Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002

Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "I Can't Live Without Music" written by Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. The song was performed by Corinna May. The German entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia was selected through the national final Countdown Grand Prix Eurovision 2002, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 22 February 2002 and featured fifteen competing acts with the winner being selected through two rounds of public televoting. "I Can't Live Without Music" performed by Corinna May was selected as the German entry for Tallinn after placing first in the top three during the first round of voting and ultimately gaining 41.1% of the votes 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 18, Germany placed twenty-first out of the 24 participating countries with 17 points.

Background
Prior to the 2002 Contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-five 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 except for the 1996 contest when the nation was eliminated in a pre-contest elimination round. In 2001, the German entry "Wer Liebe lebt" performed by Michelle placed eighth out of twenty-three competing songs scoring 66 points.

The German national broadcaster, ARD, broadcasts the event within Germany and delegates the selection of the nation's entry to the regional broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). Since 1996, NDR had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Germany. The broadcaster organised a multi-artist national final in cooperation to select the German entry for the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest.

Countdown Grand Prix Eurovision 2002
Countdown Grand Prix Eurovision 2002 was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. The competition took place on 22 February 2002 at the Ostseehalle in Kiel, hosted by Axel Bulthaupt and broadcast on Das Erste. Fifteen acts competed during the show with the winner being selected through a public televote. The national final was watched by 9.75 million viewers in Germany with a market share of 38.2%.

Competing entries
14 acts were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of NDR from proposals received by the broadcaster from record companies and announced on 8 January 2002. Among the competing artists were Joy Fleming who represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1975, Ireen Sheer who represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 and 1985 as well as Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, and Nino de Angelo who represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1989. Corinna May was due to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 before being disqualified when it was discovered that her song had already been released by another singer. An additional act, Isabel Soares, was announced on 4 February 2002 after being selected through a casting round organised by German newspaper Bild among 5,000 applicants.

Final
The televised final took place on 22 February 2002. The winner was selected through two rounds of public televoting. In the first round of voting, the top three entries were selected to proceed to the second round. The top three entries were. In the second round, the winner, "I Can't Live Without Music" performed by Corinna May, was selected. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured 1998 German Eurovision entrant Guildo Horn, the German music duo Modern Talking, the Australian music ensemble The Ten Tenors, and the German group Schiller performing their song "Ein schöner Tag" together with German singer Isgaard.

At Eurovision
As a member of the "Big Four", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 on 25 May 2002. During the allocation draw on 9 November 2001, Germany was drawn to perform in position 18, following the entry from France and before the entry from Turkey. At the conclusion of the final, Germany placed twenty-first in the final, scoring 17 points.

In Germany, the show was broadcast on Das Erste which featured commentary by Peter Urban. The show was watched by 10.02 million viewers in Germany, which meant a market share of 38.4 per cent. The German spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the German televote, was Axel Bulthaupt.

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