All five of the Eurovision song contest’s “Big 5” countries have now announced their participants for the 2018 competition. On Thursday, February 22, Germany wrapped up their national final, Unser Lied für Lissabon , announcing for the first time in six years a male entrant will try their hand at taking home the coveted trophy.
As reported by Eurovision.tv, 27-year-old Michael Shulte won the competition with his song You Let Me Walk Alone , which he will perform in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 12. The track, which was penned in memory of the singer’s late father, was written by German songwriters Nisse Ingwersen, Thomas Stengaard, and Nina Müller, as well as Shulte himself. He received the maximum amount of votes possible from both the public and the 100-member Eurovision panel, with the international music expert jury also giving him their full support.
The Eurovision community at large is very happy with Germany’s choice for Eurovision 2018, with some exceptions. Supporters of the other five participating acts were none too happy that Schulte came out on top, as they felt their favorites would see the country receive a better result in Portugal in May. Other ESC fans simply feel that Michael’s song, while touching and heartfelt, is nothing too exciting and could potentially place Germany in the bottom, as has happened multiple times over the past several years.
The winner of the German national final is Michael Schulte with the song “You Let Me Walk Alone”! https://t.co/JI2WNrcsxv #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/2eoV67JLGU
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) February 22, 2018
Since the start of this decade, the entries this “Big 5” nation has sent have, for the most part, failed to finish even reasonably well in the rankings. The 2010s started off strong, with German superstar Lena Meyer-Landrut actually winning the Eurovision song contest with the song, Satellite . The entry received a whopping 246 points in the grand final, and remains one of the most popular ESC songs today.
In 2011, the now 26-year-old competed again, coming in 10th place with the song, Taken By A Stranger . After this, Germany’s luck began to fade; in 2015 and 2016, their entrant ended up in last place, with Ann Sophie not actually receiving any points whatsoever, alongside host country Austria’s The Makemakes. The 2017 participant, Levina, did not fare much better and fell into 25th place. While 2013 and 2014 did not see the nation’s participants wind up completely at the bottom, they still ranked below the mid-range point.
Overall, Germany has placed in the top three over a dozen times.
