The German national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will be held on 12th March. The first of the eight rounds will be held on 2nd February. Furthermore, it has been announced that Unser Star für Oslo will be hosted by Sabine Heinrich and Matthias OpdenhÃ�¶vel.

4.500 people have taken part in the castings for the show. The 20 best ones were chosen to compete in the first two shows broadcast by ProSieben on 2nd and 9th February. Five singers out of each heat will reach the next round. Those ten acts will compte in three elimination shows broadcast on ProSieben followed by a semi final broadcast on ARD. The grand final will be held on ARD again on 12th March. Firstly, the song to represent Germany is Oslo will be chosen followed by the choice of the singer out of the remaining two acts.

Stefan Raab, who represented Germany in 2000 as a singer and composer and in 1998 and 2004 as a songwriter, will be the head of the jury. He will be joined by various guest judges including Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Sarah Connor and Jan Delay. The shows will be hosted by radio host Sabine Heinrich and Matthias Opdenhövel. The latter has also hosted various other Stefan Raab events including his popular game show Schlag den Raab.

Germany went for in internal selection in 2009 for the first time since 1995. Alex Swings Oscar Sings! finished 20th in the final in Moscow with their song Miss kiss kiss bang. As a big four country, Germany is directly qualified for the final of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest.