Country Germany Languages German, English Lyricist(s) Bernd Meinunger | As Mekado Composer(s) Ralph Siegel | |
Artist(s) Dorkas Kiefer,
Kati Karney,
Melanie Bender | ||
"Wir geben 'ne Party" ("We're Having a Party" or "We're Throwing a Party") was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, performed in German, English by Mekado. Mekado were backed on stage by Rhonda Heath, formerly of Silver Convention, who had themselves represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, placing 8th.
The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following the Netherlands' Willeke Alberti with "Waar is de zon?" and preceding Slovakia's Tublatanka with "Nekonečná pieseň". At the close of voting, it had received 128 points, placing 3rd in a field of 25. According to The Official History of The Eurovision Song Contest by John Kennedy O'Connor, the group struggled with the complex choreography during rehearsals, but the performance was faultless on the night.
The song - written and composed by prolific duo Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger - is an up-tempo number (quite in contrast to the duo's traditional schlager-style offerings), so much so that recordings of the BBC broadcast feature commentator Terry Wogan describing it as "a bit of rock 'n' roll". The trio describe their plans for a party, specifically the "guys" they expect to see there and the fact that, for one of them at least, "I need a kick to have a successful evening". The song ends with a particularly rapid-fire section in which the three give one guy at the party the once-over (arguing about who he was looking at), before deciding "Better we forget them, come on let's dance".
In a pre-emptive move before the "free language rule" was reinstated, the song features a series of Anglicisms, particularly in the chorus. The girls sing such lyrics as "So rock me, Baby, heut ist alles egal" ("So rock me, baby, today everything is the same"). Of particular note is the remark by one singer to another that "Ich hab genau so'n Hip-Hop Feeling wie du" ("I have exactly the same hip-hop feeling as you"), a line which marks the first inclusion of any reference to that style of music in the Contest.
While the performance itself remained relatively static (the Contest was still conducted in a room of music professionals, rather than the general-admission Contest of more recent years), a series of high-fives brought some movement to proceedings.
An English-language version of the song was also recorded, bearing the title We're Givin' A Party, an accurate - if less idiomatic - translation of the original title.
It was succeeded as German representative at the 1995 Contest by Stone & Stone with "Verliebt in Dich".