Thanks to a new partnership between public and private broadcasters, Germany will select its Eurovision 2025 entry through a new selection format, “Chefsache ESC 2025 – Wer singt für Deutschland?” (“Top Priority ESC 2025 – Who sings for Germany?”).
A new public-private partnership
Germany’s Eurovision broadcaster, NDR, is a member of the public group ARD, and had been in charge of the previous selections, in collaboration with production company Bildergarten for the last three years.
Earlier this year, former German act Stefan Raab suggested to drop that format and to create a global collaboration between the main public and private broadcasters of Germany to organise a new selection for 2025. Raab has been involved with Germany’s efforts several times, having written several songs that represented his country, as well as organising the 2004 selection, and hosting Eurovision in Düsseldorf in 2011.
His suggestion came partly true with this new collaboration, between ARD/NDR, RTL Deutschland and Raab himself. Each broadcaster will be in charge of organising and broadcasting a part of the contest, with Bildergarten now out of the production.
Inga Leschek, Chief Content Officer at RTL Deutschland, praised the new partnership:
What an honour to be part of the Eurovision Song Contest! Side by side with ARD and Stefan Raab, we are dedicating ourselves to the national task of the Eurovision Song Contest and will use the full reach of RTL Germany to find the German star for Basel. We are looking forward to this special collaboration and three great RTL music shows in spring 2025.
Inga Leschek, Chief Content Officer at RTL Deutschland
So did Christine Strobl, ARD Programme Director:
Special events call for special collaborations: I am thrilled to be working together with Stefan Raab and RTL to boost anticipation for Eurovision Song Contest 2025. Eurovision is a unique music show that has TV nations across Europe glued to the screen, uniting Europe for a very special moment – and this is exactly the feeling we want to convey to the German audience on their way to Basel with a great pre-selection.
Christine Strobl, ARD Programme Director
Three preliminary rounds and a final
RTL in charge until the semi-final
The selection as a whole should showcase 24 candidates. People can send their submission until November 28th, 23:59 CET. The casting is open on Stefan Raab’s casting website, for acts with or without a song. Raab himself said he is open to writing the song that eventually goes to Eurovision, which could be the case for a candidate joining the show without a song.
RTL will then host three preliminary rounds: two heats and a semi-final. The heats would reduce the number of candidates from 24 to 14 (with 7 acts qualifying from each show), with the semi-final further reducing this number to 9 acts for the final. The selection will be based on singing rounds and song disciplines, and will be made by a jury led by Stefan Raab himself.
An ARD final with a public vote
The final show of the selection will take place on March 1st, and broadcast on ARD, with the organisation of the show undertaken by NDR. Unlike the preliminary rounds, which seem to be full jury shows, the final choice will be made through televote only.
All four shows will be hosted by Barbara Schöneberger, who has done so for almost ten continuous years (starting in 2014, and only missing out on hosting “Unser Lied für Lissabon” in 2018).
Contrasted results for Germany
Stefan Raab’s involvement may give Germany hope of good results, with his songs being among the best acts to represent his country since the 1990’s, including Lena’s victory in 2010.
His comments earlier this year came after almost eight years in a row of Germany finishing 25th or lower in the Grand Final, including last places in 2022 and 2023. Expectations for 2024 were not very high either in the weeks leading up to the contest, although Isaak’s performance actually got Germany its best result since 2018, with a respectable 12th place.
The exception in this row of low-placing results is of course 2018, when Michael Schulte’s “You Let Me Walk Alone” reached fourth place, after being selected through “Unser Lied für Lissabon”.
Are you happy to see this collaboration taking place? Do you expect Germany to find the right act to reach the Top 10 again, or the top position? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media at @escxtra!
