Despite a rough debut and a last place in 2020, Germany is back for more Junior Eurovision. After a hotly contested national final, Pauline will represent the big Central European nation with “Imagine Us”.
Scroll down for “Imagine Us” lyrics
Germany in Junior Eurovision 2021: Pauline “Imagine Us”
For the second year in a row, children’s television network KiKa opted for a national selection, Junior ESC – Wer fährt nach Paris?, to select its entrant. The children’s television network accepted applications from 1 to 25 June 2021. Of the over 100 applicants, an expert panel selected five who proceeded to the online vote on 23 July. Those five each performed a cover which were released via KiKA’s official website. Users had until 31 July to vote for their favourite to proceed to the national final. Pauline, Marta and Emelie were selected. Incidentally, Pauline was the only candidate to perform a Eurovision song, singing Katrina and the Waves’ winning song from 1997, “Love Shine a Light”.
The televised final was aired on 10 September and hosted by Jessica Schöne and Ben Blümel in Erfurt. Each of the three finalists performed two candidate songs that they chose from the three on offer. One finalist was chosen by public voting to advance to the second round, where the winning song was also chosen. Pauline won with the song “Imagine Us”.
Pauline Steinmüller is a 12-year-old singer who lives near Koblenz in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. In addition to singing, she enjoys playing the piano, drums, and theatre games. Prior to Junior Eurovision, she has also participated and won prizes at Jugend Musiziert, a music funding project in Germany for young people.
What do the “Imagine Us” lyrics mean?
In recent years, songs at Junior Eurovision have become more powerful and topical. Many songs directly reference the climate crisis, such as the winning song from 2019, “Superhero”. It’s no secret that children today are much less optimistic of their future than children of the past. “Imagine Us” reminds us of the power of positivity.
In the first verse, Pauline encourages us to be open-hearted in spite of our differences, “We’re friends, no matter from which country, we’re painting with all the colors on the wall”. She then suggests this can make us more optimistic, “Our future could be much brighter, every little step takes us further”. The chorus then carries the whole message of the song, “Imagine us, we make miracles wonderful again… the world needs new love again, imagine us.”
In the second verse, Pauline directly references the troubled feeling of today’s children, but with a message of hope, “Yes, together we have a goal, we will save the world that’s how we feel”. This message culminates in the third verse where Pauline chants “come on, come on in, come on, come on in, we will say it loud and clear”, and “the world is yours too”. It’s a deep message that will resonate with and empower the audience, particularly paired with its heavy beats and uplifting production. I imagine that Germany will do a lot better than last place this year!
“Imagine Us” lyrics — Pauline (Germany JESC 2021)
Written and composed by: Alexander Henke, Torben Brüggemann and Ricardo Muñoz
German textKomm, mach die Faust auf, gib mir deine Hand Our future could be much brighter Imagine us Ja, gemeinsam haben wir ein Ziel Our future could be much brighter Imagine us Stell dir vor, stell dir vor Imagine us Stell dir vor |
English translationCome on, open your fist, give me your hand Our future could be much brighter Imagine us Yes, together we have a goal Our future could be much brighter Imagine us Imagine, imagine Imagine us Imagine |
What do you think of Germany’s second effort? Are you imagining a German victory? Let us know in the comments below.
Wishing Pauline all the best at Junior Eurovision this year
yes it is for real – you are awake.
Totally agree with Natalie Feliks from Wiwibloggs – the german song is a big step up compared to the song from last year. The melody is very catchy ….it is between a midtempo and uptempo song and it has a good hook where you can sing along. First I was a bit skeptical (after the nf show) but Germany made a fantastic revamp and now everything fits. I think most of you will agree that ‘Imagine Us’ is not a winner song (because it isn’t as strong as Poland, France, Russia or Italy) but could achieve a good place around… Read more »
Good luck Germany! You deserve to do well this year.
Waiting for Armenia.
I like the song more in the new revamp version and I wish Pauline good luck in Paris.
The revamp is good. I like it, but still not my TOP 5.
Kinga, I agree that it is a very good song but not a TOP 5 song (because some countries are stronger this year) ….but who knows what will happen in Paris ….maybe Germany is able to do a TOP 5 this year. We have to wait and see. At the moment I see Germany finish Top 8-10 ….but with a very good staging ….. who knows?
Like it way more after the revamp! Maybe my Top 5 this year! <3