Our song for Germany

Television series
Original title	Our song for Germany
Country of production	Germany
year	2011
Production company	Raab TV GmbH, Brainpool TV GmbH
length	approx. 120 minutes
Episodes	3
idea	Stefan Raab
production	Jörg Grabosch
Moderation	Sabine Heinrich and Matthias Opdenhövel
First broadcast	January 31, 2011 on ProSieben

Our song for Germany
Preliminary decision data
country	Germany
Broadcasting station	,
Producing broadcaster
place	Studio Cologne- Mülheim , Cologne
date	February 18, 2011
Time	8:15 pm ( CET )
Duration	approx. 120 minutes
Number of participants	1
Number of contributions	12
Preliminary rounds	2
Preliminary round dates	Semi-finals: January 31, 2011 February 7, 2011
poll	100% televoting
Moderation
Sabine Heinrich & Matthias Opdenhövel

Our song for Germany ( acronym : USfD ) was the German preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 , in which a song was sought for the previously determined participant and ESC defending champion Lena Meyer-Landrut . The preliminary decision consisted of three shows on ProSieben and Das Erste . Meyer-Landrut then represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf with the song Taken by a Stranger , with which she reached 10th place out of 43 participating countries.

concept

After Meyer-Landrut had won the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 on May 29, 2010 , her producer Stefan Raab and the NDR responsible for the competition decided that she should compete for Germany again in 2011. In the German qualification for 2011, it was all about choosing the song for the already established interpreter. In two semi-finals, Meyer-Landrut presented six songs each, of which television viewers televoted three to the final. Before each performance, the composers of the song were introduced in a film. At the final, the audience first determined the two best-placed titles, from which the entry for the song competition in Düsseldorf was then determined in a new runoff vote . A jury with Raab and two changing celebrities from music and entertainment commented on the songs during the live broadcasts, but had no direct influence on the election result. The moderators of the preliminary decision were Matthias Opdenhövel and Sabine Heinrich , who had already moderated Our Star for Oslo and the supporting program of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.

Semifinals

First semi-final

The first show was broadcast on January 31, 2011, 8:15 p.m. ( CET ) on ProSieben. In addition to Raab, the jury included the Silbermond singer Stefanie Kloß and the Unheilig front man “Der Graf”. There were further comments from the radio presenters Till Hofmeister ( hr3 ), Jens-Uwe Krause ( Bremen Vier ) and Andreas Löffler ( 1 Live ).

Start number	Song Music (M) and Text (T)
1	Good News M / T: Ferras Alqaisi, Audra Mae
2	Maybe M / T: Daniel Schaub , Pär Lammers
3	I Like You M / T: Johnny McDaid , Rosi Golan
4th	That Again M / T: Stefan Raab
5	Taken by a Stranger M / T: Nicole Morier, Gus Seyffert, Monica Birkenes
6th	What Happened to Me M / T: Lena Meyer-Landrut , Stefan Raab

 Lied qualified for the finals.

Second semi-final

The second semi-final was also broadcast on ProSieben on February 7, 2011, 8:15 p.m. ( CET ) . The jury included Raab, Anke Engelke and Joy Denalane . There were further comments from the radio presenters Walter Schmich ( Bayern 3 ), Sonja Koppitz ( Radio Fritz ) and Daniel Simarro ( SR 1 Europawelle ).

Start number	Song Music (M) and Text (T)
1	A Million and One M / T: Errol Rennalls, Stavros Ioannou
2	Teenage Girls M / T: Viktoria Hansen, Lili Tarkow-Reinisch, Yacine Azeggagh
3	Push Forward M / T: Daniel Schaub, Pär Lammers
4th	At All M / T: Aloe Blacc
5	A Good Day M / T: Audra Mae, Todd Edgar Wright, Scott Simons
6th	Mama Told Me M / T: Stefan Raab, Lena Meyer-Landrut

 Lied qualified for the finals.

final

The finale took place on February 18, 2011, 8:15 pm ( CET ) and was shown on Das Erste . Barbara Schöneberger and Adel Tawil were on the jury . There were further comments from the radio presenters Uli Frank ( SWR3 ), Andreas Löffler ( 1Live ) and Holger Ponik ( NDR2 ). During the voting break, Adel Tawil presented his single Help me .

First round

Start number	Song Music (M) and Text (T)
1	Maybe M / T: Daniel Schaub, Pär Lammers
2	What Happened to Me M / T: Lena Meyer-Landrut, Stefan Raab
3	Push Forward M / T: Daniel Schaub, Pär Lammers
4th	Mama Told Me M / T: Stefan Raab, Lena Meyer-Landrut
5	A Million and One M / T: Errol Rennalls, Stavros Ioannou
6th	Taken by a Stranger M / T: Nicole Morier, Gus Seyffert, Monica Birkenes

Second round

space	Start number	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	Result (in percent)
1.	2	Taken by a Stranger M / T: Nicole Morier, Gus Seyffert, Monica Birkenes	79%
2.	1	Push Forward M / T: Daniel Schaub, Pär Lammers	21%

Odds

show	Channel	date	spectator		Market share
			total	14 to 49 years	total	14 to 49 years
First semi-final	ProSieben	Mon, Jan 31, 2011	2.56 million	1.72 million	07.9%	13.2%
Second semi-final	ProSieben	Mon, Feb. 7, 2011 0	1.82 million	1.25 million	05.5%	09.1%
final	The first	Fri, Feb 18, 2011	3.25 million	1.41 million	10.1%	11.5%

criticism

The program is largely rated negatively by the media. The main point of criticism is the concept in which Meyer-Landrut appears six times per show and only the song for her Eurovision appearance is searched for:

“The big problem of the evening was that there was nothing to fight for in our song for Germany . Last year, the big opponent was still the expectation: Would it finally be possible to get someone sympathetic, talented, and possibly successful, to compete for Germany? The surprise that increased from every issue of Our Star for Oslo , namely that they had apparently found exactly this person, gave the show its dynamic. "

- Hannah Pilarczyk ( Spiegel Online )

“On the other hand, however, the pure Lena show, as seen on Monday evening, which is only about different songs, not different singers, lacks tension. Even if almost everything is the same as last year - the same studio, the same stage design, the same moderators, the same jurors, the same musical accompaniment - and in the end there is even a vote. The TV viewer does not have the feeling of attending a competition. It's a shame, but it was to be expected. What is surprising, however, is the range of the contributions presented. "

- Peter-Philipp Schmitt ( Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung )

“A 135-minute show […] that tries desperately to capture the spirit of optimism of the casting show that started it all a year ago. The Li-La-Lena mania. It was called Our Star for Oslo . And it gave the plank-damaged nation back the belief that charm, intelligence and musical talent need not be an obstacle on the way to becoming a star. In the meantime, word of that should have got around. Everyone knows Lena. […] She has become more mature and serious […]. Musically she has developed further. She now dares to play songs that do not fit her image as Lady Gaga off the leash. Yes, she writes and even composes herself. But somehow you couldn't get rid of the feeling that this show, moderated by Matthias Opdenhövel and Sabine Heinrich, was less about Lena than about her discoverer: Stefan Raab. "

- Antje Hildebrandt ( The World )

Web links

• Official videos for the broadcast
• Information about the ESC at the NDR
• Alexander Möthe, Handelsblatt : "Song for Germany" - Lena 2011 - sexy, gloomy and with opportunities - 4-page article on the preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 from February 18, 2011

Individual evidence

1. ↑ RP Online: Lovely Lena starts with "Taken by a Stranger",  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 18, 2011.  
2. ↑ However, since she was automatically qualified for the final, the worst place she could have achieved was not 43, but 25.
3. ↑ Stefan Tewes: Lena's song casting starts cautiously. In: quotenmeter.de. February 1, 2011, accessed February 3, 2012 . 
4. ↑ Stefan Tewes: Lena's Eurovision preliminary decision crashes. In: quotenmeter.de. February 8, 2011, accessed February 3, 2012 . 
5. ↑ Manuel Weis: “USFD” final disappoints (also) from a quota point of view. In: quotenmeter.de. January 19, 2011, accessed February 3, 2012 . 
6. ↑ Alexander Krei: "Song for Germany": poor odds for the final. In: dwdl.de. January 19, 2011, accessed February 3, 2012 . 
7. ↑ Spiegel Online: Lena and the Lala-Brei
8. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Six times the pure Lena show
9. ↑ Die Welt: A preliminary decision as exciting as elections in the GDR