Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song „Disappear“ written by Remee, Thomas Troelsen and Hanne Sørvaag. The song was performed by No Angels. The German entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia, was selected through the national final Wer singt für Deutschland?, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 6 March 2008 and featured five competing acts with the winner being selected through two rounds of public voting. „Disappear“ performed by No Angels was selected as the German entry for Belgrade after gaining 50.5% of the vote in the second round.
As a member of the „Big Four“, Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 4, Germany placed twenty-third out of the 25 participating countries with 14 points.
Wer singt für Deutschland?
Wer singt für Deutschland? (English: Who sings for Germany?) was the competition that selected Germany’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The competition took place on 6 March 2008 at the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, hosted by Thomas Hermanns. Five acts competed during the show with the winner being selected through a public televote. The show was broadcast on Das Erste as well as online via the broadcaster’s Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.de. The national final was watched by 3.47 million viewers in Germany.
Competing entries
Five acts were selected by an expert panel consisting of representatives of record companies and the entertainment department for NDR. Each act was also supported by a celebrity which consisted of Marc Bator (news anchor for Tagesschau), Katja Ebstein (1970, 1971 and 1980 German Eurovision entrant), Kim Fisher (singer and presenter), Oliver Pocher (comedian) and Tetje Mierendorf (actor). The five participating acts were announced on 10 January 2008.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Supporter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cinema Bizarre | „Forever or Never“ | Remee, Thomas Troelsen | Tetje Mierendorf |
| Carolin Fortenbacher | „Hinterm Ozean“ | Pe Werner, Peter Koobs | Katja Ebstein |
| Marquess | „La histeria“ | Christian Fleps, Dominik Decker, Marco Heggen, Sascha Pierrom | Oliver Pocher |
| No Angels | „Disappear“ | Remee, Thomas Troelsen, Hanne Sørvaag | Marc Bator |
| Tommy Reeve | „Just One Woman“ | Tommy Lee James, Lee Ryan, Jamie Hartman | Kim Fisher |
Final
The televised final took place on 6 March 2008. The winner was selected through two rounds of public voting, including options for landline and SMS voting. In the first round of voting, the top two entries were selected to proceed to the second round. The top two entries were: „Hinterm Ozean“ performed by Carolin Fortenbacher and „Disappear“ performed by No Angels. In the second round, the winner, „Disappear“ performed by No Angels, was selected. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2007 German Eurovision entrant Roger Cicero as well as former winners of the Eurovision Song Contest Charlotte Perrelli (1999), Ruslana (2004), Marija Šerifović (2007) performed their respective entries.
First Round – 6 March 2008
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marquess | „La histeria“ | Eliminated |
| 2 | Tommy Reeve | „Just One Woman“ | Eliminated |
| 3 | Cinema Bizarre | „Forever or Never“ | Eliminated |
| 4 | Carolin Fortenbacher | „Hinterm Ozean“ | Advanced |
| 5 | No Angels | „Disappear“ | Advanced |
Second Round – 6 March 2008
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carolin Fortenbacher | „Hinterm Ozean“ | 49.5% | 2 |
| 2 | No Angels | „Disappear“ | 50.5% | 1 |