The German national broadcaster, NDR has today announced detailed information on their forthcoming selection for Eurovision 2018. As reported, the country’s next representative will be chosen via a mixed televoting and jury process. In fact, there’s a lot of interest regarding the jury’s compensation, as it will consist of 100 members and… much international sense.

A pioneering jury compensation for Germany

The jury members will be selected via surveys in a phased process in social networks. A minimun of 10,000 people are going to be involved. The 100 members of the European panel will participate in the pre-selection of all candidated through to the final vote on the TV show to choose the next German Eurovision entry. It’s impossible for a jury member to apply as a participant.

The international jury will comprise 20 to 25 members who previously sat on the national juries of their respective countries and who demonstrated their musical expertise during the casting of votes in the Eurovision final. Just as in the Lisbon-hosted Eurovision Song Contest, they will divide their points amongst the candidates in the German preliminary round.

ARD’s Head of Entertainment, Thomas Schreiber has made the following statements:

During the past few months we have held many intensive meetings, considered all aspects and brought in external advice and criticism. Out target is a radical new start in which nothing stays the same as it was before. We are very enthusiastic about our partners with whom we have developed the concept: with the right mix of passion, knowledge and analysis we want together to create a new start for Eurovision in Germany. Our goal is to thoroughly consider the taste of the international audience, make use of international musical competence – from the first candidate selection through to the German preliminary round – and become more internationally recognizable, more edgy and more successful. Our concept will be presented to the creatives from the world of music and the fans and we will do what we can to get an enthusiastic Germany behind us.

NDR will be compiling the European panel with the support of Simon-Kutcher and Partners, experts for complex data models, and accompanied by the voting and app experts at Digame mobile.

Anyone who wishes to represent Germany at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest can apply online from now until 6 November 2017 at 12:00 CET, at bewerberESC2018@digame.de. The members of the European panel will then select 20 preliminary round from all contestants (applications, suggestions and direct contacts to the NDR as well as from composers, producers and record labels). This is to ensure that the casting process from our Lisbon entry is not dominated by personal preferences or by a purely national music taste.

What comes next?

Afterwards, NDR will then work in the studio with the 20 candidates to best assess their singing and stage presence. Based on these results, the European panel and the international jury will select the five participants for the German preliminary round. Parallel to this, NDR will be working with composers, producers and labels along previously defined musical lines to find a special authentic song for each of the five candidates and develop a matching stage show.

The actual broadcast date and further details for the German national selection will be revealed at a later date.

Germany at Eurovision

Germany holds the record of the highest amount of Eurovision appearances since their debut in 1956. The country has seen a grand total of 61 appearances at the Eurovision Song Contest, having only missed one contest in 1996.

The Germans have had a mixture of results over the years, including 12 Top 3 placings – including 2 victories (1982, 2010) – as well as 7 last places, 2 of which were accumulated in the current decade.

Germany has seen relatively poor results over the last 5 editions. This year, the country of Central Europe opted for a national final selection and eventually was represented by singer Levina, with her pop entry Perfect life. However, she received a 25th place in the Eurovision final with 6 points.

As a member of the Big 5, Germany takes part automatically in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The 63rd Eurovision Song Contest will be taking place on 8, 10 and 12 May at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.

Can the Germans reverse their recent poor results?