Germany is one of the countries that’s already gearing up for Eurovision 2019. Beloved host Barbara Schöneberger is set to return to the national final, while the national selection process itself is taking shape.

Countries across Europe and the globe are getting ready, as the ESC 2019 in Tel Aviv is slowly but surely coming closer. Germany is one of those countries, and its national final will see the return of popular TV-host Barbara Schöneberger.

Barbara Schöneberger and Our song for Israel

Tv-presenter, actress, comedian and singer Barbara Schöneberger is a well-known personality on German television. The beloved celebrity hosted Germany’s national ESC selection several times, however she had to skip this year because of a busy schedule. Barbara was replaced by hosts Elton (Alexander Duszat) and Linda Zervakis, who proved to be excellent presenters.

In 2019, Barbara Schöneberger will return on the national final stage, hosting Unser Song für Israel (Our song for Israel) in February 2019. No doubt she will captivate the audience and the contestants with her charm and humor once again.

Exact dates and information about the national selection will be released in due time.

Searching for participants

Meanwhile, German broadcaster NDR, is preparing to find the right contestants for the national selection. In the past summer, artists were scrutinized by a professional jury, including a international fan jury. 50 Eurovision potentials were eventually selected, which will then be reduced to 20 lucky candidates.

The 20 candidates will then participate in a music camp, working with professional composers, lyricists and vocal coaches. Making a music video for each of the potentials is also part of the selection process, which will finally result in 6 to 10 national final participants, again selected by the jury. These final candidates will go to a special music camp to write their  potential Eurovision 2019 song, which they will present in Unser Song für Israel in February.

In Unser Song für Israel, a Eurovision jury, an expert jury and the viewers will ultimately decide the German ESC 2019 representative.

The German Head of Delegation Christoph Pellander told interviewer Alina Stiegler:

We will stay on our way, roughly (…) But we will fine-tune everything, for a better quality (…) For instance, we will listen to the advice of the expert jury earlier.

Hopefully, the top 20 will be known in a few weeks (…) We hope we can plan the songwriting camp in November, probably in Berlin. And then the songs should be ready at the end of the year.

(source: eurovision.de)

Germany at Eurovision 2018 and post-ESC success

Germany was represented by singer-songwriter and Youtube-star Michael Schulte at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal. With his heartfelt ballad You let me walk alone, inspired by the passing of his father, the artist reached a very respectable 4th place in the Grand Final, receiving 340 points.

You let me walk alone became a commercial success, charting in Germany and internationally, being especially popular in the Netherlands where the song received considerable airplay and hit the music charts.