Country Germany Selected entrant Cascada Final result 21st, 18 points | Selection date(s) 14 February 2013 Selected song "Glorious" | |
 | ||
Selection process Unser Song für Malmö
1/3 Jury
1/3 Internet voting
1/3 Televoting Similar Unser Song für Malmö, Germany in the Eurovisio, Unser Star für Oslo, Eurovision Song Contest's, Schlag den Raab | ||
Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The German entry was selected through the national final Unser Song für Malmö, which was organised by the public broadcasters NDR and ARD. Cascada represented Germany with the song "Glorious", which placed 21st and scored 18 points in the final.
Contents
Unser Song für Malmö
On 23 November 2012, NDR announced that the German national final would take place at the TUI Arena in Hanover on 14 February 2013. Like in the previous three years, the national final was co-produced by production company Brainpool, which co-produced the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf and the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku as well. However, collaboration with private broadcaster ProSieben terminated after three years. The show was hosted by Anke Engelke.
Twelve acts were selected to participate in the final. The selection was made by a seven-member expert jury consisting of representatives of NDR, Brainpool and major record labels. Eleven of the twelve acts that would compete on the final were revealed on 17 December 2012. The remaining contestant was announced on 21 December 2012.
The winner was determined by a three-part voting procedure. The week prior to the final, the entries were aired on nine ARD radio channels and listeners were able to vote for their favourite song by means of online voting. In the show itself, the public was able to vote via telephone and SMS, and a five-member jury comprising music and entertainment experts voted as well. Each of the three parts of the voting weighted equally. The expert jury consisted of Tim Bendzko (singer-songwriter), Roman Lob (singer, German Eurovision entrant in 2012), Anna Loos (actress and singer), Mary Roos (singer and actress, German Eurovision entrant in 1972 and 1984) and Peter Urban (musician and radio host, German commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest).
After the combination of radio voting, jury voting and televote/SMS voting, Cascada were the winners with the song "Glorious". Over 837,000 votes were cast during the program's live televote/SMS voting.
Controversy
"Glorious" has come under investigation following allegations that it is a copy of the 2012 winning song, "Euphoria" by Loreen. German regional broadcaster NDR had investigated whether the Eurodance song bares too much of a similarity to "Euphoria". NDR spokeswoman, Iris Bents said the station would publish the results of the study when they were available but played down the allegations, "Every year there are attempts to create scandals around the Eurovision Song Contest and the participants", she reported. It was later announced on 25 February 2013, that the song was cleared of plagiarism and would represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.
At Eurovision
As a member of the "Big Five", Germany automatically qualified for a place in the final, held on 18 May 2013. In addition to their participation in the final, Germany was assigned to vote in the second semi-final on 16 May 2013.
During the German delegation's press conference on 15 May, Germany was allocated to perform in the first half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Germany would perform 11th, following Russia and preceding Armenia. Germany scored 18 points in the final and placed 21st.
In Germany, the first semi-final aired live on EinsFestival and on delay on NDR, while the second semi-final aired live on Phoenix and on delay on EinsFestival and NDR. The final of the competition aired on Das Erste. All shows were commentated by Peter Urban.
The national jury that provided 50% of the German vote in the second semi-final and the final consisted of: Lena (singer — 2010 Contest winner), Tim Bendzko (singer-songwriter), Alina Süggeler (singer), Carolin Niemczyk (singer) and Florian Silbereisen (singer and television presenter). The German spokesperson in the grand final was Lena.
The song was widely tipped to do well, being the 2nd favourite to win with the British Bookmakers and also being number 6 in Austrian Airplay, and number 21 in British Airplay in the week leading up to Eurovision night.