In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, Dr. Jürgen Meier-Beer, head of entertainment at German broadcaster NDR, stated that he thought last year's choice of Corinna May as Germany's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest was “embarrassing” and added that the launch of SMS votes in this year's national final will see more young people voting.

In the interview, Dr. Meier-Beer spoke about the fact that the launch of televoting had brought back some credibility to the Eurovisions Song Contest, which was lost in the public eye during the nineties. “The Grand Prix has established itself with an image as 'postmodern entertainment'”, Meier-Beer said, adding that Germany's weak points are “the actual musical entries, where we do not orientate us enough towards other countries. Because of that, we will launch an SMS voting this year, this gives younger viewers more weight in the poll, I hope. Because last year's conservative national taste was pretty embarrasing.” Dr. Meier-Beer pointed out his delightment with the participation of three German newspapers, as they “are really eager to win.”

Meanwhile, there are rumours that 21 year old female singer Judith, who recently left the successful TV talent show Superstar on her own accord, could participate in the German preselection. It is thought that she may sing for German producer Dieter Bohlen, who has written songs for German and Austrian Eurovision participants in the past and is a jury member of the Superstar show. Bohlen, who had an entry in last year's German final, has publicly stated his interest in another participation and has, following an article in Germany's leading tabloid paper Bild, offered to produce Judith's song.

The participants of the German final Countdown Grand Prix will be officially announced at a press conference next Monday, 13 January.