Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Country	Germany
National selection
Selection process	Unser Song 2017
Selection date(s)	9 February 2017
Selected entrant	Levina
Selected song	"Perfect Life"
Selected songwriter(s)	Lindsey Ray Lindy Robbins Dave Bassett
Finals performance
Final result	25th, 6 points
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2016 • 2017 • 2018►

Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Perfect Life" written by Lindsey Ray, Lindy Robbins and Dave Bassett. The song was performed by Levina. The German entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine was selected through the national final Unser Song 2017, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 9 February 2017 with the winner being selected through four rounds of public televoting. "Perfect Life" performed by Levina was selected as the German entry for Kyiv after gaining 69% of the votes in the fourth round.

As a member of the "Big Five", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 21, Germany placed twenty-fifth out of the 26 participating countries with 6 points.

Background

Main article: Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2017 contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty 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 2016, the German entry "Ghost" performed by Jamie-Lee placed last out of twenty-six competing songs scoring 11 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 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 23 May 2016. ^[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 14 September 2016, the broadcaster announced that they would organise a multi-artist national final to select the German entry in the format of a talent show similar to 2010 and 2012, which resulted in a first place and a top ten result respectively at Eurovision for Germany. ^[3]

Before Eurovision

Unser Song 2017

Unser Song 2017 (English: Our Song 2017) was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The competition took place on 9 February 2017 at the Köln-Mülheim Studios in Cologne, hosted by Barbara Schöneberger. Like in the previous seven years, the national final was 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. Five artists and two songs competed during the show with the winner being selected through a public televote. The show was broadcast on Das Erste, One and Deutsche Welle as well as online via the broadcaster's Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.de. ^[4] The national final was watched by 3.14 million viewers in Germany with a market share of 10.8%. ^[5]

Competing entries

Interested performers were able to apply by either uploading a performance clip of an original or cover song via YouTube between 14 September 2016 and 18 November 2016, or by presenting themselves and performing in front of a live camera at casting shows held at the Köln-Mülheim Studios in Cologne on 5 November 2016 and at the Hamburg-Lokstedt Studios in Hamburg on 12 November 2016. ^{[6] [7]} By the end of the process, it was announced that 2,493 applications were received and 33 performers were shortlisted by a six-member panel consisting of Thomas Schreiber (ARD entertainment coordinator, head of the fiction and entertainment department for NDR), Carola Conze (NDR representative, head of German delegation for Eurovision), Aditya Sharma (Radio Fritz lead music editor), Wolfgang Dalheimer (musical director), Jörg Grabosch (Brainpool managing director) and Claudia Gliedt (Raab TV head of music). ^{[8] [9] [10]} Nathan Trent was automatically eliminated from the shortlist after he was announced as the 2017 Austrian Eurovision entrant on 19 December 2016. ^[11] The five competing artists, selected by the six-member panel following a final casting round held at the Köln-Mülheim Studios in Cologne on 4 December 2016, were announced on 6 January 2017. ^{[12] [13]} On 17 January 2017, it was announced that Sadi had withdrawn from the competition and was replaced by Yosefin Buohler. ^[14]

German and international composers and lyricists were directly called upon by NDR to submit their entries for the competition as candidate Eurovision songs. NDR specified that songs should be in the genre of "organic and authentic pop with English lyrics", "alternative mainstream", "singer-songwriter pop" or "contemporary dance-pop". ^[15] The six-member panel selected the top two songs, which were announced on 1 February 2017. ^[16]

Shortlisted artists

Alessandro Capasso Alex Scuderi Anja Mann Axel Feige Beccy COOPA Elvira Michieva Felicia Lu Kürbiß Florian Brückl Helene Nissen Jo Marie Dominiak Kai Schernbeck Leonie Krakowski Levina Luisa Skrabic Makeda Marvin Schloßhauer Mary-Anne Bröllochs Max-Antoine Meisters Meg Pfeiffer Nathan Trent Nila Patrice Gerlach Paul Köninger Philipp Ostendorf Sadi Susanna Okonowski Sihna Maagé Sina Rösener Sven Lüchtenborg Taylor Luc Jacobs Yosefin Buohler

Competing songs

Song	Songwriter(s)
"Perfect Life"	Lindsey Ray, Lindy Robbins, Dave Bassett
"Wildfire"	Tofer Brown, Marit Larsen, Greg Holden

Final

Levina performing at Unser Song 2017

The televised final took place on 9 February 2017. The winner was selected through four rounds of public televoting, including options for landline and SMS voting. ^[17] International viewers were also able to vote via an app entitled Eurovision Vibes in the first three rounds but had no direct influence on the results. ^[18] In the first round of voting, each artist performed a cover song and the top three artists were selected to proceed to the second round. In the second round, the three remaining artists performed one of the two candidate Eurovision songs, "Wildfire", and the top two artists were selected to proceed to the third round. In the second round, the two remaining artists performed the second candidate Eurovision song, "Perfect Life", and the top two combinations of artist and song were selected to proceed to the final round. In the final round, the winner, "Perfect Life" performed by Levina, was selected. ^{[19] [20]} 204,249 votes were cast in the first round, 168,909 votes were cast in the second round, 278,697 votes were cast in the third round and 145,692 votes were cast in the final round. ^[21] The international app voting in the first two rounds were won by Axel Feige, while the third round resulted in a tie between Feige and Levina. ^[19]

Three music experts provided feedback in regards to the performances during the show. The experts were 2010 German Eurovision Song Contest winner winner Lena, singer-songwriter Tim Bendzko, and singer and television presenter Florian Silbereisen. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, former winners of the Eurovision Song Contest Nicole (1982), Ruslana (2004) and Conchita Wurst (2014) performed a medley of Eurovision winning songs, German singer Matthias Schweighöfer performed his new song "Supermann und seine Frau", and Tim Bendzko performed his song "Immer noch Mensch". ^[22]

First Round – 9 February 2017

Draw	Artist	Song (Original artists)	Televote	Place
1	Helene Nissen	"Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash)	49,964	2
2	Yosefin Buohler	"Love On Top" (Beyoncé)	12,748	5
3	Felicia Lu Kürbiß	"Dancing On My Own" (Robyn)	13,139	4
4	Axel Feige	"You Know My Name" (Chris Cornell)	39,242	3
5	Levina	"When We Were Young" (Adele)	89,156	1

Second Round – 9 February 2017

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Place
1	Helene Nissen	"Wildfire"	41,459	3
2	Axel Feige	"Wildfire"	47,639	2
3	Levina	"Wildfire"	79,811	1

Third Round – 9 February 2017

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Place	Result
1	Axel Feige	"Perfect Life"	57,631	3	Eliminated
		"Wildfire"	36,266	4	Eliminated
2	Levina	"Perfect Life"	60,474	2	Advanced
		"Wildfire"	124,326	1	Advanced

Final Round – 9 February 2017

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Place
1	Levina	"Wildfire"	45,285	2
2	Levina	"Perfect Life"	100,407	1

Controversy

Several news sites and blogs had discussed a possible plagiarism of "Perfect Life" from the song "Titanium" by David Guetta. It was also claimed that the song was a plagiarism of the soundtrack for the 2014 German film Young and Wild, however the composition of the song predates the film and hence could not have plagiarised the soundtrack ^{[23] [24] [25]} A copyright claim against "Perfect Life" was subsequently launched by Sony Music, and a new version of the song was created and released on 17 March. ^{[25] [26]}

At Eurovision

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 13 May 2017. ^[27] 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 31 January 2017, 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 11 May 2017, which was approved by the contest's Reference Group. ^[28]

In Germany, the two semi-finals and the final were broadcast on One. ARD also broadcast the second semi-final on NDR Fernsehen and the final on Das Erste. All broadcasts featured commentary by Peter Urban. ^[29] The final was watched by 7.85 million viewers in Germany, which meant a market share of 31.6 per cent. ^{[30] [31]} The German spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the German jury during the final, was Barbara Schöneberger.

Final

Levina during a rehearsal before the final

Levina took part in technical rehearsals on 5 and 7 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 10, 12 and 13 May. This included the semi-final jury show on 10 May where an extended clip of the German performance was filmed for broadcast during the live show on 11 May and the jury final on 12 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. After the technical rehearsals were held on 7 May, the "Big Five" countries and host nation Ukraine 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. ^[32] Germany was drawn to compete in the second half. 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 21, following the entry from Romania and before the entry from Ukraine.

The German performance featured Levina performing on stage in a light grey top and a dark grey floor-length skirt. The staging presentation included Levina starting the performance on her back against the stage floor before standing up for the rest of the song. The LED screens displayed silver colours with black and white elements which began to multiply and rise upwards at the conclusion of the performance. ^{[33] [34]} Levina was joined by two off-stage backing vocalists: Esther Cowens and Louise Mills. ^[35] Germany placed twenty-fifth in the final, scoring 6 points: 3 points from the televoting and 3 point from the juries. ^[36]

Voting

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

In the final, Germany received three points in the televote from Switzerland and 3 points in the jury vote from Ireland. ^[37]

Points awarded by Germany

Points awarded by Germany (Semi-final 2) [38] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Bulgaria   Norway 10 points   Hungary   Bulgaria 8 points   Israel   Netherlands 7 points   Romania   Serbia 6 points   Croatia   Austria 5 points   Netherlands   Croatia 4 points   Austria   Ireland 3 points   Estonia   Malta 2 points   Norway    Switzerland 1 point   San Marino   Denmark

Points awarded by Germany (Final) [37] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Portugal   Norway 10 points   Belgium   Portugal 8 points   Croatia   Bulgaria 7 points   Moldova   Netherlands 6 points   Romania   United Kingdom 5 points   Bulgaria   Australia 4 points   Italy   Sweden 3 points   Hungary   Croatia 2 points   Poland   Austria 1 point   Netherlands   Hungary

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the German jury: ^[39]

• Nicole Seibert (Nicole; jury chairperson) –singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1982
• Joy Denalane  –singer
• Adel Tawil  –singer
• Wincent Weiss  –singer-songwriter
• Andreas Herbig  [ de ] (Boogieman) –music producer

Detailed voting results from Germany (Semi-final 2) ^[38]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		Nicole	J. Denalane	A. Tawil	W. Weiss	Boogieman	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Serbia	10	2	6	6	3	4	7	13
02	Austria	5	5	7	8	4	5	6	7	4
03	Macedonia	12	18	18	17	14	17		14
04	Malta	6	8	8	7	11	8	3	16
05	Romania	17	17	17	18	13	18		4	7
06	Netherlands	2	3	5	3	5	3	8	6	5
07	Hungary	13	14	9	11	10	11		2	10
08	Denmark	14	7	10	9	8	10	1	18
09	Ireland	7	10	4	5	7	7	4	15
10	San Marino	16	13	12	16	17	16		10	1
11	Croatia	1	6	13	4	6	6	5	5	6
12	Norway	3	1	1	1	1	1	12	9	2
13	Switzerland	11	12	3	10	9	9	2	12
14	Belarus	18	11	15	15	12	14		11
15	Bulgaria	4	4	2	2	2	2	10	1	12
16	Lithuania	15	16	14	13	15	15		17
17	Estonia	8	15	11	12	16	12		8	3
18	Israel	9	9	16	14	18	13		3	8

Detailed voting results from Germany (Final) ^[37]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		Nicole	J. Denalane	A. Tawil	W. Weiss	Boogieman	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Israel	18	22	22	25	21	25		16
02	Poland	19	7	13	14	17	15		9	2
03	Belarus	20	20	19	20	13	18		18
04	Austria	10	6	12	6	12	9	2	14
05	Armenia	21	21	20	18	20	20		19
06	Netherlands	6	4	7	7	4	4	7	10	1
07	Moldova	12	23	17	21	22	19		4	7
08	Hungary	11	9	8	9	11	10	1	8	3
09	Italy	2	19	3	16	23	13		7	4
10	Denmark	13	13	9	10	10	11		25
11	Portugal	1	1	2	5	3	2	10	1	12
12	Azerbaijan	14	24	21	22	25	23		23
13	Croatia	4	12	16	8	5	8	3	3	8
14	Australia	5	8	11	3	9	6	5	15
15	Greece	23	18	23	24	14	22		11
16	Spain	22	17	25	19	24	24		24
17	Norway	3	3	1	1	1	1	12	20
18	United Kingdom	16	5	4	4	6	5	6	22
19	Cyprus	17	14	24	17	18	17		17
20	Romania	24	25	14	23	16	21		5	6
21	Germany
22	Ukraine	15	11	18	12	8	14		21
23	Belgium	7	15	10	15	15	12		2	10
24	Sweden	9	10	6	11	7	7	4	12
25	Bulgaria	8	2	5	2	2	3	8	6	5
26	France	25	16	15	13	19	16		13

References

1. "Germany Country Profile". EBU . Retrieved 21 September 2014.
2. Jiandani, Sanjay (23 May 2016). "Germany: NDR confirms participation in Eurovision 2017". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
3. Weaver, Jessica (14 September 2016). "Germany: Back to basics in German national final". Esctoday. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
4. "Nach "The Voice"-Aus: Fährt SIE für Deutschland zum ESC '17?". Promiflash.de (in German). 9 February 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
5. Niemeier, Timo (10 February 2017). "Schwächster ESC-Vorentscheid seit fünf Jahren". dwdl.de (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
6. "FAQ - Unser Song 2017". Brainpool. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
7. Knoops, Roy (18 October 2016). "Germany: Casting shows for Eurovision 2017 in Cologne and Hamburg". Esctoday. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
8. Cobb, Ryan (22 November 2016). "Germany: 2,493 applicants for "Unser Song 2017"". Escxtra. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
9. Weaver, Jessica (6 October 2016). "Germany: 33 artists continue their Unser Song 2017 bid". Esctoday. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
10. "ESC-2017 – Wer singt für Deutschland beim Eurovision Song Contest?". vorwärts (in German). 7 February 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
11. "Speed-Dating mit den Kandidaten für "Unser Song 2017"". ARD (in German). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
12. "Zweites Casting für deutschen ESC-Vorentscheid". eurovision.de (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2023.
13. "Diese fünf nehmen am Vorentscheid teil". Eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
14. ""Unser Song 2017": Sadi zieht Kandidatur zurück". Eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
15. "Der NDR will keinen Soul. Und keinen Quatsch!". aufrechtgehn.de (in German). 19 December 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
16. Weaver, Jessica (1 February 2017). "Germany: International viewers to have their say in Unser Song 2017". Esctoday. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
17. "So funktioniert der deutsche Vorentscheid". Eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
18. Weaver, Jessica (1 February 2017). "Germany: International viewers to have their say in Unser Song 2017". Esctoday. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
19. "Germany's Levina takes her Perfect Life to Kyiv". eurovision.tv. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
20. "Vorentscheid: Kandidaten im ARD-Morgenmagazin". Eurovision.de (in German). ARD. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
21. "Germany: Unser Song 2017". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
22. "Die musikalischen Gast-Stars bei "Unser Song 2017"". Eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
23. "ESC 2017: Plagiats-Vorwürfe gegen Levinas Song". HNA (in German). 12 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
24. "ESC 2017: Heftige Vorwürfe gegen "Levina" - ist ihr Song nur geklaut?". The Huffington Post. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
25. Davies, Megan (2 March 2017). "Germany: "Perfect Life" hit by plagiarism claims". Eurovoix. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
26. "Alemania presentará la versión definitiva de Perfect life el 14 de abril". eurovision-spain.com (in Spanish). 3 December 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
27. Jordan, Paul (9 September 2016). "Kyiv to host Eurovision 2017!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union . Retrieved 11 September 2016.
28. "Eurovision 2017: Which country is in which Semi-Final?". eurovision.tv. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
29. "ESC: Streit um Sängerin aus Russland" [ESC: Controversy over Russian singer]. metrotime.be (in German). 23 March 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. Weaver, Jessica (7 May 2017). "Eurovision 2017: 'Big 5' allocation draw decided". Esctoday. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
33. "Day 6: Levina completes her first rehearsal for Germany". escXtra. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
34. Halpin, Chris (5 May 2017). "Nil points? No way! Germany's Levina dazzles in grey during first rehearsal". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
35. "Germany". Six on Stage. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
36. "Grand Final of Kyiv 2017". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
37. "Results of the Grand Final of Kyiv 2017". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
38. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Kyiv 2017". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
39. Jordan, Paul (29 April 2017). "Who will be the expert jurors for Eurovision 2017?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union . Retrieved 29 April 2017.

External links

• Official ARD Eurovision site
• Official Unser Song 2017 site