Germany: NDR examining changes to the Eurovision 2022 selection process

Germany: NDR examining changes to the Eurovision 2022 selection process
Tuesday, 01 June 2021

  • Germany's Head of Delegation has confirmed that NDR is re-considering the Eurovision selection process for next year's contest. 

    The poor results for the German participants in the last two editions of the Eurovision Song Contest (2019 and 2021) have made the NDR officials sceptical regarding Germany's next participation and if the should continue with the same selection formula or introduce changes in the process. 

    The German Head of Delegation, Alexandra Wolfslast, confirmed to ESC Kompakt, that the national broadcaster is re-examining things and looking into potential changes to the selection format for Eurovision 2022. Since 2020 the German hopeful has been determined via a combined jury format which includes a 100 member jury and a jury of music experts. 

    Talking about why the current selection process hasn't worked out for Germany while it has for Switzerland she said: 

    "Any explanation would be pure speculation. The fact is that the same procedure obviously works extremely well in Switzerland, but has not earned us a good ranking. I think it is easy to understand why we are now self-critically reviewing the current selection process and considering what we can do differently in the NDR in the future."

     

    Germany in Eurovision

    Germany is one of the  Big-5 countries and qualifies directly to the Eurovision Grand final. The country has participated in every edition of the Eurovision Song Contest since 1956, with one year’s exception back in 1996.  The country has won the competition twice, namely in 1982 and 2010.

    In 2018 Germany placed 4th in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon with Michael Schulte‘s  You let me walk alone , while in 2019 the duo Sisters represented the country and finished second last in the 25th place of the grand final.

    Ben Dolic was internally selected to represent Germany at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with his entry Violent Thing. Unfortunately young act never had the chance to complete his Eurovision journey as the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic.

    This year Jendrick Sigwart defended the German colors in Rotterdam with his song 'I don't feel hate'. Jendrik finished 25th in the final, marking Germany's second in a row 2nd last placing, receiving only 3 points from the juries and zero points from the public voting. 

     

    News Source: ESC Kompakt/ Eurovoix

    Image: EBU / ANDRES PUTTING