Germany: NDR to participate in Eurovision 2021 with a new selected act

Germany: NDR to participate in Eurovision 2021 with a new selected act
Monday, 06 July 2020

  • The German national broadcaster, NDR,  has confirmed to ESC Kopakt and ESCToday that it will participate in the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest  with a new selected act. 

    The news are not good for Ben Dolic, the internally selected ESC 2020 representative, as NDR revealed that Germany will take part in Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam but this will happen with a new artist to be selected. 

    Alexandra Wolfslast , Head Of Delegation Germany, ARD-ESC boss Christian Blenker and NDR entertainment chief Thomas Schreiber in a joint exclusive interview with ESC Compakt revealed that the German Eurovision 2021 entry will be selected choosing the same format as in 2020. Conversely, this means: Ben Dolic is NOT set for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. But he will submit a song with Boris Milanov again.

    Alexandra Wolfslast (HoD of Germany) stated about Ben Dolic:

    "We discussed it really intensively, also very controversially. But Ben was not only chosen by the jury because he is an outstanding singer. The jury was won over by the combination of song and singer. We agreed that Ben could also be included in the selection process for 2021 with a new song."

    Christian Blenker (ARD-ESC Director) continues on the German 2021 selection:

    "Boris Milanov wrote “Violent Thing”, a great song that Ben shone with his unique voice. The EBU has decided that only new songs will be allowed to play next year. That is also why we said that we want to start another selection process with two independent juries for the coming year. Ben and Boris want to submit a new song together. We are very happy about that. Because it should be clear to everyone that the two compete to win. But we also want to give new artists a chance to compete for Germany at ESC 2021."

    And Thomas Schreiber (NDR Entertainment Director) goes on saying about the national selection format:

    "We have all spoken to each other, i.e. with Ben and with Boris Milanov, and by mutual agreement we are very happy when Ben is there with a new song - but not set, but in competition with everyone else. The 100-member Eurovision jury and the 20-member international expert jury will decide who will compete for Germany in Rotterdam on May 22, 2021."

    Therefore, the 2021 German Eurovision entry and act via will be selected via 2 special juries:

    • 100 member juries consisting of Eurovision fans
    • 20 member jury consisting of international music experts

    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.

     

    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.

     

    News Source: ESC Kopakt / ESCToday