It started the decade as Eurovision champion and earned three Top 10 finishes in a row thanks to Lena and Roman Lob.
But then things all went wrong for Germany. First Eurodance chart toppers Cascada failed to set the scoreboard alight in Malmö, then Elaiza underwhelmed in Copenhagen, and Ann Sophie received the dreaded nil points in 2015. Jamie-Lee placed last again the following year, and this year Levina only narrowly avoided the same fate, limping into 25th place with 6 points.
So now that Germany has confirmed for Eurovision 2018, we want to know who you think is Germany’s most robbed entry since 2013. Who deserved to do better? You can vote for as many of your German faves as you like, but you can only vote once, so make…it…COUNT! Below you can review all of the acts and then submit your votes at the bottom.
2013: CASCADA WITH “GLORIOUS”
21st place with 18 points
Hype followed Cascada all the way from the national final to Malmö, but accusations that they were past their prime pursued them all along the way. On stage, Eurobanger “Glorious” lost a lot momentum as lead vocalist Natalie Horler was trapped on a see-through staircase until the final 30 seconds of the track. Questions were also raised about Horler’s vocal performance on the night and during the all-important jury rehearsal.
2014: ELAIZA WITH “IS IT RIGHT”
18th place with 39 points
In many ways, Elaiza won just by getting to the Eurovision stage and performing “Is It Right”. The trio, who had earned a wildcard competition for relatively unknown acts, beat out many well-established acts in Germany’s national final.
Producers handed the girls the death slot in the running order, sandwiching them between eventual winner Conchita Wurst and Sweden’s Sanna Nielsen, who finished third. Up against the theatrics of “Rise Like A Phoenix” and polished perfection of “Undo”, “Is It Right” was crushed and forgotten on the night.
2015: ANN SOPHIE WITH “BLACK SMOKE”
27th with nil points
Similar to the year before, Ann Sophie’s victory may have been in getting to the Eurovision stage at all, as she didn’t win her national final. Indeed she lost by a landslide, only taking 21% of televotes during the head-to-head showdown with Andreas Kummert in the final. But when Andreas bowed out, she found herself thrust into the spotlight.
A victim of the way votes are calculated, Ann Sophie ended up with nil points at Eurovision despite actually earning points from both juries and televoters. Performing with her back to the audience for much of the early part of the song may not have helped matters…
2016: JAMIE-LEE WITH “GHOST”
26th with 11 points
After an abortive attempt to send Xavier Naidoo to Eurovision 2016, the German broadcaster settled on a national final, which included Jamie-Lee, the winner of The Voice of Germany. Equipped with a promising ballad in “Ghost”, it seemed Germany might avoid last place.
But anime attire that confused the audience, an entry which could be dull or dreamy depending on who you spoke to, and a less than ideal draw early in the contest (between host nation Sweden and newly resurgent France) conspired to thwart hopes of a German revival. Jamie-Lee ended up last — but notched up 10 points for her trouble.
2017: LEVINA WITH “PERFECT LIFE”
25th with six points
With more than a passing resemblance to mega-hit “Titanium”, Germany might have hoped some of Sia and David Guetta’s magic would rub off on their 2017 entry “Perfect Life”.
But despite a spirited effort from Levina, the song fell flat on the night, only saved from last place by a particularly unfortunate bum note from Spain’s Manel Navarro.
GERMANY AT EUROVISION 2018
A constant thread in the songs they entered between 2010-12 was contemporary appeal: “Satellite” was a chart hit across Europe, “Taken By A Stranger” edgy and cool, and “Standing Still” in the mould of the indie hits that were all the rage at the time. So perhaps that’s where Germany will recover its mojo — by tapping into trends rather than trying to set them.
So who are you voting for? Who deserved more and who deserved what they got? Tell us below — and let us know how you think Germany can do better!
[polldaddy poll=9813180]
My first comment didn’t make it, but still I wanna say that I’ve forgot when I heard german from Germany for my almost 15 years of watching it. There’s no such trouble with other big-fives.
Here the 2015’s song is the most robbed, despite that mistakes with staging – it was not only weird at start but also boring during song. I didn’t vote for rest of it but Ghost would be closest.
Apart from finishing at or near the bottom of the Eurovision table, there’s one very significant thing that all these entries have in common. Can anyone spot it?
All girls?
Yeah. All girls. Correlation is obviously not causation, but there’s a pattern there. Maybe time for Germany to change it up a bit. Of course, both of Germany’s winners have been female so maybe they think that’s the way to go.
They had a chance to send a male contender in 2015; unfortunately, Andreas didn’t want to go; and I still believe that, the way in which he declined the invitation, and handed his ticket to Ann Sophie, contributed to her failure to earn a single point in Vienna.
Seriously? Now it’s a gender thing lol. Good grief. The mind boggles.
I liked ‘Ghost’ the most, but it just about entered my Top10 that year, so it’s no surprise that it didn’t fare well … The problem with Germany is that our music market is among the global top 5. So artists that do well nationally don’t necessarily need a broader audience and so they think twice before risking their reputation (that might change when their career stagnates like with No Angels or Cascada). Furthermore many people here still don’t expect true/authentic quality from Eurovision (same with UK i guess), so artists with high standards might fear to damage their reputation… Read more »
Avantasia wanted to go to Eurovision.
And about UK, Andrew Lloyd Webber has a strong reputation, and he was not afraid of Eurovision.
I really hope this comment is ironic lol
2013 – The song was ok, I was happy when it won their NF but the performance didn’t deliver – shortened verses to bring chorus faster or no fuss about going downstairs. Everything was done not to build it as something impressive. 2014 – “Is It Right?” was good as it was, maybe a little bit empty on stage. 2015 – I warmed to this song only after the contest. Somebody who wrote about her standing with her back to the public for a long part of the song was right – it didn’t make sense. She still deserved more… Read more »
2017: I was ready to grade Manel higher than Levina. I thought his set design would save him from the very bottom, and his singing was fairly decent. But then his voice cracked up atrociously at the bridge, and I had to punish him for that. 😛
2016: They should have never sent Jamie-Lee out on stage, alone, in a manga costume, for what was a pop-rock song.
They had the right idea the first time…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avyMGbuna3w (blocked in the U.S.)
Why didn’t they put the band on stage with her?
Funfact:
With the new voting system Germany didn’t come last in 2015.
With the old voting system Germany didn’t come last in 2016.
Thank you, Mr. Björkman.
Even though I like each song (maye because I’m from Germany) I can totally understand these results and most them are deserved… :/
2013: Bad staging!!! (and maybe the wrong year to send this song as “Euphoria” won the year before…)
2014: Boring…
2015: Bad staging and too much “sex”
2016: Boring song – very forgetable
2017: forgetable song and uninspired staging (even though it was the best opening shot of 2017, but that’s it….)
Ann Sophie for sure! She sang good, she looked good and i liked the staging.
She didn’t deserve to have NIL POINTS!! :,(
As for Ann Sophie, like the people said here, she didn’t win her Unser Song/Lied contest, but the ticket to Eurovision was handed to her by the winner. It wasn’t her fault that she was dealt the hand that ultimately ended up sending her packing from Vienna with nothing; but you still have to wonder if she still got punished or ignored simply because many thought she shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
I hope she tries again, and with a much better song worthy of the people’s attention, to win Unser Song/Lied outright.
If they had brought the drummer with them, Elaiza would have earned a few more points and possibly cracked the top 15. By leaving him home, it was almost an admission that it was a lost cause to try and get to the top 10.
Jamie-Lee had a pretty good song, but I’d guess that youth and inexperience (and an ill-advised manga outfit) gave the voters an excuse to ignore her; otherwise she would have earned a few more points. Would it have been enough to surpass Gabriela from the Czech Republic (0 from the televoters)? Maybe just barely.
That will have to be “Is It Right?” which is clearly the best song among these five. It’s not in any way groundbreaking, but it sounds warm and human. It is what it is, very lovely song. Plus music played with real instruments (in the backing track, that is) is always more than welcome in a contest dominated by cold and impersonal synth pop.
Saint Lu with Craving could got TOP 5 for Germany
Off-Topic: Margot Hielscher, who represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 and 1958 died. She was 97 years old. R. I. P.
She was a very classy performer and brought Germany great results in the 1950s when it was hard to battle prejudices against the nation.
2013 Performance and live ruined everything, 2014 good song, Performance Not so good, underrated, deserved at least a place 10-15, 2015 strong Performance, Song ok, underrated, deserved 15-20, 2016 weak in everything, deserved its Ranking, 2017 good song, wrong Performance and Outfit, deserved 20-26
Black Smoke, Is it Right, Glorious and Ghost were all good enough not to tank and yet they did. Perhaps because, while nice enough, they didn’t have the IT factor when put on stage next to more interesting songs. Next year, I would LOVE to finally hear a song in German, whether from Germany, Austria or Switzerland (or any other country, a’la ‘Loin D’Ici’). The language has last been heard on ESC stage 5 years ago (2012 – Woki Mit Dem Popo) and is really missed by now. Just for the diversity sake, I believe a German-language song could do… Read more »
That’s not a bad idea. Maybe Germany should send LaFee to Lisbon. Many of LaFee’s songs are performed in German. 😀
They pretty much all deserved what they got, except for “Black Smoke” which didn’t deserve nil points. Germany can and should do better. Stop sending recycled American songs, k?
Ghost was one of my favourites that year, but the rest are a bit dull.
They are all pretty bad.
Levina is the only one up there who deserved to finish a few spots higher but generally, Germany get bad positions because they send boring songs.
From this bunch of songs my favourite has to be Elaiza! “Is It Right” was a huge hit here in Poland so I quickly got it and liked it immediately. It doesn’t have anything with fact that the lead singer is partially Polish. Just the style and originality of the song made it one of my favourites and is still in my Top 5 of 2014 (with Poland, Sweden, Austria and The Netherlands). I’d really like to see Germany placing high and to achieve it I have one tip: send Mark Forster with a song in German! Songs like “Chore”… Read more »
With Saint Lu with song Craving , Germany would be strong contender for won that year and 100 % they would be in TOP 5 in final
Germany dont deserved to be last in 2015 with Austria
Is It Right and Black Smoke were cute but nothing more. The rest were all atrocious. Black Smoke was wronged as in it didn’t deserve nul points (it got 5 from the public anyway), Is It Right could’ve finished a couple of positions higher but nothing to write home about.
Germany… What to say about this country? 2010 -2012: pretty good songs and good results, even a victory in 2010. “Satellite” is not my personal winner of that year, but it was a good song. “Taken by a stranger” was better, with a cool staging. “Standing still” was a beautiful song sang by a talented singer. In 2013 and 2014, I liked both songs, but sth didn’t go well. “Glorious” was maybe too “up-tempo” for Eurovision. Party songs don’t do well all the time. “Is it right?” was also a good song, but there were so many good songs that… Read more »
“If you were not the favourite of the people, it’s pretty hard to be the favourite of Europe” – tell that to Sally Sobral
To be honest, their results in 2014 and 2017 were deserved, but the other years they were robbed.
Hopefully Germany’s national selection lowers the minimum age back to 16.
“Performing with her back to the audience for much of the early part of the song may not have helped matters…” I gotta say: It really pisses me off when people say things like this. Seriously? That was why she got 0 points – you really believe that? Nothing to do with some weird in built bias against Germany that exists currently, but because Ann Sophie had her back to the audience for about the first five seconds of the song? I mean, you’re supposed to be doing a serious analysis and that’s what you come up with? Please.
Absolutely, of course presentation is completely key. There is no bias against Germany, that’s just the same ridiculous paranoia claimed by countries like the United Kingdom when they put in a terrible entry and get the result they deserve. Austria went from winning to zero just like that, but the MakeMakes weren’t terrible just forgettable. Having your back to the audience with a bland presentation is of course a way to get yourself zero – not because she was the worst but because she didn’t connect with the camera/audience and got forgotten. Neither her or Austria had the worst songs… Read more »
To finish last or next to last four years on the trot is not a coincidence. If the songs were terrible, that would explain it, but the songs were not terrible. Spain were terrible this year, that’s why they were last. Austria were terrible in 2015 when they were last. None of Germany’s songs were terrible enough to finish last. That constitutes some kind of bias. I don’t think everyone hates Germany, that’s lazy thinking. Clearly people didn’t hate Germany when they won it in 2010, but something is going on and I want to know what it is. I’m… Read more »
This year Spain deserved better than Germany, Manel was himself, while Levina had a song that she didn’t like.
Germany was last only 2 times, and not with 0 points according to the NEW system of voting. It is a coincidence.
Germany is like a person that is afraid to jump in the water. Being terrible like Spain 2008 is better than being afraid to be bold.
No it’s not a coincidence, but it does come down to bad songs. The United Kingdom had endless bad results and then came 5th with Jade. As soon as they put in something more respectable and appeared to make an effort, they were rewarded instantly, and then they put in Josh and went back to the bottom again. Germany won in 2010 so no one hates them, and they had 2 further top 10s. But it’s very easy to see that Satellite, Taken By A Stranger and Standing Still are vastly superior, and were performed more professionally than the last… Read more »
Germany gets wronged every year, but Ann Sophie is definitely most robbed. Black Smoke was a masterpiece and she was amazing. I don’t think there’s ever been a greater injustice at Eurovision than Ann Sophie getting zero.
No it’s not a coincidence, but it does come down to bad songs. The United Kingdom had endless bad results and then came 5th with Jade. As soon as they put in something more respectable and appeared to make an effort, they were rewarded instantly, and then they put in Josh and went back to the bottom again. Germany won in 2010 so no one hates them, and they had 2 further top 10s. But it’s very easy to see that Satellite, Taken By A Stranger and Standing Still are vastly superior, and were performed more professionally than the last… Read more »
Germany’s recent constant finishing last is baffling to me and I want to understand the reason for it. I am irritated when people just pluck the first bit of nonsense that comes into their head and present that as being the reason.
You’ve just added some more: “they are just treading water until they are ready to host again”. What on earth are you on about? Germany would be ready to host tomorrow if need be.
I would rather self appointed experts just admitted that they don’t know either rather than try to conceal their ignorance with made up rubbish.
We are explaining the reason for it, you don’t want to understand, you just want to complain about everyone’s explanations and be disrepectful to people who have valid opinion’s that you can’t be bothered to understand. As explained, .so many acts have come last due to poor staging, camerawork etc. Most of the people on the night have never heard the song before, so if the song is not presented properly, it will get forgotten , it’s that simple. It doesn’t matter if it’s a masterpiece if it not presented well or if cameras and staging do not work. It’s… Read more »
Germany should send Deutsch song again. Not English
Its better Deutsch for Germany.
Yes!!! I love music in German!!
Speaking of which, maybe LaFee can represent Germany next year. Many of her songs are performed in German! 🙂
The thing is that 2015 and 2016 were both good for Germany, and even 2014 had a quirky charm to it…but the fact that Elaiza of all acts achieved Germany’s best result since 2012 proves that Germany shouldn’t go down the bland generic route for Eurovision, which Levina’s marginal placement improvement over the more interesting entries in 2015/2016 might suggest.
Perfect Life. The song was always predicted to fail.
And Black Smoke was the one that deserved better.
The main problem I see with Germany is lack of originality. Glorious really sounded like Euphoria, Perfect life was plagiarized from Titanium, Anne Sophie was trying to imitate Beyonce, Jamie Lee reminded me of Yohio. I agree that they need to take risks, and I agree Andreas Kummert could have won it all. And when I say risks, I do not mean neo fascist Xavier Naidoo, I was thinking maybe Wolfsheim. Kein Zurueck , sung in German would have won the whole thing as well
I don’t understand Western Europe, but I don’t know how somebody with the skin color of Xavier Naidoo can be neo fascist.
You don’t have to be white to be fascist.
Somebody is not telling the whole truth.
You’re pretty ignorant…
How is this an answer? I think people are labeled ”fascists” way too easy.
“Ghost” was probably my favorite song in 2016. Jamie-Lee just didn’t sound good live and the anime outfit was extremely off-putting and didn’t go with the song at all. Even I started to hate it after seeing the live performance.
“Black Smoke” was a pretty good song but it just couldn’t stand out in such a strong year. The other three were atrocious, but Levina was still a great singer who deserved a better song.
I second all of this, except “Ghost” being in my Top 15 of the entire contest rather than my favorite.
Ann Sophie was actually quite good (in addition to The Makemakes), so it’s quite sad that they both received nil points that year; I thought they were stronger entries than Cyprus down, tbh.
The hardest part about Cascada’s song was the fact that they have a great back-catalogue; it’s almost similar to a winner coming back to try again with a less-than song.
Andreas Kummert could have been like Salvador Sobral.
I preferred Elaiza’s song. To be fair, the singer’s voice reminded me of P!nk in a good way. Instead, I really despised Ghost. The song was quite a melodic/harmonic copy of Rihanna’s Umbrella, and Jamie-Lee’s decora kei costume was a damn trainwreck. There is no space for otaku in Eurovision (gomen, Yohio!)
None of them deserved to be so low(except Levina). Elaiza got quite a fair result, maybe a bit higher. Other 3 were very underrated, but as someone mentioned it before; they need to semd something more risky, they are always picking safe songs, that aren’t on anybody’s bottom list, but that doesn’t help if they aren’t in top 10′ list. So I kind of get why they were underrated.
Black smoke was a great entry! classy, elegant and very well performance. I don’t get the 0 points at all…
Whether you like the song or not or find it too similar to Euphoria, or whatever, the fact is Cascada sang so badly and out of tune, it really didn’t deserve any points at all. Absolutely terrible on the night. If you listen to the vocal only video with the music removed it is extremely painful.
Black Smoke <3 I cant believe it got zero points.
I also like Is It Right.
“Glorious” and “Ghost” are both songs I love, the former very uplifting and the latter wonderfully dreamy, as mentioned in the article. The others are quite good as well, but as sorin already said, Germany needs to start sending riskier entries in order to do well.
We fully deserved all those horrible results for sending dull, uninspired songs (2014 onwards) or for delievering an uninspired, unfitting performance (2013). Unfortunately, the people responsible for this desaster are unwilling to learn from it. It’s a crying shame.
Ann Sophie, definitely. Black Smoke had a good melody and I like the sassy attitude. Easily my favourite German entry, this century.
Actually I like them all. Eliza is the best tho. Some people also claim that Lorene’s Euphoria (my favorite song ever in ESC) is stolen from Cascada. Kevin’s is also very good and she is feminine. I like her as a woman. So, respects to them all.
Ann Sophie’s ‘Black Smoke’ is the best German entry from this bunch followed by ‘Ghost’.
I might be a bit retarded because I’ve voted for the worst entries (instead the best ones). These are (for me) Cascada -‘Glorious’ and Levina – ‘Perfect Life’. The last one was really weak and didn’t stand a chance. About Cascada, their song was a copy of ‘Don’t you worry child’ from Swedish House Mafia, but it sounded cheaper and crappier. Back in 2013 I thought Germany would be, at least, top 15, but I was wrong.
Cascada ; – ;
Black Smoke definitely didn’t deserve nul points. (Electro Velvet on the other hand should have gotten nul points because that was a trainwreck.)
Jamie-Lee deserved better, all songs are good, but not good enough to be voted. Germany needs something ”love it” or ”hate it”, not something nice that pleases everybody, but not enough to vote for it.
It’s a good point. Something high-impact would be risky but potentially lead to greater rewards! <3
Provided it is not hip hop.
Cro could pull it off with rap i think.
Yeah.. Cro is a funny, charming guy with good original Music. Seeed would also be great but I doubt that one of them would do ESC..
all songs are good? lmao stfu