Carola Conze has stepped down as the Head of Delegation for Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest, according to ARD Entertainment Coordinator.
Thomas Schreiber the Entertainment Coordinator at ARD has confirmed that Carola Conze has stepped down as the Head of Delegation for Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest. In an interview with Prinz Blog, Mr Schreiber stated that Carola Conze had stepped down from the role citing personal reasons. Ms Conze had been the Head of Delegation between 2016 and 2017, overseeing Germany finishing second last in 2017 and last in 2016.
Mr Schreiber revealed that Christoph Pellander will be the new Head of Delegation for Germany. Mr Pellander has been a producer and editor at NDR for a number of years. He is primarily known for Tatortreiniger and Taxi nach Leipzig. Mr Pellander isn’t a stranger to the Eurovision Song Contest, in 2017 he was part of the delegation that travelled around Europe with Levina as part of her promotional tour.
The German participant for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon will be selected from a combination of public voting, a 100-member European panel and a jury of international experts. The European panel will represent the taste of a wider European audience. It is not possible to apply to be a jury member. Instead, members will be selected via surveys on social networks. A minimum of 10,000 people will be involved. The European panel will have a role in all stages of the selection, from the pre-selection phase to the televised final.
The international jury will comprise of between 20 to 25 members who previously sat on the national juries of their respective countries and who demonstrated their musical expertise during the casting of votes in the Eurovision Song Contest itself. Just like the Eurovision, they will divide their points among the candidates in the national final.
Anyone wishing to represent Germany can apply to do so online at bewerberESC2018@digame.de until 12.00 on November 6. The European panel will select 20 from the preliminary round from online applications and suggestions to NDR from composers, producers and record labels. This is to ensure that the best artists for an international audience, rather than a German audience, are selected. NDR will then work these 20 candidates to assess their singing and stage presence. The international jury and European panel will then choose five of these candidates to advance to the live final. At that same time, NDR will work with composers, producers and labels to find adequate songs and stage shows for each of the finalists.
Image Source: Prinz Blog
[tw-accordion class=””]
[tw-accordion-section title=”Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest”]
Germany was one of seven countries to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. The country has taken part in every contest since then, apart from in 1996 when they failed to make it through the qualifying round. To date Germany has won the contest twice, the first time being in 1982 when Nicole sang “Ein Bisschen Frieden” in Harrogate, which later became a global hit. Germany didn’t win again until 2010, when Lena sang “Satellite” in Oslo. She received 9 sets of 12 points, scoring 236 points overall. Germany has not placed above second last in their last three appearances at the contest.
[/tw-accordion-section]
[/tw-accordion]
