Today, the German broadcasters, ARD/ NDR, have revealed more details regarding the competing artists of their national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, ‘Unser Song’. Taking place tomorrow evening, only one day separates the reveal of the five songs and the selection of the show winner – which Germany hopes this year will go on to make it to the top ten in Kyiv following several years of low placing entries.
Mr Schreiber (Head of Entertainment) confirmed that there will be promotion of the artist ahead of next years contest, with plans to visit a number of countries. International promotion did not occur with the German entrant in 2016, Jamie-Lee this was due to the age of the singer and her school commitments. In previous years German entrants have performed at a number of Eurovision Preview events including those in London and the Netherlands.
The five Unser Song artists will perform covers of the following songs:
Axel Feige – You Know My Name
Felicia Lu Kürbiß – Dancing on My Own
Helene Nissen – (Unknown)
Levina – When We Were Young
Yosefin Buohler – You Know My Name
Yosefin
Felicia
Levina
Axel
13:45 // Felicia Lu Kürbiß has taken to the stage with Barbara Schöneberger for a brief photo opportunity and to discuss her entry. A short clip showing the young artist’s previous success as a “rising star of Germany” has also been played.
13:53 // Helene has taken to the stage with Barbara for, again, a brief photo opportunity and to discuss her entry. A short clip showing the young artist’s previous success has also been played.
13:58 // Yosefin Buohler, unable to attend, still has the opportunity to play a short biography clip – in which she discusses her experience as a children’s television presenter in Sweden on SVT Barn. Equally, Axel Feige’s clip is played on the screen.
14:05 // Levina, unable to join Barbara at the time, discusses her history in a brief video clip, talking about her masters degree in music development and production. She has previously performed in clubs and bars, describing Unser Song as a chance to break through.
14:07 // Moments after the final video clip was played, Yosefin Buohler arrived to give the German press a chance for photographs, and to discuss her submissions in person with Barbara. Yosefin discusses her thoughts regarding Melodifestivalen and Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, joking about Barbara’s attempt to speak the language and the tag still showing on the back of Yosefin’s shirt. Yosefin is of dual nationality.
14:12 // Axel joins Barbara on the stage for a photo opportunity and a brief interview – Levina later joins Barbara on stage for her photo opportunity and interview.
14:40 // Show judges Tim, Lena and Florian had their photo board moment before speaking with Barbara and the press.
Jetzt ist der #Erfolg auf der #UnserSong2017 Bühne @Lenas_view @bendzko und Florian Silbereisen unsere #Jury #esc "Alle sollen Spaß haben" pic.twitter.com/Wl0X1rTLkh
— ESC Deutschland (@eurovisionde) February 8, 2017
It has been announced that the show will have four rounds, with a separate vote and elimination taking place after each. The rounds will go as follows:
The five competitors will each sing a cover song of their choice
The remaining three artists will each sing the first specially-composed Eurovision song, in their own unique arrangements
The two acts with the highest votes will second specially-composed Eurovision song. The public will then vote from the four performances of both of these artists’ Eurovision songs
The two performances with the highest votes will progress to this round. These two performances could be the same song by both artists, two songs by the same artist, or one performance from each artist. The winner will then be decided from this final two
ARD, one of the two broadcasters in charge of Germany’s Eurovision participation, has announced that an international vote is to be introduced to the voting system of their national selection show Unser Song 2017. Through this, international viewers will be able to cast their vote and have their say in who should represent Germany in Kyiv.
This international vote will be available through the official Eurovision app Eurovision Vibes. Through this app, fans will be able to view the rehearsals for the show from Wednesday 8th February as well as the show itself on Thursday 9th February, and cast their vote based on these performances. The vote will open at 20:15 CET on 8th February, and will remain open until the voting closes during the live show on Thursday. This will be the first time that international viewers will be able to have an official say in another country’s national selection.
It has also been revealed that the host of this year’s Unser Song, Barbara Schöneberger, will keep the German public informed on the results of the international vote so that they know which songs have the greatest appeal for an international audience.
This new method of voting, along with the fact that the stream of the final will be translated into English, clearly indicates that Germany are attempting to find a song that has the best potential of not only showcasing the best of German music, but also of doing well at the contest. This comes after a run of mediocre results for the country in Eurovision since 2013. Indeed, over the past four years they have placed in 21st, 18th, 27th and 26th, coming last in 2015 and 2016.
Unser Song 2017 will take place at 20:15 CET on Thursday 9th February. The winner of the show will represent Germany at the 62nd Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv on 13th May.
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
Germany was one of six countries to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. The country has taken part in every contest apart from the 1996 contest when they failed to make it through the qualifying round. To date Germany has won the contest twice, the first time being in 1982 when Nicole sang “Ein Bisschen Frieden”, the song became a global hit. It wasn’t until 2010 that Germany won again when Lena sang “Satellite” in Oslo, she received 9 sets of 12 points, scoring 236 points. In the past two years Germany has finished last in the final.
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