Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

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 the group No Angels. The German entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia was selected through the national final Der deutsche Vorentscheid 2008 – 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 televoting. "Disappear" performed by No Angels was selected as the German entry for Belgrade after gaining 50.5% 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 4, Germany placed twenty-third out of the 25 participating countries with 14 points.

Background
Prior to the 2008 Contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-one 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 2006, the German entry "No No Never" performed by Texas Lightning placed fourteenth out of twenty-four competing songs scoring 36 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). NDR confirmed that Germany would participate in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on 26 September 2007. Since 1996, NDR had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Germany. On 22 December 2007, the broadcaster announced that they would organise a multi-artist national final to select the German entry.

Der deutsche Vorentscheid 2008 – Wer singt für Deutschland?
Der deutsche Vorentscheid 2008 – Wer singt für Deutschland? (English: The German Preliminary Decision 2008 – 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 Deutsches 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 with a market share of 11%.

Competing entries
Five acts were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of NDR from proposals received by the broadcaster from record companies. The five participating acts were announced on 10 January 2008. A celebrity also supported each of the artists: Cinema Bizarre by actor Tetje Mierendorf, Carolin Fortenbacher by 1970, 1971 and 1980 German Eurovision entrant Katja Ebstein, Marquess by comedian Oliver Pocher, No Angels by Tagesschau news anchor Marc Bator, and Tommy Reeve by singer and presenter Kim Fisher.

Final
The televised final took place on 6 March 2008. The winner was selected through two rounds of public televoting, 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. 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.

At Eurovision
It was announced in September 2007 that the competition's format would be expanded to two semi-finals in 2008. According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries. As a member of the "Big Four", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final on 24 May 2008. In addition to their participation in the final, Germany is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 24 January 2008, Germany was assigned to broadcast and vote in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008.

In Germany, the two shows were broadcast on Das Erste which featured commentary by Peter Urban. The final was also broadcast on hr3 which featured commentary by Tim Frühling and on NDR 2 which featured commentary by Thomas Mohr. The final was watched by 6.4 million viewers in Germany, which meant a market share of 28 per cent. The German spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the German televote during the final, was Thomas Hermanns.

Final
No Angels took part in technical rehearsals on 17 and 18 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 23 and 24 May. During the running order draw for the semi-finals and the final on 17 March 2008, Germany was placed to perform in position 4 in the final, following the entry from Albania and before the entry from Armenia.

The German performance featured the members of No Angels performing a choreographed routine on stage. Two of the group members, Jessica Wahls and Lucy Diakovska, wore a bright blue outfit, while the other two members, Nadja Benaissa and Sandy Mölling, wore a purple outfit. The LED screens displayed flying feathers on a blue ground and the performance featured the use of wind machines as well as smoke and pyrotechnic effects. An off-stage backing vocalist, Katie Okwuazu, also joined No Angels. Germany placed twenty-third in the final, scoring 14 points.

Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Germany and awarded by Germany in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the voting conducted during the two shows. Germany awarded its 12 points both in the first semi-final and the grand final of the contest to Greece.