Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017


Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Perfect Life", performed by Levina and written by Lindsey Ray, Lindy Robbins and Dave Bassett. The German entry was selected through the national final Unser Song 2017, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk.

Background

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. 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 with eleven points; it was the second year in a row Germany placed last in the final.
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 confirmed that Germany would participate in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 23 May 2016. Since 2013, multi-artist national finals had determined both the songs and performers to compete at Eurovision for Germany. For their 2017 entry, the broadcaster announced on 14 September 2016 that they would revert to a casting show format for the national final, similar to the format used in 2010 and 2012, which resulted in a first place and a top ten result respectively at Eurovision for Germany.

Before Eurovision

''Unser Song 2017''

Unser Song 2017 was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The national final took place on 9 February 2017 at the Köln-Mülheim Studios in Cologne, hosted by Barbara Schöneberger. The national final was co-produced by the production company Raab TV. The final featured five artists and two candidate songs especially written for Eurovision.

Casting rounds

Interested novel artists were able to apply for the competition by either attending a live casting show or submitting an online application. Only solo artists were accepted to compete. After submitting an application, novel artists could present themselves and perform in front of a live camera at casting shows that were held in two German cities. The casting shows were held at the Köln-Mülheim Studios in Cologne on 5 November 2016 and at the Hamburg-Lokstedt Studios in Hamburg on 12 November 2016. Artists could also present themselves online between 14 September 2016 and 18 November 2016 by submitting and application form and uploading a performance clip of either a cover song or a self-created song via YouTube.
By the end of the process, it was announced that 2,493 candidates had applied for the competition. An expert panel consisting of representatives of NDR, ARD, and Raab TV, and musical director Wolfgang Dalheimer narrowed the total number of candidates to 33 artists, who went through a final casting round. One of them, Nathan Trent, was automatically eliminated from the selection since he was announced as the Austrian representative for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 19 December 2016 and, according to regulations by the European Broadcasting Union, a performer can not represent more than one country in the same year. In the final casting round, the expert panel selected five artists for the national final. The five selected finalists were announced on 6 January 2017:
On 17 January 2017, it was announced that Sadi had withdrawn from the competition, and he was replaced by Yosefin Buohler.

Candidate songs

On 1 February 2017, ARD announced the titles and the songwriters of the two songs that were bidding to become the German entry in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, paired with the artists competing in the national final.
SongSongwriter
"Perfect Life"Lindsey Ray, Lindy Robbins, Dave Bassett
"Wildfire"Tofer Brown, Marit Larsen, Greg Holden

National final

The televised final took place on 9 February 2017. The final featured five artists and two candidate songs. The final consisted of four rounds. In the first round, the five competing artists performed a cover of a song of their choice, and three advanced to the second round. In the second round, the three remaining artists performed the first of the two songs bidding for Eurovision, and the top two artists proceeded to the third round. In the third round, the two qualifiers performed the second of the two songs bidding for Eurovision. The audience then voted for the two top combinations of artist and song from the two remaining artists. This could result in either one performance per artist, or one artist with both candidate songs. In the fourth round, the audience decided the winner from the two remaining combinations of song and artist.
During the final, an expert panel commented on the performances. The members of the expert panel were:
International viewers were also able to vote for their favourite performance via the app entitled Eurovision Vibes, and the results were made known to the audience during the final; however, neither the expert panel nor the international viewers had direct influence on the results. The winner was determined solely by the votes from the German audience via SMS and app voting.
In addition to the performances by the competing artists, Nicole – winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 for Germany –, Ruslana – winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 for Ukraine –, and Conchita Wurst – winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 for Austria – performed a medley of Eurovision winning songs; Matthias Schweighöfer and Tim Bendzko were also guest performers, performing their latest singles "Supermann und seine Frau" and "Immer noch Mensch" respectively.
First round
The five competing artists performed a cover of a song of their choice. The three acts with the most votes from the televote; Helene Nissen, Axel Feige, and Levina, proceeded to the second round.
Second round
The top three acts each performed their version of "Wildfire", the first of the two songs bidding for Eurovision, and the top two artists determined by the televote; Axel Feige and Levina, proceeded to the third round.
Third round
The two qualifiers each performed their version of "Perfect Life", the second of the two songs bidding for Eurovision. The audience then voted for the top two combinations of artist and song from the two remaining acts. Levina with both "Wildfire" and "Perfect Life" proceeded to the fourth and final round.
Fourth round
The audience decided the winner between the top two combinations of artist and song, selecting Levina with "Perfect Life".

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 took place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and the final on 13 May 2017. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big 5", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final. In addition to their participation in the final, Germany is also required to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. Germany placed 25th with 6 points in the final.

Voting

Points awarded to Germany

Points awarded by Germany

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the German jury: