For the past few years, Germany has been in a state of refining its formula for selecting an artist and song for Eurovision.  A 2009 internal selection was followed by “Unser Star für Oslo”, which introduced the world to a then-unknown schoolgirl from Hanover named Lena Meyer-Landrut.  When she returned to Eurovision as a champion the next year, the format was tweaked to find the perfect follow-up song for her.  Following the successes of “Satellite” and “Taken By A Stranger“, “Unser Star für Baku” found another new talent, Roman Lob, who gave Germany its third Top-Ten placement in a row with “Standing Still“. Read the rest of this entry →

In an exciting, yet unsurprising conclusion, Germany has found their Star for Baku in 21-year-old Roman Lob, beating runner-up Ornella de Santis in a close final vote.  The finals of “Unser Star für Baku” weren’t just about the “who”, however; it was just as much about the “what”! Read the rest of this entry →

After a month’s worth of heats, semifinals, and performances by twenty hopeful singers, Germany is finally down to a final two in its search for their next Eurovision star.  In a close semifinal on Monday, Shelley Huber and Yana Gercke were voted out, leaving Roman Lob and Ornella de Santis still in the running.

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We’re getting down to the wire in Germany’s National Selection, “Unser Star für Baku”.  Now with twice-weekly shows, the Finals are just days away.  Germany’s top five candidates were given the chance to sing a pair of songs this week; who came out on top, and who’s heading home?

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We’re getting closer to finding Germany’s next Eurovision Star, meaning that one more candidate has been cut from the list of ProSieben’s talent search “Unser Star für Baku”.  We’re getting down to the wire; after tonight’s show, only five names are left in the search to find out who will fill Lena Meyer-Landrut’s shoes. Read the rest of this entry →

Another week, another elimination in Germany’s search for their next Eurovision star.  This time around, the eight remaining contestants performed, hoping for one of only six spots in Monday’s show.  There was a minor modification in the voting, however; while the rankings and percentages were still instantly displayed on screen as they were tallied, there was a series of “final countdowns”, determining the placement of contestants one by one.  That is, when the first timer ran out, that locked in the winner of the televote, rather than who was immediately going home.  A second countdown was held, determining the night’s runner-up, et cetera.  It appears that this was done in order to cut down on the chaos of previous weeks, and it seems to be working thus far.

Eliminated this week were:

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This week’s episode of “Unser Star für Baku” has just wrapped up, which means that it’s time to say “Auf Wiedersehen” to two of this year’s Top Ten.  After a round of performances and the instant-result televote that we’ve been seeing from Germany this year, the two eliminated contestants are:

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The second heat for Germany’s ” Unser Star für Baku” was held today on the ProSieben network.  Like last week, the dynamic new instant-tally system was used during the show, allowing viewers at home and in the studio to see the standings throughout the proceedings.

After another nail-biting round of voting, qualifying for the next round are: Read the rest of this entry →