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| Eurovision Song Contest 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | 
Germany | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Ein bisschen Glück | |||
| Selection date(s) | 1 March 1996 | |||
| Selected entrant | Leon | |||
| Selected song | "Planet of Blue" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | Failed to qualify (24th) | |||
| Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
For the first time since 1992, a national final was held in Germany to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. At the contest, represented by Leon with "Planet of Blue", Germany failed to progress from the pre-qualification round, leading to the first, and so far only time that Germany failed to participate at Eurovision.
Before Eurovision
Ein bisschen Glück
The German national final for the 1996 Eurovision, organised by ARD, was held on 1 March at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Hamburg, presented by Jens Riewa. 10 songs competed, and a public televote was held to select the winner: this was Leon with "Planet of Blue", which received 37.9% of the vote. Only the top three songs were announced during the show, however the placings of all the songs are known.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ibo | "Der liebe Gott ist ganz begeistert" | Walter Gerke, Mick Hannes | — | 5 |
| 2 | Anett Kölpin | "Für dich, mein Kind" | Thomas Natschinski, Ingeburg Branoner | — | 4 |
| 3 | Enzo | "Wo bist du?" | Michael Reinecke | — | 10 |
| 4 | Rendezvouz | "Ohne dich" | Werner Petersburg | — | 7 |
| 5 | Nina Falk | "Immer nur du" | Klaus-Peter Schweizer | — | 8 |
| 6 | Leon | "Planet of Blue" | Hanne Haller, Anna Rubach | 37.9% | 1 |
| 7 | Angela Wiedl and Dalila Cernatescu | "Echos" | Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger | 11.9% | 3 |
| 8 | André Stade | "Jeanny, wach auf!" | Jean Frankfurter, Irma Holder | 16.4% | 2 |
| 9 | Euro-Cats | "Surfen-Multimedia" | Erich Offierowski | — | 6 |
| 10 | Jacques van Eijck | "Ja, das kann nur Liebe sein" | Jacques van Eijck, John Möring | — | 9 |
At Eurovision
The 1996 Contest implemented an audio-only qualifying round for all competing countries (except for host country Norway). 22 songs from the 29 competing could join Norway in the live final on 16 May. [1] However, Germany was not among those to qualify, placing 24th in the line-up. [2]
This caused some discontent between ARD and the EBU, the contest's organisers, because, due to its population size, Germany was one of the biggest financial contributors to the contest. This qualification failure, among other things, led to the formation of the "Big Five" status.
Due to Germany's non-participation in the final, it was broadcast by ARD only after midnight (It was, however, broadcast live in Northern and Western Germany on its regional channels). [3] The final was watched by 0.37 million viewers in Germany, the lowest TV rating ever recorded in Germany for a Eurovision final. [3]
Voting
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References
- ^ "Oslo 1996 - Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 255–261. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.
- ^ a b Schröder, Jens (26 May 2008). "Das Auf und Ab des "Eurovision Song Contests"". meedia.de (in German). Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
- ^ a b Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.
- ^ a b "The 1996 preselection - the full scoresheets". ESCNation.com. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2021.