euch lieb!"
Selected songwriter(s) Alf Igel
Finals performance
Final result7th, 86 points
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄199719981999►

Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Guildo hat euch lieb!" written by Alf Igel. The song was performed by Guildo Horn. The German entry for the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom was selected through the national final Countdown Grand Prix 1998, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 26 February 1998 and featured eleven competing acts with the winner being selected through public televoting. "Guildo hat euch lieb!" performed by Guildo Horn was selected as the German entry for Birmingham after gaining 426,050 of the votes.

Contents

Germany competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 1998. Performing during the show in position 9, Germany placed seventh out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 86 points.

Background

Prior to the 1998 Contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-one times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in 1956. [1] Germany 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 except for the 1996 contest when the nation was eliminated in a pre-contest elimination round. In 1997, the German entry "Zeit" performed by Bianca Shomburg placed eighteenth out of twenty-five competing songs scoring 22 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). Since 1996, NDR had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Germany. The broadcaster organised a multi-artist national final in cooperation to select the German entry for the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest. [2]

Before Eurovision

Countdown Grand Prix 1998

The Stadthalle in Bremen was the host venue of Countdown Grand Prix 1998 OVB-Arena-2824.jpg
The Stadthalle in Bremen was the host venue of Countdown Grand Prix 1998

Countdown Grand Prix 1998 was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. Ten acts were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of NDR, which included head of the entertainment department Jürgen Meier-Beer, from proposals received by the broadcaster from record companies and among the competing artists was Wind (with different group members) which represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985, 1987 and 1992. [2] [3]

The televised final took place on 26 February 1998 at the Stadthalle in Bremen, hosted by Axel Bulthaupt and Nena and broadcast on Das Erste. [4] [5] The winner, "Guildo hat euch lieb!" performed by Guildo Horn, was selected solely through public televoting. [6] [7] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Nena performed her song "Was hast du mit meinem Traum gemacht" and 1997 Icelandic Eurovision entrant Paul Oscar performed his entry "Minn hinsti dans". The national final was watched by 7.73 million viewers in Germany and 689,402 votes were cast during the show. [8]

Final – 26 February 1998
DrawArtistSongSongwriter(s)TelevotePlace
1Shana"Es regnet nie in Texas"Franz Troja, Klaus HirschburgerUnknown9
2Ballhouse"Can-Can" Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger Unknown6
3Maria Perzil"Freut Euch!"Markus Krüger, Dirk SchelpmeierUnknown10
4Diana and Wind "Lass die Herzen sich berühren"Peter Weigel, Dave Tchorz, Andreas LebbingUnknown5
5Sharon"Kids"Ralph Siegel, Bernd MeinungerUnknown8
6 Guildo Horn "Guildo hat euch lieb!" Alf Igel 426,0501
7 Rosenstolz "Herzensschöner" Peter Plate, Andrea Rosenbaum 73,0772
8Köpenick"Carneval"Ralph Siegel, Bernd MeinungerUnknown7
9Fokker"Gel-Song (Kleine Melodie)"Christian von RichthofenUnknown4
10Hearts and Roses"Du bist ein Teil von mir"Jörg Evers69,6303

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. Germany was originally relegated for being one of the eight lowest scoring countries but was eventually allowed to compete after Italy withdrew from the contest. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Germany was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from Sweden and before the entry from Finland. [9] [10] The day before the contest, Germany was considered by bookmakers to be the eighth most likely country to win the competition. [11] At the contest, Guildo Horn performed on stage together with his band Die Orthopädischen Strümpfe and Germany finished in seventh place with 86 points. [12] [13]

In Germany, the show was broadcast on Das Erste which featured commentary by Peter Urban. [14] [15] The show was watched by 12.67 million viewers in Germany. [16] The German spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the German televote, was Nena.

Voting

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guildo hat euch lieb!</span>

"Guildo hat euch lieb!" was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, performed in German by Guildo Horn & Die Orthopädischen Strümpfe. The song was performed ninth on the night, following Israel's Dana International with "Diva" and preceding Malta's Chiara with "The One That I Love". At the close of voting, it had received 86 points, placing 7th in a field of 25.

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