Peerawut Ruangsawasdi '26 | Rating Germany’s Eurovision entries since 2000: Part I: 2000-2012

COURTESY PHOTO / Vugarİbadov

As Eurovision just wrapped up its 2024 season, I thought it’d be cool to go back and look at the past 25 entries from Germany. Eurovision is fun. After all, that's where ABBA got their start.

Starting in 2000, Germany has been mostly submitting songs in English. This was funnily noted by the Dutch contestant Joost Klein, whose disqualification before the finals shook the contest. 

In any case, there have been some really great ones from Germany so far. Germany came 12th this year, with Isaak’s "Always on the Run." The last time Germany won the competition was in 2010 with Lena’s “Satellite,” while the first was in 1982 with Nicole’s "Ein bißchen Frieden."

2000: Stefan Raab - "Wadde hadde dudde da?" 9/10

Very catchy. Kind of a meaningless song but I could see myself listening to this on loop. 

2001: Michelle - "Wer Liebe lebt" 7/10

Too generic. Very auditorily pleasing, though. Simple. Very 2000s. Nice touch of English.

2002: Corinna May - "I Can't Live Without Music" 7.5/10

First fully English entry from Germany. 

Very great and strong voice. A little weird choreography for the performance, in my opinion. Would make for a good song for a singing competition TV show.

20

2003: Lou - "Let's Get Happy" 7/10

Too generic. Felt like a “Dancing Queen” wannabe. Not a bad song by any means, just way too simple and not very memorable. Happy song, though. 

2004: Max - "Can't Wait Until Tonight" 8.3/10

Great song. Easy to listen to. Sounds very similar to Jack Johnson, though, so a little generic still. Ending sounded a little weird. 

2005: Gracia - "Run & Hide" 6/10

Not a bad song necessarily. However, not a great performance either. Not as generic as other songs, but the performance just wasn’t there.

2006: Texas Lightning - "No No Never" 8.5/10

Actually a pretty good song. German country music? Sign me up. Unfortunately, this also suffers from a lack of memorability, apart from the fact that it’s a country song. Sounds like something out of “Bright Star.”

2007: Roger Cicero - "Frauen regier'n die Welt" 10/10

Truly a great song. Reminds me of Frank Sinatra. Really don’t know why it didn’t perform better that year. This has been added to my roster of songs to listen to. 

2008: No Angels - "Disappear" 8/10

Actually a good song. Some say the production on TV had bad sound mixing. I don’t know about that. It’s pretty good. Very ABBA-like.

2009: Alex Swings Oscar Sings! - "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" 8/10

Also not bad. The lyrics are a little generic. But otherwise, musically pleasing. Very energetic. Nice tiny bit of tap dancing.

2010: Lena - "Satellite" 8/10

Also alright. Very fun. Still generic-ish. Not a bad winner. 

2011: Lena - "Taken by a Stranger" 9/10

They sent her back but she didn’t win this time. Unfortunate, because I prefer this over “Satellite.” Could have used more dramatic moments but still a great song.

2012: Roman Lob - "Standing Still" 9/10

Great song! Very champion material. Kind of underrated. Catchy and easy to listen to, while also dramatic at the same time.

Check back for part 2!