They’re one of the “Big Five” countries that automatically qualify for the grand final. And they have a rich history at Eurovision, having participated since the inaugural contest back in 1956. From a series of near-bottom finishes to remarkable turnarounds and at least two wins, Germany really has experienced more highs and lows than any rollercoaster (say it with us in German: achterbahn) at Europa Park. While there’s many decades to reminisce over, our next Eurovision Memories post from Florian looks at his home country in the 2010s – from a win, to nul points, to a legendary comeback.

Eurovision 2010: Oslo

This was in fact my first time watching the contest (simply wasn’t allowed to stay up this long before!) I wasn’t aware of the entire Eurovision bubble by any means, but knew we had a chance this time around. Lena‘s “Satellite” received massive support in Germany and there was some serious hype going on. And what a night it was! Receiving points from countries you could only think about at Eurovision was so relieving – an experience I’ll always remember! And, of course, this made me decide to follow the contest in depth now that it was coming to Germany.

Eurovision 2011: Düsseldorf

Taking place in my home nation, this was a very special contest for me. Not only was the show amazing (probably still my favourite to this day), there was also lots of fantastic entries. Lena put on another remarkable, yet totally different, show and I really loved it, too. Can we talk about how much Switzerland was robbed though? They clearly deserved better than that disastrous finish! The winner wasn’t exactly my cup of tea either, but overall to this day I look back to the Düsseldorf contest in the most positive way possible. Not to forget that we welcomed Italy back to the Eurovision family! Fantastico!

Eurovision 2012: Baku

This year had its highs and lows for me. While the whole atmosphere didn’t live up to recent years, once again, there was some amazing songs in the running. This will probably sound way too cliché, but “Euphoria” is still that song (for real!). We also had some epic moments with performances from Albania and Russia! Roman Lob did leave a great impression in Baku which resonated with both juries and televoters. Having to follow the footsteps of Lena, he faced a huge challenge, but for sure he delivered!

Eurovision 2013: Malmö

There was a point where I saw us heading off to another great year at Eurovision. Yes, there were loads of discussions going on with the similarities to “Euphoria”, but I knew that Natalie Horler, lead vocalist of Cascada, has the stage presence to deliver a great show and get those televotes. How wrong that played out! The voting part honestly felt like a party with no people coming to celebrate — what went wrong? That probably remains my biggest question of the entire year. Otherwise, the contest hosted by Petra Mede was another great edition.

Eurovision 2014: Copenhagen

My first (and so far only) Eurovision experience was surreal. I won’t forget the moment when Conchita was announced as the winner and the entire arena went crazy. It was one of the best experiences ever! Unfortunately for Elaiza, the competition was really strong and thus they couldn’t live up to their potential (and the running order… a disaster!) I guess that, while being a solid entry, it simply wasn’t enough to stand out from some of the other amazing performances from the likes of Austria, the Netherlands or Spain.

Eurovision 2015: Vienna

This year didn’t go as planned by any means. And looking back, it was all destined to go wrong after the events at the national final. But we did eventually prove that Spain isn’t the only country serving some good Eurodrama! Sadly, there wasn’t much Ann Sophie could do to turn her fate around. She did, however, take it with great humour — we are the zeros of our times!

Eurovision 2016: Stockholm

If there is a way to get depression from watching Eurovision, this was the year it all happened. While the stage presentation was a little too much, the song definitely wasn’t as bad as its result in Stockholm may suggest. With another unfortunate finish for Germany, I did start questioning whether we’d get back to better results anytime soon. It all seemed like despite trying different national final formats, nothing proved to get us back to the successful times of the beginning of the decade. Some even suggested that NDR should show the cold shoulder and say goodbye — thankfully that wouldn’t happen!

Eurovision 2017: Kiev

“Perfect Life” wasn’t the strongest song by any means, but Levina did the best that she could. The moment she performed Adele’s “When We Were Young” at the national final, I knew that she had something special. To my disappointment, the right song for her wasn’t there. Thus, the final outcome in Kiev wasn’t any big surprise, really. Still, Portugal’s victory should encourage all of us that there’s always a way to get back on the right path — you gotta keep trying!

Eurovision 2018: Lisbon

A totally renewed national final worked in our favour and Eurovision depression is no longer a thing in Germany! Michael Schulte‘s emotional performance didn’t only earn him a fourth place at the competition, he even went on to win one of the famous Bambi awards. His song received huge airplay as he landed in the top 20 of the Dutch year-end airplay charts. German Eurofans regained faith and — thank god — the fun didn’t stop with the votes coming in. Eventually, it could also make up for the weak performance at the Football World Cup later last year — they could take some things from the recent German rollercoaster ride at Eurovision to regain focus to lead them to better results.

What are your best and worst memories of Germany during recent years? Do you think there are some underrated songs or did they rightfully fail? Let us know down below!

Read more Germany Eurovision news

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Dre Glazed Mafia
Dre Glazed Mafia
5 years ago

Germany’s Eurovision 2013 entry is my favorite! Cascada is such a dance music icon and legend in Dance music. So much bops and hits from the 00’s. And even some moderate success in the early ’10’s. Well deserved to them! All that “Euphoria” copy talk is foolishness! Cascada has done this dance genre since 2002, so they are way ahead of these newcomers in Eurovision and still way more successful! A lot of these dance-pop songs sounds similar to each other, same with these trap songs today too! Even one of the writers/producers from Euphoria said that both songs fall… Read more »

Isti
Isti
5 years ago

1. 2018
2. 2011
3. 2016
4. 2013
5. 2012
6. 2010
7. 2017 (Wildfire was much better)
8. 2015
9. 2014

Jonas
Jonas
5 years ago

I agree that Germany did a great job hosting in 2011, it’s such a shame that Azerbaijan ruined that contest. I probably sound like a broken record, and should probably receive counselling to get over my obsession…but there is no way in hell that Azerbaijan were the legitimate winners that year. I will go to my grave seething with rage about this.

AngieP
AngieP
5 years ago

Germany is not among my favourite countries in Eurovision. Most of the times I didn’t like their entry. I still don’t like “Sattelite”. though I can understand why it won. In the recent years, they’ve had their ups and downs, the years 2014-17 were the worst for me. However, if they want, they can do really well. My favourites are 2012 and 2018.

Héctor
Héctor
5 years ago

Germany’s fate in the contest is very similar to the Spanish one. The big difference is that your good results are better (by far) than ours! 2010, 2011, 2012 were great. Cascada in 2013 came like 5 years later than they should have (dated song), she was too shouty and breathy. Also, Cascada had better songs. 2014 was average, nice song, but not so competitive. You deserver better in 2015, Andreas would have place higher, but Ann Sophie had a very enjoyable song and didn’t deserve the last place, let alone the nil-points. I like “Ghost”, but the staging killed… Read more »

TheDrMistery
TheDrMistery
5 years ago

Lena’s back to back entries are so good. I remember I had her 7th in my personal ranking in 2010 due to imperfect vocals but I guess it was a part of the charm and the song was stellar and proved to be popular. I applaud the risk of doing something SO different just next year and I think 10th place is very respectable given that many people probably didn’t want her to win for 2nd consecutive year. Roman Lob did a decent job and “Standing Still” sounds ok… still (!). Not much to say about Cascada – that performance… Read more »

NickC
NickC
5 years ago

I was never into Michael Schulte, but I may be really into this year’s artists. They really look promising.

Sabel
Sabel
5 years ago

I’d love to do the same for Belgium! I’ve been following the contest since 2002! Call me 😉

Skiwalko
5 years ago
Reply to  Sabel

I’m all for that: artificial languages, shocking flops, Presley’s copycats and more!

PP77
PP77
5 years ago

2017 national final, host said something like , we dont need one more slow song and Lavina better song out in national final . With that song Lavina and Germany would had better result.

PP77
PP77
5 years ago

1.2011
2.2018
3.2015
4.2010
5.2012
6.2016
7.2017
8.2014
9.2013

romanian
romanian
5 years ago

I’m still a fan of voXXclub. Just send them one year, because is hard to repeat Michael Schulte atmosphere . He had a personal story (like Jamala) is hard to repeat that.

Cupcake
Cupcake
5 years ago
Reply to  romanian

Better think twice about that request.. If we Northern Germans have to endure a bavarian entry in eurovision – we will torture the rest of europe with a low german song the year after… 😉

Pancake
Pancake
5 years ago

In an unrelated story, Serhat is back.

Pancake
Pancake
5 years ago
Reply to  Pancake

I’m not kidding. This is real. He’s really back to represent San Marino.

Aubin
Aubin
5 years ago

In fact, my Favorites are those who did poorly :p I’d say :
1. Black Smock ;
2. Ghost ;
3. Satelite ;
4. Taken by a stranger ;
5. Standing still ;
6. Is it right
7. Glorious ;
8. You let me walk alone ;
9. Perfect life !

So hard for me because, every year since I began to watch Eurovision (2011), Germany is one of my fav (except 2017) !! One of my TOP5 country !

Congrats from Belgium

ESCFan2009
ESCFan2009
5 years ago

Oh yes, great article and indeed a rollercoaster ride. If you ask me for my favorite Eurovision song of my homecountry since Lena, I have to say “Black Smoke”. The thing is: This is always very controversial. I love the melody so much and Ann Sophie’s long note at the end is amazing! My most played song 2015 and 2016! But I don’t follow the mainstream here, cause many German fans (my impression of our fanpage last year) don’t like “Black Smoke” at all. Anyways, I love it so hard (and I really began to believe that my music taste… Read more »

Joe
Joe
5 years ago

Fun article! Germany look like they’re getting their mojo back, so I’m hoping for another great entry in 2019. Also, Satellite is one of my favorite modern Eurovision winners. Exactly what I want out of a winning song: simple, catchy, and charming.

SVW
SVW
5 years ago

Great article! Yes, Michael Schulte was played on all Dutch radio stations last autumn here :). I think Germany was really underrated in 2013 and 2015!

Hello
Hello
5 years ago

Off topic: Who do you guys think will represent San Marino?
Im hoping so much for Inis Neziri, i love her and her voice so much <3 + Piedestal is an amazing song! San Marino would have great success with her representing them, but on the other hand, would she abandon her home country Albania to represent some random microstate?

Joe
Joe
5 years ago
Reply to  Hello

I mean, when you consider how a lot of the 1in360 acts were NF veterans who never got their break from their own countries (particularly Jessika), it makes sense.

Joe
Joe
5 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Well, we just found out our guy. I’d say I guessed who, but…I didn’t know!
(Also, I’m so fine with him coming back. That song was a bop and I will hear no word to the contrary.)

Hello
Hello
5 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Ughhh, really San Marino??? I really had high hopes for you but i guess youre going to be last again… At least its better than Human Ken Doll….

Joe
Joe
5 years ago
Reply to  Hello

That was my bare minimum. Am I sad it’s not Inis Neziri? Yes. Am I thanking every deity ever that it’s nit Ken? Also yes. I’m fine with supporting Serhat.