Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998
| Eurovision Song Contest 1998 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Germany | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Countdown Grand Prix 1998 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 26 February 1998 | |||
| Selected entrant | Guildo Horn | |||
| Selected song | "Guildo hat euch lieb!" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Alf Igel | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 7th, 86 points | |||
| Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Guildo hat euch lieb!" written by Alf Igel. The song was performed by Guildo Horn. The German entry for the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom was selected through the national final Countdown Grand Prix 1998, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 26 February 1998 and featured eleven competing acts with the winner being selected through public televoting. "Guildo hat euch lieb!" performed by Guildo Horn was selected as the German entry for Birmingham after gaining 426,050 of the votes.
Germany competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 1998. Performing during the show in position 9, Germany placed seventh out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 86 points.
Background
Prior to the 1998 Contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-one times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in
The German national broadcaster, ARD, broadcasts the event within Germany and delegates the selection of the nation's entry to the regional broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). Since 1996, NDR had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Germany. The broadcaster organised a multi-artist national final in cooperation to select the German entry for the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.[2]
Before Eurovision
Countdown Grand Prix 1998
Countdown Grand Prix 1998 was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. Ten acts were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of NDR, which included head of the entertainment department Jürgen Meier-Beer, from proposals received by the broadcaster from record companies and among the competing artists was Wind (with different group members) which represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985, 1987 and 1992.[2][3]
The televised final took place on 26 February 1998 at the
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shana | "Es regnet nie in Texas" | Franz Troja, Klaus Hirschburger | Unknown | 9 |
| 2 | Ballhouse | "Can-Can" | Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger | Unknown | 6 |
| 3 | Maria Perzil | "Freut Euch!" | Markus Krüger, Dirk Schelpmeier | Unknown | 10 |
| 4 | Diana and Wind | "Lass die Herzen sich berühren" | Peter Weigel, Dave Tchorz, Andreas Lebbing | Unknown | 5 |
| 5 | Sharon | "Kids" | Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger | Unknown | 8 |
| 6 | Guildo Horn | "Guildo hat euch lieb!" | Alf Igel | 426,050 | 1 |
| 7 | Rosenstolz | "Herzensschöner" | Peter Plate, Andrea Rosenbaum | 73,077 | 2 |
| 8 | Köpenick | "Carneval" | Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger | Unknown | 7 |
| 9 | Fokker | "Gel-Song (Kleine Melodie)" | Christian von Richthofen | Unknown | 4 |
| 10 | Hearts and Roses | "Du bist ein Teil von mir" | Jörg Evers | 69,630 | 3 |
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. Germany was originally relegated for being one of the eight lowest scoring countries but was eventually allowed to compete after Italy withdrew from the contest. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Germany was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from Sweden and before the entry from Finland.[9][10] The day before the contest, Germany was considered by bookmakers to be the eighth most likely country to win the competition.[11] The German conductor at the contest Stefan Raab who composed "Guildo hat euch lieb!" under the pseudonym Alf Igel,[a] and Guildo Horn performed on stage together with his band Die Orthopädischen Strümpfe. Germany finished in seventh place with 86 points.[12][13]
In Germany, the show was broadcast on Das Erste which featured commentary by Peter Urban.[14][15] The show was watched by 12.67 million viewers in Germany.[16] The German spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the German televote, was Nena.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Germany and awarded by Germany in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Turkey in the contest.
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Notes and references
Notes
- ^ Although Raab was presented as a conductor during the contest, the song featured no orchestral accompaniment and was performed entirely to backing track.
References
- ^ "Germany Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Deutsche Vorentscheidung 1999". eurosong.de (in German). 16 June 2000. Archived from the original on 16 June 2000. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "GERMAN NATIONAL FINAL 1998". natfinals.50webs.com. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Germany: Countdown Grand Prix 1998". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ISBN 978-3-8324-8179-7.
- ^ "Countdown Grand Prix 1998: Die Zeit voll Harmonie und Glück". aufrechtgehn.de (in German). 26 February 1998. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Deutschland". www.ecgermany.de (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Birmingham to stage Eurovision". The Irish Times. 9 August 1997. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ Jones, David (13 November 1997). Eurovision Song Contest winner Katrina and compere Terry Wogan[...]. Birmingham, United Kingdom: Alamy. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "The bookies' favourites". BBC News. 8 May 1998. Archived from the original on 1 November 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark - 12 points - instead of being snubbed, as it happened. The mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway. Israel and Norway both received 2 points less than originally and Croatia, Malta, Portugal, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia and Turkey all received one point less than indicated during the broadcast.
- ^ "Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ "Programmes TV – Samedi 9 mai" [TV programmes – Saturday 9 May]. TV8 (in French). Zofingen, Switzerland: Ringier. 7 May 1998. pp. 20–25. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
- ^ "Moderator Peter Urban kommentiert seit 20 Jahren den ESC" [Presenter Peter Urban has been commenting on the Eurovision Song Contest for 20 years]. Berliner Morgenpost (in German). 3 May 2017. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Quotenmeter; AGF; GfK. "TV-Reichweite des Eurovision Song Contests in den Jahren 1976 bis 2023 nach der Anzahl der Zuschauer". Statista. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.