In the last couple of days, the applications process for Germany’s 2017 Eurovision selection has come to an end. Germany have significantly changed their selection process. The new show Unser Song 2017 shares similarities with the selection process the country used in 2010 and 2012. Of course, this was a successful period for Germany in Eurovision which resulted in consecutive top ten finishes and a victory with Lena’s Satellite. 2,493 young talents have applied to take part in Unser Song 2017 which include a “nice range of talents, voices and personalities” according to ARD’s entertainment coordinator Thomas Schreiber.
What happens next?
Schreiber explains that just 30 of these applicants will progress to the next stage of the process. The lucky applicants will be chosen next week, and will be worked with in early December. Eventually, just five artists will be selected to compete in a three-hour long live televised final on 9th February. The event will take place in Cologne and will be hosted by fan favourite Barbara Schöneberger. Each of the five artists will be paired with songs “especially written for the Eurovision Song Contest”. A jury, consisting of Lena, Tim Bendzko and Florian Silbereisen, will be present to comment after each performance. The show will also make use of the official Eurovision app where international viewers will be able to put forward their views as to who the German audience should choose.
Looking to recreate their success of the early 2010s
At the beginning of this decade, Germany transformed themselves into one of Eurovision’s successful countries with three consecutive top ten finishes. This led to an expansion of their national selection process. As a result it moved to an arena setting and attracted several established acts. Previously Lena and Roman Lob had both rose to fame via their respective Eurovision selection processes. However despite being a fan favourite, 2013 representatives Cascada failed to set the scoreboard alight in Malmö.
This lack of success continued in 2014 and 2015 when Elaiza and Ann Sophie, both unknown wildcard acts, beat out their much more experienced competitors on both occasions (even if Ann Sophie required the original winner to withdraw from the competition first). 2016 saw Germany return to picking an established act. The Voice of Germany winner Jamie-Lee Kriewitz won her national final convincingly, but her performance of Ghost saw Germany finish at the bottom of the Eurovision leaderboard for the second consecutive year.
Do you think Germany have made the correct choice in returning to a selection format similar in style to the format that discovered Lena and Roman Lob? Or do you think this is a step backwards? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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