It was announced late last year that 12 songs will be in the running to be the German entry at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. The German final will be in a large arena in Hannover on Valentine’s Day 14 February.

There has been however some controversy within the fan community about the eligibility of some of the songs, as it has been alleged that some of the candidates have been available before the 1 September 2012 cut-off date.

At least the song by The Priests, The Blitzkids, Mobilée and Finn Martin had been spotted by fans being online too early.

According to the German Prinz blog however, the German Eurovision broadcaster NDR has declared all the songs are compliant to the current Eurovision Song Contest rules and will be able to participate in the German final and become the German Eurovision entry.

The song by The Priests will not be the same medieval church song found on their last album, but a new three-minute composition with elements inspired by the 12th century tune but sharing the title of the 1100 years old composition.

Indeed the current Eurovision Song Contest rules have an amendment from previous years, and the current wording is that it will be considered whether a song’s early availability have given it an unfair advantage above others:

The compositions (lyrics and music)must not have been commercially released before 1 September 2012. In case the composition has been made available to the public, for example, but not limited to, on online video platforms, social networks or (semi-) publicly accessible databanks, the Participating Broadcaster must inform the ESC Executive Supervisor, who shall have authority to evaluate whether the composition is eligible for participation in the Event. In particular, the ESC Executive Supervisor shall assess whether such disclosure prior to 1 September 2012 is likely to give to the composition an advantage in the Event vis-à-vis the other compositions. The ESC Executive Supervisor shall authorise or deny participation of a composition which may have been available to the public as described above, subject to the prior approval of the Reference Group.

 

It was reported that this change was suggested to the EBU, the governing body of the song contest by the Danish broadcaster DR.

The German line-up and the songs so far available online (click on the song title to listen/watch):

• Ben Ivory – The Righteous Ones
• Betty Dittrich – Lalala
• Blitzkids mvt. – Heart on the line
• Cascada – Glorious
• Finn Martin – Change
• LaBrassBanda – Nackert
• Mia Diekow – Lieblingslied
• Mobilée – Little Sister
• Nica & Joe – Elevated
• Die Priester feat. Mojca Erdmann – Ave Maris Stella
• Saint Lu – Craving
• Söhne Mannheims – One love

We will publish links to the other German songs when they become available.