Carola Conze, the newly appointed Head of Delegation in Germany, has spoken out about Germany’s result in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, and also about the changes in the format of the German selection process for Stockholm.

Carola Conze said in an interview the following:

It’s hard to say why Ann Sophie failed in Eurovision. However, you have to admit one thing: even though she was present in German news and media all the time, her song did not become a hit. And it is clear that she didn’t connect with the Eurovision audience. In order to achieve a good result in Eurovision, you got to have it all: a good song, a good singer, and a good performance. Like Mans Zelmerlow did this year – he had it all. We are looking for the same in Germany, in order to finish on the left hand side of the scoreboard.

In the last two editions of the Eurovision Song Contest, contestants who won Clubkonzert – the contest where anonymous singers presented their songs and the winner of the concert qualified for the national final, ended up representing Germany in Eurovision. Both Elaiza and Ann Sophie failed to impress the audience in Copenhagen and Vienna respectively. Thus, Carola Conze announced that the Clubkonzert is not going to be held in 2016.

Carola Conze added:

The German audience is under the impression that only newly discovered talents such as Lena Meyer-Landrut can bring a great result in Eurovision, but lately many more people claim that the best thing would be to send an established act, such as Helene Fischer. The problem is that most of the well established artists don’t want to take part in a competition.

Before becomming Germany’s Head of Delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest, Carola Conze was the producer of programmes like The Dome, Top of the Pops and Bravo Super Show. The exact selection process for Germany is yet to be announced.