Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
Germany is one of the "Big Five" countries at Eurovision which automatically qualify for the Saturday night/Sunday morning Grand Final, and has sought to compete at every edition of the Contest since 1956. Although its 1996 entry failed to pass the pre-selection round, with 65 appearances out of a possible 66 there's no doubting Germany's engagement with the Contest.
To date, Germany has two wins to its name: the first courtesy of Nicole's call-for-peace song 'Ein bisschen Frieden' in 1982, followed just under three decades later by Lena's pop-bop 'Satellite' in 2010.
More recently, acts representing Germany have tended to finish towards the bottom of the Grand Final results ladder (placing last in 2015, 2016 and 2022), with Michael Schulte's 4th place for his 2018 entry 'You Let Me Walk Alone' the only bright spot. Last year, Malik Harris came last (25th out 25 acts) with 'Rockstars'.
2023 Entry: Lord of the Lost - 'Blood & Glitter'
As a 'Big Five' member, Germany automatically qualifies for the Grand Final
My Eurovision Scoreboard ranking: 21st
Odds to win ranking: 21st
(Rankings as of 01 April 2023)
About the artists
Lord of the Lost are a five-member band formed in Hamburg (Germany) in the late 2000s, currently consisting of Chris "Lord" Harms (vocals), Pi "π" Stoffer (guitar), Klaas "Class Grenayde" Helmecke (bass), Gerrit "Gared Dirge" Heinemann (guitar/synth/percussion) and Niklas Kahl (drums).
Their music falls within the industrial/dark/electronic rock and goth metal genres, with the band members embracing twisted glam rock-style costuming for this year's Contest.
Lord of the Lost have released eight studio albums to date (with their latest 'Blood & Glitter' topping the German charts) and dozens of singles and music videos. The band was also picked by Iron Maiden's Steve Harris to support the 1970s English heavy metal band on the European leg of its 2022 'Legacy of the Beast' world tour, and will open for Iron Maiden again on the upcoming 'The Future Past' tour shortly after Eurovision 2023.
About the song
'Blood & Glitter' has been described by the band as a "firey" glam rock song influenced by vocalist Chris' love of that genre of 1970s music, with the title being taken from a volume of photographs from that era published in the early 2000s.
The title also reflects the contrast between the internal (the blood) and everything that goes on around one (the glitter), and there's a clear nod in the lyrics to Lady Gaga's 'So Happy I Could Die', a track on her 2009 EP 'The Fame Monster'.
The song was written by Harms and Stoffers together with long-time collaborator Anthony J. Brown and multi-platinum award winning composer and lyricist Rupert Keplinger.
How Lord of the Lost were selected for Eurovision
2023 saw the return of the German 'Unser Lied für ...' Eurovision entry selection format, broadcast live from Cologne and hosted - as ever - by Germany's 2015-2022 Eurovision spokesperson and previous national final compere Barbara Schöneberger.
Online voting to crown the 2023 German representatives began over a week before the live show. Combined with live televoting, these public votes accounted for 50% of the artists' scores. The remaining 50% were allocated by panels of international juries.
After the juries' scores, Lord of the Lost were in fifth place on 43 points, having secured the coveted douze points from the Finnish jury. When added to a whopping 146-point public vote (45 points more than their closest rival), Lord of the Lost came out on top with a 189-point win (78 points more than the two acts tied in second place).
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Germany will perform in the Grand Final on May 13 (European time) in Liverpool.
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