Artists selected, songwriters all set, let’s go! Germany is in full search of Michael Schulte’s successor, in the hope of one more pleasant outcome, after his 4th place at Lisbon’s Eurovision Song Contest. Who can bring them to the Eurovision top in Tel Aviv?

Following the conclusion of the initial workshop that took place in Cologne, with the participation of 15 artists, yesterday saw in the German capital, Berlin, the beginning of the 5-day songwriting camp, which will be in progress until Friday. The 6 chosen candidates that will be battling in the German national selection Unser Lied für Israel (Our song for Israel) are going to join forces with 24 acclaimed composers and songwriters in order to record and pick their potential entries for the event, which is scheduled to take place in February.

The candidates’ names will be officially announced in due course. At the time of writing, Daniel Schuhmacher, Dimi Rompos, Thilo Berndt and Nina Kutschera have already confirmed their elimination from the procedure’s next stages by themselves, while Sebastian Schub has withdrawn his application.

How the camp works?

As reported by NDR, the candidate songs will be recorded in six different studios, in teams of 3 and with daily changes. Besides the tracks introduced by the songwriting teams, there will be more entries, as the broadcaster has opened invitation to further interested artists to submit their compositions and fight for a place at Unser Lied für Israel and of course, for the opportunity to represent Germany in Tel Aviv. According to the regulation, a maximum of 8 acts will be able to take part in the event.

All songs will be presented to an appointed jury panel, which is going to evaluate them and have a say on which ones will get the ticket for February’s selection. However, the final decisions will be made in cooperation with the artists and the organizing broadcaster. The jury consists of the music director Wolfgang Dalfheimer, Lars Ingwersen (Managing Director at California Sunset Records), as well as several experts from NDR and the production company.

NDR will be disclosing information on the acts’ final list and their national final in the weeks to come.

Germany at Eurovision

Germany has had a record number of 62 Eurovision appearances since their debut in 1956. The country has only missed one contest (1996), after their elimination from the pre-selection process that took place that year.

The Germans have experienced a mixture of results over the years, including 12 Top 3 placings – including 2 victories (1982, 2010) – as well as 7 last places, 2 of which were accumulated in the current decade.

The central-European country has seen relatively poor results over the last editions. However, these poor fortunes were reversed last year, as the winner of last year’s selection Unser Lied für Lissabon (Our song for Lisbon), Michael Schulte with his ballad You let me walk alone, became one of the contest’s surprises, coming 4th with a total of 340 points, from both the public and national juries.

Following Netta’s victory with Toy, the 64th Eurovision Song Contest will take place on 14, 16 and 18 May at the EXPO Convention Center in Tel Aviv, Israel.