Metal, hip hop and even party-schlager. The German music scene is diverse and that’s exactly what broadcasters NDR/ARD want to celebrate in next year’s Eurovision selection for Germany. Today, new details about Unser Lied für Liverpool, the German selection for 2023, have been released.
The most recent national final Unser Lied für Turin received a lot of criticism, not only for the lack of variety within the songs but also for its production. However, it seems like the organizers understand it’s time to change something. And it’s about time considering last year’s huge backlash from German media and international fans. Today’s press release at least promises many changes for the upcoming season – including a TikTok wildcard!
The official Eurovision submission period in Germany starts today. Artists who already have a song ready can join the party and apply until 28 November. Organizers won’t accept applications without a song. That’s because this time the so-called “pairing” process, where producers match a random song to a chosen singer, is over and done with. NDR/ARD want artists to be fully themselves. Authenticity is the keyword for 2023.
But the organizers have also laid some groundwork over the past few months. There have been meetings with big German record companies who were very open to talk to their artists about Eurovision. It is said that the recent success by Rosa Linn, Duncan Laurence and Måneskin made an impact with German record companies.
There will be even more changes in Germany
NDR/ARD will start a TikTok-challenge for artists to upload their potential Eurovision songs. Everyone can upload their potential entry with the hastag #UnserLiedFürLiverpool. This way, one entry will get a ticket to the national final. The broadcaster will decide together with producers and international music experts, which entries make it to the final. It is not known yet when the selected artists and songs will be revealed, but the selection will probably include between 8 and 10 songs. In early March, those entries will fight for the German ticket to Liverpool.
The biggest mistake NDR made last time – according to fans and media – was to look for a “radio-friendly song“ for Eurovision 2022. But don’t panic: this time it’s NOT a requirement to have only songs that can hack it on the radio. Producers, however, will continue to work with ARD’s radio channels – but only to promote the Eurovision selection 2023 and to give them the possibility to play the chosen songs.
Every musical genre will be allowed and the broadcasters emphasize that artists can send in their music – no matter what the genre. The national final will include many different music styles. They seem to have listened to fans, who even started a petition last time when NDR decided to only include radio-pop songs, excluding metalcore band Electric Callboy in the selection.
Andreas Gerling, head of the ARD team for Eurovision at the NDR, says: “This competition, Europe’s biggest music show, is very important to us. And we are competing in the hope that we will come out ahead. Anyone who thinks he can contribute his musical quality to help make Germany a winner again is therefore more than welcome. I am looking forward to what will hopefully be a very varied and exciting competition.”
According to eurovision.de, there will again be online voting. This will be organized by ARD’s pop radio-channels. The online voting will be combined with a televote during the national final in March. Further news about Unser Lied für Liverpool and updates about the selection process will be revealed at a later date. It’s very likely Barbara Schöneberger will once again host the show.
Are you excited to see what Germany will serve next year? Do you think NDR/ARD are really changing the way they treat Eurovision after the bad results in recent years? Let us know in the comments below.
I know Tik-Tok gets an eyeroll on here, but here is an tik tok artist with a genuinely awesome song that I think could be a great addition for Germany’s national final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX5XzmOGKVI. If there is going to be a tik tok wildcard, make it this one.
At least Germany is trying, unlike countries like Armenia which just go internal without a propper selection are the worst ones. Good luck to Germany!
I don’t like the way that they did the internal selection and junked the selection process after the selection of what I am adamant was one of their best ever songs (admittedly helped massively by the revamp and MV version, but already very promising, with the crux of the beat and the vocal part always there, and staged very well given the small setting, and given an excellent jury mandate over uninspiring jury bait material that somehow got more televotes) but at least they ended up selecting the best and most successful song to not place in the top 10… Read more »
Exactly, you get the best result when people already get to choose who is the best of the bunch. Internal selections rely too much on the views of a small group.
But what about us? In 2016-2019 we held selection processes that relied on writing camps and had 24 songs (counting the 2019 versions as separate ones) that were all mediocre at worst and decent at best – no real diversity save for maybe a couple in 2016, a very morose feel in 2017, and a very radio 2 one thereafter with no self written songs and little authenticity. Inevitably it led to 3 bottom 3 places though Lucie provided a good exception. Also the ratings for the selections were always low and inconsistent even though those for the contest itself… Read more »
There are good examples of internal selections yes, but there are as many failures too, it relies so much on the fact who are choosing the singer and song in question. UK’s efforts on getting national final back was too minimal as it wasn’t on the main channel, lacked advertaising from the broadcaster and mainly had just songs that weren’t enough impactful. I guess it’s somewhat up to luck on what is on the offer for the year, but Germany’s national finals from 2013-2015 had good songs that would have brought better results than the eventual winners, but it’s a… Read more »
give the armenian broadcaster ndr’s funds and maybe they’ll organize a public selection as well
They are spending quite a lot on JESC tbf. I also wonder if AMPTV get anything from Snap’s royalties. Also, if Chains On You got them back into the top 10, as I’m adamant it would have done, would Depi Evratesil stay? I would just like something that allows the public to pass judgment on the likeable and talented woman who wrote, sang and rapped such a memorable song, even though the change went well.
They’ve had national finals/selections before, even without NDR’s funds
It is really a bummer to see people already writing off Germany before the national final season has even picked up steam (Including myself I’ll admit), But unfortunately Germany brought this on themselves with years of poor results. Will things change in 2023? I don’t know.
To be honest people have more than enough reason to have doubts. Expecting Germany to actually have a strong selection, is like predicting Andorra is going to win Eurovision. Both are never going to happen.
Completely false. Germany can bring a good selection and they already proved it. The problem is that they chose bad songs among the good ones (like in 2019).
Even good selections may end up not having a super hit amongst them, or if that selection has it, it might not win. Germany has just had bad luck overall
What about the fact that acts like Netta, Mahmood, Athena Manoukian, Diodato and Chanel were selected from the jury overruling the public vote?
How Athena Manoukian would have done remains mystery as 2020 didn’t go as planned, Netta had a song writter for her behind closed doors, Diodato will be a mystery as well. Mahmood as well as many Italian acts have done well because people like the language and the song was refreshing as Italy tends to send ballads often. Chanel also was a breath of fresh air from Spain and I think Rigoberta or Tanxuguerias wouldn’t have done nearly as well.
I agree. For Tanxuguerias, look at France, another electro act with a song in a regional language (albeit totally different themes), and, despite its Frank themes, Ay Mama would have translated very poorly. With Chanel, her strengths were clear and she had the confidence to play to them without fail. And Soldi was so interesting and unique and much better than Brividi. Uniqueness also made Toy and Chains On You. Johnathan Meregui would have looked like a likely NQ as the male Rnb-pop approach was tired after Nadav’s success and Imri’s fortunes (look at MBD 4 years later).
They really don’t know what they’re doing.
I hope we will see in the NF bands that perform: dark wave / synth-pop / industrial music or medieval-metal / folk rock like “In Extremo”, “Project Pitchfork” and so on – but the song must be damn catchy and asap in your head.
In Extremo? Yes, please. Or maybe Tobias Sammet could return – with Avantasia or any other way.
this is shaping up to be another trainwreck. can’t wait!
This statement seems like pure verbiage to me, but I guess we’ll have to wait if they really meant it or not. At least they toned their arrogance down and hopefully we see improvements as well.
We used to be a Rockstars 🙁
They have a direct entry to the final, and they ended up in the bottom 5 in 7 out of their last 10 attempts. They are literally dragging down the overall quality of the final by wasting spots that could be used for better entries. I have a genuine question for our German friends: were there any consequences for anyone for such a dismal performance? I mean somebody has to take responsibility for it. If I was a German taxpayer, I would certainly sue the broadcaster- because it is obvious that either someone in charge is inherently incompetent or the… Read more »
No consequences for those responsible, it only effectively ended the careers of the performers. Which is why no credible artist wants to do that gig anymore.
That is sad. Very sad. I never thought about it from the performers’ perspective.
They should include german language songs also
Bring back ProSieben!
I wish Germany sended something original and diffrent,and i hope
the winning artist is someone mysterious and unique like Konstrakta,not just LML cheap copies!
I wouldn’t class Germany as a “must do better” country. They did win not that long ago and had a couple of decent results. Spain, UK and France, however, I think need to up their game despite a good result in 2021/2022 but haven’t won in years.
Fair enough. The other big 5 (apart from Italy) aren’t much better. Hopefully the improvement continues but France reverted back to the bottom despite a good song.
Maybe I view it differently. A win is better than no win to me.
Don’t get me wrong they are way behind, but I put them above Spain, France and the UK currently. Hopefully they all pull something amazing out.
How can you currently put them above the UK france who have massove recent success while the german win has been more than a decade ago?
As much as I try to keep a neutral stance for all countries until the songs are released, My expectations for Germany are really low. It would be a miracle if the songs they choose pass the bare minimum bar.
I’m hoping for some quality, but we’ll see. I see also, that they’ve lost some of their arrogance and dropped the ‘Germany Douze Points’ title. Kinda cool to see Liverpool in a NF name.
Getting Last place in the final will do that to you.
Also, when the songs of last year’s NF were published, all the fans in Germany immediately joked that those ’12 Points’ could only refer to Germany’s total score in Turin. Well … at least Malik got there half-way.
OK. Now make sure you also offer songs in the German language.
I like this language…..
Interestingly, we have 3 regularly participating countries with German as their official language, and it’s been a decade since it’s last been heard in the contest (15 in its standard version). Even in their national selections, these countries hardly ever have German songs. I have no idea why everyone is avoiding the German language. Older contests had some great songs in it.
I want Max Raabe for Liverpool, with “Ein Tag wie Gold”, if that could be arranged.
I fully understand your worries. As a native Croatian speaker, I sometimes worry what songs people find well-written in national selections from Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro. Sometimes these lyrics are just awful. I assure you, we don’t need The Dream in full Croatian. Then again, we still try, as there are plenty good ones too. I am sure that there are *some* well-written songs in German.
Yeah, both versions of The Dream / Heroj were… shall we be *really* kind and say generic and predictable? 😉 Croatian part goes: ”Like a hero, like a hero, both yours and mine, love is a hero.”
And I am fully aware that having excellent lyrics, while certainly a huge bonus, isn’t always the pre-requisite of having the iconic ESC entry. I mean, I don’t think that anyone could credit Shady Lady, SloMo or Fuego for having gut-wrenching or layered lyrics, but they were still okay for what they were going for. They weren’t insulting to one’s intelligence. Then we have songs like Have Some Fun or Beautiful Song whose lyrics are SO bad that they unintentionally become ironically good. And somewhere in between there lies a pool or underwhelming and lazy lyrics The Dream is a… Read more »
only if the song is performed by Till Lindemann and Rammstein. There the german language sounds perfect.
Did anyone see the images from the meeting NDR (German broadcaster) did with OGAE Germany and other Eurovision fan clubs regarding their 2023 selection process?
Not one person in that room was under the age of 30, and that’s part of Germany’s continued downfall. A bunch of millennials or boomers choosing songs that will appeal to the ever-changing European music scene is ridiculous. Germany, get some YOUNG people involved, it’ll change the entire dynamic and shift things completely.
Germany has a huge Turkish population, and they dominate the German hip-hop scene, so why not try to get them involved?
Look at the German charts… hip-hop, R&B and dance songs dominate the charts. Is NDR too blind to see that? All they need to do is reach out to these artists like Nina Chuba, AYLIVA, Luciano or Jamule and internally offer them a place at Eurovision without completing in any stupid national selection.
Peter Fox !
Peter Fox would be an amazing choice!
He’s an example of an artist in their 50s who has managed to dominate the music scene simply because he knows how to stay current and keep up with trends. He’s even #1 on the German Spotify charts right now.
Because Turks in Germany, just like everywhere else in Europe, are subject to discrimination on a daily basis. They are under-represented in every aspect of society. And while I know I will receive a hundred dislikes for saying this, I do not mind- I experienced it first-hand as a high-skilled worker (academic). My guess is NDR is a white-only (mostly) boys club that has a predetermined idea of who should be representing Germany. The last time Turkish minority singers represented Germany, they came third.
Sooo do you think there is this huge amount of Turkish/german singers who applied to the German national selection who didn’t get selected because of western racism? Because I can assure you most immigrant dutch rappers think eurovision is crap and that’s that.
A German-Turkish female rapper represented Turkey in FreeESC 2021 (Elif – Alles Helel). If she’s willing to participate in a Eurovision knockoff I’m sure she would’ve been honoured to be selected for Eurovision.
So yes, I’m sure there are plenty of talented Turkish Germans artists who would love to take part in Eurovision, but NDR doesn’t give them the time of day for some reason.
If there is a perception of “We do not have a chance”, of course, no one applies. This is simply why affirmative action exists- minorities need role models.
Honestly, I think you’re right. If you look at the image of NDR’s meeting with Eurovision fan clubs regarding their selection process, it was a male-dominated white space.
I’m sure they aren’t used to the R&B music scene, never mind the Turkish-German music scene. That’s why their selection committee needs a total revamp.
You have it completely backwards. Older people should be made to feel more welcome, not less. Nearly every performer is under 25. Now you’re saying you want even less people over 30 involved. That’s ageism, and the contest is not just for Gen Z. It’s for everyone.
Also, 30 is not old.
I second this so much. It’s weird how performers in their late 20s / early 30s are often positioned near the end of most ”all performers by age” videos. However, it’s worth noting that 4 out of top 5 in 2022 are performers over 30, one being over 40.
Also, age(ism) is a weird contruct. A 35-year-old politician is considered to be very young, while 35-year-old ballerina is considered to be very old.
2000, 2001… a fifty year old winner both years. I wonder if that will ever happen again.
I actually think artists are in their prime in their late 20s and early 30s. They definitely shouldn’t be counted out. Doja is late 20s and SZA is early 30s, they’re in their prime right now.
I think it might be harder for older artists to connect with younger audiences though. Unless there’s a German version of Björk somewhere out there, her current fanbase is mostly LGBT Gen-Z because she totally refined her style.
As UK is my 11th in 2012, and Russia my 20th, I’d support that in a heartbeat. UK has sent really lovely songs in both 2012 and 2013, yet both went under radar.
Sure, Bonnie’s ESC performance wasn’t her brightest moment, but it’s such a lovely, serene song, that I think it deserved a top 15 placement anyway. As for Engelbert, he was really phenomenal. Consider how far away he held the microphone, as his voice is so powerful!
He was very lucky to be drawn first. The show started at midnight Baku time, I wonder how his voice would have held up if he’d be on 24th.
Not a winner, or even close, but deserved more respect, yeah.
You missed my point…
I said people behind the selection process are all over 30 years old, I didn’t mention performers. Germany needs a younger head of delegation to refresh the mindset of NDR and ultimately break Germany’s curse of sending outdated songs that don’t connect with younger audiences.
Your point is that everybody should be chasing the youth market, my point is that not everybody is interested in that and don’t need to be.
As bad as it sounds, elderly participants in Eurovision are at a disadvantage. Elderly people in the music scene are at a disadvantage too. It’s unfair, but that’s life.
There are certain exceptions as you mentioned, like the Russian grannies. But I think their appeal was down to how wild it was, and not their talent.
Well if germany’s national final acts were selected by these older ogae fans these last few years,i’d say letting them decide doesn’t necessarily lead to more representation of old people at eurovision since they also select young artists.
Finally, someone who has recognized the real problem. The NF also serves precisely this clientele. Therefore: Pro7/ Stefan Raab, please take over again.
Time will tell whether NDR is actually going to commit to these words, and I hope the German selection will finally be one to take a bit seriously again. Germany is currently the only big 5 member remaining who hasn’t reformed yet from continuous bad results (assuming France, the UK and Spain are able to keep up the momentum from 2021/2022) with 2018 being kind of a fluke in the midst of it.
I want Germany to do well again, so I hope for them to finally get some better material to work with
I never understand Germany selection process
They always want to make it the most complicated they can and often want to only have new and inexperienced artist
The selection format they used in 2013 was the last good format
10 songs and a jury televote split
Songs of all genres as long as they’re good
It is often new and inexperienced artists because the big names see Eurovision as a lost cause And they don’t want to risk their careers finishing poorly at Eurovision.
barring 2018 of course
Not looking for radio hits?
Ironically, the most streamed ESC songs this year were all radio friendly songs. Not to mention that almost entire top 10 were radio friendly songs. The mistake Germany did was to not have good songs in the selection