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Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999

Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with the song "Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs'e Seyahat" written by Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. The song was performed by the group Sürpriz. The German entry for the 1999 contest in Jerusalem, Israel was selected through the national final Countdown Grand Prix 1999, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 12 March 1999 and featured eleven competing acts with the winner being selected through public televoting. "Hör den Kindern einfach zu" performed by Corinna May was originally selected as the German entry for Jerusalem after gaining 32.6% of the votes, however the song was disqualified for having been released in 1997 by another act and replaced with runner-up "Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs'e Seyahat" performed by Sürpriz.

Germany competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 29 May 1999. Performing during the show in position 21, Germany placed third out of the 23 participating countries with 140 points.

Background

Prior to the 1999 Contest, Germany had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-two times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in 1956. 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 1998, the German entry "Guildo hat euch lieb!" performed by Guildo Horn placed seventh out of twenty-five competing songs scoring 86 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 1999 Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision

Countdown Grand Prix 1999

Countdown Grand Prix 1999 was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. The competition took place on 12 March 1999 at the Stadthalle in Bremen, hosted by Axel Bulthaupt and 1991 Swiss Eurovision entrant Sandra Studer and broadcast on Das Erste as well as in Switzerland on SF 2. Eleven acts competed during the show with the winner being selected through a public televote. The national final was watched by 5.63 million viewers in Germany with a market share of 18.7%.

Competing entries

11 acts were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of the German Phono Academy from proposals received from record companies, while an additional act, Michael von der Heide, was provided by the Swiss-German broadcaster SF DRS. Among the competing artists was Wind which represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985, 1987 and 1992. One of the participating acts, "Verdammt, ich lieb dich - immer noch" written by Bernd Dietrich and Matthias Reim and to have been performed by Matthias Reim, was withdrawn prior to the competition.

Final

The televised final took place on 12 March 1999. The winner, "Hör den Kindern einfach zu" performed by Corinna May, was selected solely through public televoting held in Germany and Switzerland. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured the Israeli singer Noa, the Israeli saxophonist Giora Feidman and the German music producer Thomas M. Stein. 681,000 votes were cast in the final.

Disqualification and replacement

On 16 March 1999, it was announced that Corinna May had been disqualified as her song was released on CD in 1997 by the German band Number Nine under the title "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?", contrary to the Eurovision Song Contest rules. Runner-up of the national final, "Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs'e Seyahat" performed by Sürpriz, therefore replaced May as the German entry for the 1999 contest. Despite claims that "Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs'e Seyahat" had similarities with the song "Wohin geht die Reise hin?", released in 1984 by the German group Harmony Four, the entry was allowed to participate in the contest following a review by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA).

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 took place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, Israel, on 29 May 1999. According to the Eurovision rules, the 23-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the previous year's winning country and host nation, the seventeen countries which had obtained the highest average points total over the preceding five contests, and any eligible countries which did not compete in the 1998 contest. Germany was one of the seventeen countries with the most average points and thus was permitted to participate. On 17 November 1998, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Germany was set to perform in position 21, following the entry from Malta and before the entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Germany finished in third place with 140 points.

In Germany, the show was broadcast on Das Erste which featured commentary by Peter Urban. The show was watched by 4.79 million viewers in Germany. The German spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the German televote, was Renan Demirkan.