And we’re off! Its the first round of contest contenders for 2024 and we let loose our superfans on three unsuspecting entrants as the panel start their reviews! Music from contests gone by too, with three from Germany in our National Triple Play and another superb fan favourite chosen by one of you lot. Not forgetting our usual catch up of Eurovision News…

This Weeks Highlights

Germany has officially participated in every Eurovision Song Contest since its inaugural edition in 1956, except in 1996 when its entry did not qualify past the audio-only pre-selection round, and consequently was not seen in the broadcast final and does not count as one of Germany’s 66 appearances.

No other country has been represented as many times. Along with France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, Germany is one of the “Big Five” countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Germany first won the contest in 1982, when Nicole won with “Ein bißchen Frieden”. The second German victory came 28 years later at the 2010 contest, when Lena won with “Satellite”. Katja Ebstein, who finished third in 1970 and 1971, then second in 1980, is the only performer to have made the top three on three occasions. Germany has a total of 11 top three placements, also finishing second with Lena Valaitis (1981) and twice with the group Wind (1985 and 1987), and finishing third with Mary Roos (1972), Mekado (1994) and Sürpriz (1999). Germany has finished last on ten occasions, receiving nul points in 1964, 1965 and 2015.

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Roman Lob is a German singer-songwriter. In January and February 2012, Lob was a contestant in the German TV show Unser Star für Baku, produced by the German broadcasting stations Pro7 and Das Erste. He is also the lead singer of the band Rooftop Kingdom, an alternative rock band with origins in Neustadt (Wied). He was also a founding member of German Metalcore band, Days of Despite.

On 16 February 2012, he won the show Unser Star für Baku and represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. He achieved eighth place with 110 points in the contest.

Track List

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1	Love Kills	Roberto Bellarosa	2013 Belgium
2	Never Let You Go	Mando	2003 Greece
3	Lied Fur Einen Freund	Maxi & Chris Garden	1988 Germany
4	No No Never	Texas Lightning	2006 Germany
5	Standing Still	Roman Lob	2012 Germany
6	Si	Gigliola Cinquetti	1974 Italy
7	Mon amour	Slimane	2024 France
8	Pedestal	Aiko	2024 Czechia
9	Ole Ole	Izhar Cohen	1985 Israel
10	Veronika	Raiven	2024 Slovenia
11	Vukovi Umiro Sami	Boris Nokovic Feat. Lado Members	2005 Croatia
12	Era Stupendo	Paulo Meneguzzi	2008 Switzerland
13	Icebreaker	Agnete	2016 Norway

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