In December 2010, ARD's head of entertainment Thomas Schreiber said in an interview that the song would be selected via televoting during three live shows, two semi-finals broadcast by ProSieben and the final on Das Erste, thereby confirming earlier media reports. As confirmed by NDR, these three shows were held on 31 January and 7 February 2011 with six songs been presented in each of the two semi-finals the half of which proceeded to the final. Like one year earlier, the three shows were presented by Sabine Heinrich and Matthias Opdenhövel. On 27 January 2011, ARD announced the six jury members of the competition.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final was held on 31 January 2011 in Cologne, and broadcast live by the commercial television station ProSieben. Lena Meyer-Landrut performed six songs, from which three were chosen through televoting to advance to the final. A three-member jury panel consisting of Stefan Raab, Der Graf and Stefanie Kloß also appeared in the semi-final, but solely in an advisory role.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final was held on 7 February 2011 in Cologne, and broadcast live by the commercial television station ProSieben. Lena Meyer-Landrut performed the remaining six songs, from which another three were chosen through televoting to advance to the final. A three-member jury panel consisting of Stefan Raab, Anke Engelke and Joy Denalane also appeared in the semi-final, but solely in an advisory role.
Final
The final was held on 18 February 2011 in Cologne, and broadcast live by the public broadcaster Das Erste. Lena Meyer-Landrut performed the six finalists songs, from which two rounds of televoting selected the winning song, "Taken by a Stranger", receiving 79% of the votes in the superfinal. A three-member jury panel consisting of Stefan Raab, Barbara Schöneberger and Adel Tawil also appeared in the final, but solely in an advisory role.
At Eurovision
Germany was the host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 and a "Big Five" member and was therefore in the final, on 14 May. Germany voted in the second semi-final. Lena finished 10th in the final with 107 points.
Split results
In the Final Germany came 10th with 107 points: the public awarded Germany 9th place with 113 points and the jury awarded 10th place with 104 points.
