Further to my article on Monday about an interview with NDR Program Director Frank Beckmann, in which Germany’s place in Eurovision was discussed (don’t read it now, read it later), ESCkompact.de is reporting that the Unser Lied national final format will return in 2022 with für Turin.
This was confirmed by ARD radio station BAYERN 3, who also mentioned that those who want to compete can submit their songs via eurovision.de/bewerben (once the site goes live).
An internal jury will select five acts from these, and the show itself will take place at some point in March, featuring 5 acts who, in a deviation from previous years, will be ranked by a 100% televoting system.
In his interview with DWDL.de, Beckmann stated that the selection process would be “a task for the entire ARD”, and so far, radio stations from all over Germany, including Antenne Brandenburg, Bremen 4, HR 3, MDR Jump, NDR 2, SR 1, SWR 3 and WDR 2, as well as BAYERN 3, have thrown their hats into the participation ring.
The Unser Lied national final is the younger sibling of Stefan Raab’s Unser Star format made for NDR in 2010, which discovered Lena Meyer-Landrut, who won the 2010 Contest in Oslo with Satellite.
While Unser Lied für Lissabon was responsible for Michael Schulte coming 4th at Eurovision in 2018 after You Let Me Walk Alone won the show, its most recent incarnation, Unser Lied für Israel, was widely criticised by Eurofans in 2019 for its selection of Sister by S!sters (not sisters), over Aly Ryan and Makeda, which went on to famously receive zero points from the televote in Tel Aviv (although both the international jury and the public gave S!sters full marks).
Since then, Germany has gone for internal selection processes, producing Ben Dolic’s Violent Thing in 2020 and Jendrik’s I Don’t Feel Hate in 2021.
Who do you want to see compete at Unser Lied für Turin? Do you think a national final is the right way to go for Germany? Let us know in the comments and on our socials.
