Michael Schulte is Germany’s representative in Lisbon, where he will compete in the ESC grand final with the song “You Let Me Walk Alone”. Some say it’s all about the winner, but I was more interested in the national final as a whole.

As a harsh critic of Germany’s attempts and preparations for Eurovision, I have followed our recent national finals very closely and have to say this: Last night, Germany made a step in the right direction! A very small step, at least.

How on earth was this sometimes amateurish and unprofessional show an improvement, you might ask?

Well, I wrote a checklist of ten questions in advance of the show, all of them things that needed to be improved compared with the German national final in the last two years. Bear in mind that Germany is apparently trying (and really needs) to establish a new, sustainable national final format. Let’s answer my questions one by one to see if that attempt was remotely successful.

1. Is the selection of songs strong enough?
Compared to other countries’ national finals, the selection of songs was rather weak. To be fair though, Unser Lied für Lissabon offered up a stronger bunch of compositions than the German final last year. Improvement? Check.

2. Are the acts and their styles diverse?
We had solo singers and a group, we had sophisticated ballads, folk and pop songs, we had completely unknown and rather big names. Yesterday’s German final saw a variety of styles and acts that would have been impossible with a format like last year’s (or indeed any other year when Germany went for a version of the “casting show” format). Sure, we have seen more diverse German finals before, but compared to last year… Improvement? Check.

3. Is the stage appropriate?
More charming, more effective than the construction-site-styled stage that was used in the early 2000s, more shiny and glamorous than the dull “hall” of 2016 (the one Jamie-Lee won in), more memorable than the stage last year. The venue could be bigger, but… Improvement? Check.

4. Are the hosts good?
Linda might be a good newsreader, but she was a terrible choice for an entertainment show like this. She seemed overchallenged and unfocused, and the two – Eurovision and her – just aren’t a match. Elton however, as a former partner of Stefan Raab, does have Eurovision experience. I’ve bumped into him in Euroclub before. And he did his job rather well. Just pair him with Barbara Schöneberger next year please. Improvement? No.

A mixed bag. (photo credit: NDR/eurovision.de)

5. Is there a general design concept, a “brand”?
When you establish a new national final, a long-running format, a recognizable brand, you need a general design concept and a proper logo. If I remember correctly, this is the first time Germany has had an actual logo for its national final. The fact that Elton, the male host, wore a t-shirt with it, makes me feel confident that they really want to try to establish this one. And I approve, it’s a nice and recognizable image. Aspects of this logo also appeared in the background of the stage, and they apparently took more care of the graphics in general. And finally, they got rid of one recurring acoustic element they used in previous years. Cumulatively, I feel these little things are another sign of a new start.  Improvement? Check.

6. Do all postcards have the same format?
In previous years, the postcards were produced by the individual participants/record companies, which led to inconsistent presentations. In a competition, these kind of things need to have the same format – and apparently they have finally been centralised and produced with more or less the desired consistency. Granted, the postcards yesterday were far too long, but in general: Improvement? Check.

7. Is the show filled with enough “Eurovision” vibe?
Presenting some of the other countries’ participants for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest isn’t enough. Nobody needs a 29847th cover version of Waterloo, but a small dose of Eurovision reminiscence wouldn’t have hurt. And if you place Ruth Lorenzo (sitting in a golden dress in the midst of a dull jury) and Margaret Berger (and Tinkara!) into your show, why do you not even play a snippet of their Eurovision performances? Are you even aware that for any fan, these are star guests and not just “random people from other countries”? And: why no interval act with a Eurovision reference? Nothing against Mike Singer; I don’t particularly know him despite (or maybe because of) his millions of Instagram followers, and the idea of having a popular singer perform is not a bad one, but a second – Eurovision-related – interval act wouldn’t have hurt. We can do with fewer voting reprises instead. Schnelldurchlauf overload! Even the presenters agreed.

A Singer – just not a Eurovision singer. (photo credit: NDR/eurovision.de)

Last year, we had Nicole and Lena, the two German Eurovision winners, hugging on stage (for the first time), although nobody noticed this historic moment, especially not the producers. This year, there wasn’t any looking back at Eurovision history, recent or otherwise. Improvement? No, quite the opposite. 

8. Is the announcement of the results exciting and engaging?
Argh. Well, I like that they tried something unique, but it was poorly executed and in the end wasn’t consistent enough. First, each of the three “juries” gave their 5 points, then 6… and in the end each gave its 10 and 12 at the same time…  which was rather irritating and felt a bit random and poorly explained. The bigger problem though: WHY WOULD YOU STOP SHOWING THE SCOREBOARD JUST WHEN THE HIGHEST SCORES ARE COMING IN????!??!!!? Unless to cover up the fact that your system is flawed and the winner is already obvious to anyone who’s paying attention. However, in recent years the presentation of results was completely uninspired. Hence, even here: Improvement: Check.

9. Does the complete package of the show work? Can we go on like this?
Not yet, but it’s a start. The egg is there, but the chicken didn’t really hatch out of it yet. The format is compatible with the diversity that a national final needs, the visual identity is in place, but now we need more professionalism, more catchiness, more soul, and especially more and better entries to choose from. And less Peter Urban (although in general I liked his appearance in the show). Raise the number of participants in the final to eight, or hey, give us two semi-finals with eight entries each. In any case: Keep this egg, sit on it, and don’t just throw it away again whatever the result in May. Maybe then, once the brand is established and not immediately discarded, you can finally go for bigger venues and attract more quality participants again. Improvement: Check.

Kneed you tonight: Xavier’s song was better (photo credit: NDR/eurovision.de)

10. And finally, did the right song win?
Not the right song. That would have been “Jonah” or “My Own Way”. However, these songs weren’t performed by the right singers (namely Xavier Darcy and Natia Todua respectively). Not the complete package either, that would have been Ivy Quainoo (despite the weak chorus) or Ryk – and these were the top 2 in our #esc chat voting as well. But considering which song won last year (against Levina’s other song in the superfinal), you really can’t call “You Let Me Walk Alone” the wrong choice for Lisbon. It’s not a Eurovision winner, but I’m rather confident that my country can climb a bit on the final scoreboard compared to the last three years. Some jury love should certainly be achievable. The top 10, however, is likely to remain however should remain a far-off planet for Germany – at least this year. Improvement? Check.

Conclusion: Is Germany going in the right direction?
Yes. It’s a tiny step in the right direction. Whatever happens to Michael Schulte in Lisbon, if NDR approaches next year by overthrowing everything it has begun this year, that would be completely the wrong thing to do. I hope – despite the baby steps – that they keep walking in this direction, just more professionally, more upright. Aufrecht Gehn. The first step is done. Good.

You can watch the German entry for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest below: