Today is German Language Day (yes, it's a thing), set up by the German Language Association in 2001 to promote the language worldwide.
Eurovision and German have had an interesting history. It's featured in two winning entries, 'Mercie, Cherie' (French title, German song) in 1966 by Udo Jürgens for Austria and 'Ein bißchen Frieden' (A Little Peace) in 1982 by Nicole for Germany.
Their total wins are equal with other more popular languages like Italian and Spanish and it's also finished runner-up 13 times and 3rd another 5 times.
That's quite an impressive record, but.... every single one of those results came in the 20th century.
Since the year 2000, the German language has struggled. It's struggled at Eurovision and it's struggled in national finals.
So to mark the day, we wanted to celebrate the Top 10 German language songs this century from Eurovision and national finals as voted by 11 members of the Aussievision team.
10. Michelle - 'Wer liebe lebt' (Germany, Eurovision 2001)
32 points
Michelle's ballad, which translates to 'Who Lives Love', competed at the 2001 contest in Copenhagen. She finished in an impressive 8th place on the night, giving Germany their fourth Top 10 result in a row.
9. Laing - 'Wechselt die Beleuchtun' (Germany, National Final 2015)
35 points
The German national final 'Unser Song für Österreich' (A Song for Austria) was a competitive affair. Laing had previously competed in the 2012 Bundevision finishing runner-up. Their song 'Wechselt die Beleuchtung' ('Changes the Lighting') made the final but didn't advance to the head-to-head battle. The song was also voted into the Top 100 of the Aussievision National Final Countdown in both 2018 and 2019.
8. Unheilig - 'Wir sind alle wie eins' (Germany, National Final 2014)
35 points
Unheilig were a well established band heading into 'Unser Song für Dänemark' (A Song for Denmark), the German national final of 2014. Around since 1999 ,they had a number of Top 10 hits in Germany as well as chart success in Austria and Switzerland. They reached the head-to-head battle for the ticket to Eurovision with their song 'Wir sind alle wie eins' ('We are all Like One'). They ultimately lost out to Elaiza's 'Is it Right' 55% to 45%.
7. Stefan Raab - 'Wadde hadde dudde da?' (Germany, Eurovision 2000)
36 points
Stefan Raab has a long standing relationship with the contest. After creating and hosting the late night comedy talk show 'TV Total', he rode the wave of popularity to win the German national final and head to Eurovision 2000 with his song 'Wadde hadde dudde da?' (What do you have there?). He finished in a remarkable 5th place, the best result of a German language song this century.
He had previously composed the 1998 German entry 'Guildo hat euch lieb' which finished 7th in Birmingham and he would go on to compose the 2004 entry 'Can't Wait Until Tonight' which finished 8th. He then of course hosted the 2011 contest in Dusseldorf. Quite an impressive Eurovision career!
6. Roger Cicero - 'Frauen regier'n die Welt' (Germany, Eurovision 2007)
37 points
Roger comfortably won the German national final in 2007 with 70% of the three-way vote. At Eurovision itself his song 'Frauen regier'n die Welt' ('Women Rule the World') finished in 19th position. He would go on to a successful career with multiple albums reaching the Top 10 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2014 Roger unfortunately became seriously ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myocarditis. He passed away of a stroke in 2016 aged just 45.
5. Kaia Tamm - 'Wo sind die Katzen?' (Estonia, National Final 2019)
41 points
Estonia is not a country you would expect a German language to pop up in, but in 2019 Kaia Tamm caused quite a stir with her cult classic 'Wo sind die Katzen?' (Where are the cats?). Despite being a hit with many international fans, it could only manage 9th place in its 'Eesti Laul' semi final including 0 points from the jury.
4. Trackshittaz - 'Woki mit deim Popo' (Austria, Eurovision 2012)
50 points
After narrowly missing selection in the 2011 Austrian national final, Trackshittaz beat a little known artist called Conchita Wurst (51% to 49%) to book their ticket to Baku. Their song 'Woki mit deim Popo' (Wiggle Your Butt) unfortunately finished last in their semi final at Eurovision with just 8 points.
3. Laing - 'Zeig mir deine Muskeln' (Germany, National Final 2015)
52 points
The second entry by German band Laing in this list was from the same national final in 2015. The 80s exercise inspired song 'Zeig mir deine Muskeln' (Show Me Your Muscles), won over many Aussievision contributors. It did however suffer the same fate as Laing's other entry, failing to make the final head-to-head round for the spot in Vienna.
2. Ella Endlich - 'Adrenalin' (Germany, National Final 2016)
57 points
Ella started her music career at 14-years-old under the name 'Junia'. She continued her music career well into her 30s including this effort for German national final 'Unser Lied für Stockholm' (A Song for Stockholm) in 2016. She may have only finished 7th on the night, but she certainly won over many here at Aussievision with her Eurodance Schlager inspired song 'Adrenalin' just missing taking out our crown.
1. voXXclub - 'I mog di so' (Germany, National Final 2018)
66 points
voxxClub were quite a big name going into the 2018 German national final. Their genre of New Volksmusik (A modern take on German folkmusic) had been consistently in the charts leading up to the 2018 national final.
Their entry 'I mog di so' ('I Like You So Much') finished 5th in 'Unser Lied für Lissabon' (A Song for Lisbon) despite only narrowly finishing 2nd in the televote to Michael Schulte's 'You Let Me Walk Alone'. It was an Aussievision favourite at the time, and it remains so with our team crowning it the best German language song this century!
Full Top 20 below:
Voxxclub - 'I mog di so' (Germany National Final 2018)
Ella Endlich - 'Adrenalin' (Germany National Final 2016)
Laing: - 'Zeig mir deine Muskeln' (Germany National Final 2015)
Trackshittaz - 'Woki mit deim Popo' (Austria Eurovision 2012)
Kaia Tamm - 'Wo sind die Katzen?' (Estonia National Final 2019)
Roger Cicero - 'Frauen regier'n die Welt' (Germany Eurovision 2007)
Stefan Raab - 'Wadde hadde dudde da?' (Germany Eurovision 2000)
Unheilig - 'Wir sind alle wie eins' (Germany Eurovision 2014)
Laing - 'Wechselt die Beleuchtun' (Germany National Final 2015)
Michelle - 'Wer liebe lebt' (Germany Eurovision 2001)
CH - 'Gib nid uf' (Switzerland National Final 2011)
folkshilfe - 'Ned au' (Austria National Final 2015)
Trackshittaz - 'Oida Taunz' (Austria National Final 2011)
Caroline Fortenbacher - 'Hinterm Ozean' (Germany National Final 2008)
Band WG - '10 Sekunden Glück' (Austria National Final 2011)
Alex Diehl’s - 'Nur ein Lied' (Germany National Final 2016)
Krautschädl - 'Einsturzgefohr' (Austria National Final 2012)
Overground - 'Der letzte Stern' (Germany National Final 2004)
Beatbetrieb - 'Woran glaubst du?' (Germany National Final 2003)
Knorkator - 'Ick wer zun Schwein' (Germany National Final 2000)
'Ick wer zun Schwein' (I'm Turning into a Pig) needs to be seen to be believed...
So happy German Language Day and Bis zum nächsten Mal!