Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
| Eurovision Song Contest 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Germany | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Germany 12 Points! or Ünser star für Istanbul | |||
| Selection date(s) | 19 March 2004 | |||
| Selected entrant | Max | |||
| Selected song | "Can't Wait Until Tonight" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 8th, 93 points | |||
| Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Germany was represented by Max and the song "Can't Wait Until Tonight" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, held in Istanbul, Turkey. The German representative for Istanbul itself was chosen on March 19 in the national final Germany 12 Points!.
Germany 12 Points!
 | |
| Date: | March 19, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: | Sarah Kuttner, Jörg Pilawa |
| Venue: | Treptow Arena, Berlin |
| Voting: | Two rounds of televoting |
| Interval Act: | The Ten Tenours |
| Winner: | Can't Wait Until Tonight performed by Max |
The show was held at the Treptow Arena in Berlin and hosted by Jörg Pilawa & Sarah Kuttner. German record companies were still responsible for nominating the German finalists, however newcomers would no longer be allowed to participate - instead, the participating singers had to have at least one professional music video produced. The winner was chosen by televoting and SMS voting. A maximum of 12 songs participated and German TV Channel VIVA started playing videos of the songs in January 2004. The 'wild-card' was chosen at the last minute (this had to be someone who had been very successful in Germany during the early months of 2004). Max and Tina Frank were the chosen wildcards.
After the German national final, Sarah Kuttner stated that she and her co-host Jörg Pilawa did not get along very well. Actually, she stated that he took over some of her lines which led to confusion during the live broadcast without telling her.[1] Jörg Pilawa can also been seen doing faces when Kuttner announced contestant Tina Frank. Later, during a green room scene, Kuttner ironically states “When I am older, I will marry Jörg Pilawa. Jörg, I love you from the bottom of my heart”. Kuttner has also been citisised for using the German words for “crap” and “shit” during the live broadcast, which is usually not happening on a public channel.
Participants
| # | Singer | Song (Music and lyrics) | Translation | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Nuo | Undone (David Jost, Dave Roth) | - | |
| 2 | MIA. | Hungriges Herz (Gunnar Spies, Mieze) | Hungry Heart | |
| 3 | Sabrina Setlur | Liebe (Moses Pelham, Martin Haas, Sabrina Setlur) | Love | |
| 4 | Overground | Der letzte Stern (MIke Michaels, MM Dollar, Mark Tabak, Deema) | The Final Star | |
| 5 | Tina Frank | Ich schenk' dir mein Herz (Jörn Christof Heilbut, Robert Schulte Hemming, Jens Langbein) | I Give You My Heart | |
| 6 | Maximilian Mutzke | Can't Wait Until Tonight (Stefan Raab) | - | 1st |
| 7 | WestBam feat. Afrika Islam | Dancing with the rebels (WestBam, Afrika Islam, Professor Klaus) | - | |
| 8 | Laith Al-Deen | Höher (Laith Al-Deen, Götz von Sydow) | Higher | |
| 9 | Wonderwall | Silent tears (Wonderwall) | - | |
| 10 | Scooter | Jigga Jigga! (H.P. Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan, Jay Frog, Jens Thele) | - | 2nd |
Releases
Like every year since 1996, a compilation CD with all entries was revealed. As compilations cannot enter the album charts in Germany, only few can be said about the commercial success. The compilation CD also included the song “Right here” by Masha that was one of the eligible wildcards but did not make it to the national final after all because it did not reach the top 20 in the single charts. As a bonus track, the CD included “Every Way That I Can” by Sertab Erener, winner of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.
Chart successes
For the first time ever, all entries in the national final managed to reach the German single charts. Furthermore, some of the songs also made it to the single charts in Austria and Switzerland. Max was the first German entrant topping the single charts since Nicole in 1982 and overall his song was the fourth German entry at number one.
| Entry | |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undone | 30 | - | 30 |
| Hungriges Herz | 24 | 58 | - |
| Liebe | 52 | - | - |
| Der letzte Stern | 9 | 30 | 27 |
| Ich schenk' dir mein Herz | 98 | - | - |
| Can't wait until tonight | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Dancing with the rebels | 69 | - | - |
| Höher | 81 | - | - |
| Silent tears | 90 | - | - |
| Jigga Jigga! | 10 | 9 | 45 |
Furthermore, “Jigga Jigga!” reached the single charts in the Netherlands (#50), Sweden (#24), Norway (#10), Finland (#21), the United Kingdom (#48)[2] and Ireland (#34).[3]
At Eurovision
At Eurovision, Max delivered a simple performance with stools and a band surrounding him on the stage. During the performance, Max swapped between using English and Turkish and overall produced a memorable stage act. Max scored Germany 93 points and a successful 8th place.
Voting
Points Awarded by Germany
Semi final
|
Final
|
Points Awarded to Germany
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
References
- ↑ Sarah Kuttner
- ↑ "Chart Archive". ChartStats.com. 7 May 2012.
- ↑ "GFK Chart-Track: TOP 50 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 1 July 2004". GfK ChartTrack. 7 May 2012.
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