The first esctoday TOP TEN list starts today with the places 10, 9 and 8. As announced earlier, the first topic will be the Top Ten Eurovision hits from Germany in dedication to German's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.

The following criteria were considered when the ranking was made:

1. High sales figures
2. High chart positions
3. Status of a song as a classic
4. Heavy airplay
5. Importance of a song for an act's career

Both national final entries and Eurovision Song Contest entries could qualify for the list.

So here we start…

Number 10 – Herzensschöner bei Rosenstolz

Rosenstolz had already been a popular live act when they entered the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, but their albums and singles were no major hits at that time. This all changed with the song Herzensschöner, written by band members AnNa R. and Peter Plate, when it finished second in the national final behind Guildo Horn's Guildo hat euch lieb. The song would be the duo's first single to reach the German charts, where it peaked at number 39 and stayed for nine weeks. This may not sound like an impressive number, but it is widely considered to mark the beginning of the commercial success of Rosenstolz as their following albums would all reach the top three of the charts until today, which makes them one of the most successful German bands ever. Herzensschöner remains one of their most popular songs among fans and it is regularly performed during concerts. It is also included on the most recent live album released in 2009. Along with Guildo hat euch lieb, Herzensschöner is also considered one of the reasons why the Eurovision Song Contest gained popularity again in Germany after years of low viewing figures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8uW_P26NA0

Number 9 – Can't wait until tonight by Max Mutzke

After two mediocre results, the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was set to change everything. The show was a collaboration with popular music channel Viva and it was supposed to only feature famous artists who had previously had success on the German charts. Stefan Raab, composer in 1998 and representative in 2000, came up with a different idea. He launched his own talent search SSDSGPS ("Stefan sucht den Super-Grand-Prix-Star"), which was won by Max Mutzke. He was promised a wildcard for the national final if he managed to enter the top 20 of the single charts before the national final. Of course he did – in fact, the song Can't wait until tonight, written by Stefan Raab, entered the single charts at number one the week the national final was held. The song then won the national final with 67% of the votes in the first round and record-breaking 92% of the votes in the second round. Can't wait until tonight finished eighth in Istanbul and was certified Platinum in Germany for sales exceeding 350,000. The single also reached number two in Austria and number four in Switzerland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go1z9zZbtY8

Number 8 – Wir wollen niemals auseinandergeh'n bei Heidi Brühl

Many people in Germany know this song, but not so many people know that it has a connection to the Eurovision Song Contest. Heidi Brühl was one of the country's most popular stars at the time when she competed in the German national final in 1960. She was widely considered to be the favourite but finished second behind Wyn Hoop. Nevertheless, Wir wollen niemals auseinandergeh'n, written by Michael Jary, Bruno Balz and Gloria de Vos was a far bigger hit reaching the top of the single charts and becoming one of the most sold songs of the 1960s. There are also countless different cover versions and parodies of this song, which can easily be considered a classic of 1960s schlager music. In 1963, Heidi Brühl would finally get her chance to take part in Eurovision, but her song Marcel was no success – neither on the charts, nor in the contest.

Tomorrow, number 7 and 6 on the list will be revealed.