Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996

Germany attempted to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Planet of Blue" written by Hanne Haller and Anna Rubach. The song was performed by Leon. The German entry for the 1996 contest in Oslo, Norway was selected through the national final Ein bisschen Glück, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 1 March 1996 and featured ten competing acts with the winner being selected through public televoting. "Planet of Blue" performed by Leon was selected as the German entry for Oslo after gaining 37.9% of the votes.

On 23 March 1996, Germany was not announced among the top 22 entries of the qualifying round of the Eurovision Song Contest on 20 and 21 March 1996 and therefore did not qualify to compete in the contest which took place on 18 May 1996, making it the nation's first and only absence from the contest to date. It was later revealed that Germany placed twenty-fourth out of the 29 participating countries in the qualifying round with 24 points.

Background
Prior to the 1996 Contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in. Germany has won the contest on one occasion: in 1982 with the song "Ein bißchen Frieden" performed by Nicole. Germany, to this point, has been noted for having competed in the contest more than any other country; they have competed in every contest since the first edition in 1956. In 1995, the German entry "Verliebt in Dich" performed by Stone and Stone placed twenty-third (last) out of twenty-three competing songs scoring only one point.

The German national broadcaster, ARD, broadcasts the event within Germany and opted to delegate the selection of the nation's entry to the regional broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), replacing another regional broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) which had been responsible for the nation's participation between 1992 and 1995. NDR organised a multi-artist national final to select the German entry for the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest.

Ein bisschen Glück
Ein bisschen Glück (English: A bit of Luck) was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. The televised final took place on 1 March 1996 at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Hamburg, hosted by Jens Riewa and broadcast on Das Erste. Ten entries, selected by a panel consisting of representatives of the German Music Competitions Association and GEMA from 737 proposals received by NDR, participated and the winner, "Planet of Blue" performed by Leon, was selected solely through public televoting.

At Eurovision
In 1996, all nations with the exceptions of the host country were required to qualify from an audio qualifying round, held on 20 and 21 March 1996, in order to compete for the Eurovision Song Contest; the top twenty-two countries from the qualifying round progress to the contest. During the allocation draw which determined the running order of the final on 22 March 1996, Germany was not announced among the top 22 entries in the qualifying round and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the contest. It was later revealed that Germany placed twenty-fourth in the qualifying round, receiving a total of 24 points. This was the first, and so far only time Germany did not participate in the contest, having competed since the first edition in 1956, which caused some discontent between ARD and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) because Germany was one of the biggest financial contributors to the contest due to its population size. This qualification failure, among other things, led to the formation of the "Big Five" status.

In Germany, the contest which was broadcast live on N3 and on a 3 hour and 35 minute delay on Das Erste, both featuring commentary by Ulf Ansorge, was watched by only 370,000 viewers, the lowest TV rating ever recorded in Germany for a Eurovision final.

Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Germany and awarded by Germany in the qualifying round of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Sweden in the qualifying round.