Germany 2019 - Plans for National Selection Revealed

German broadcaster NDR has wasted no time in unveiling their plans for their national selection for Eurovision 2019. After several years of disappointing results for Germany, with the 'Big 5' member not being able to escape the bottom of the scoreboard, in Lisbon singer-songwriter Michael Schulte managed to take Germany to the left hand side of the scoreboard finishing in an impressive 4th place - scoring 340 points. Following a few years of format changes it appears that NDR may believe they are on to a winner with their current format. Keep reading for full details of the upcoming preliminary rounds of the German national selection.

Earlier this month, the broadcaster opened applications to the public in a call to both music lovers and Eurovision fans to apply to make up a 100 person panel to review all preliminary applications. The aim is that the tastes of these fans will align with the tastes of Eurovision fans all across Europe and it seems to have worked quite well in 2018 as Germany came a very respectable 6th in the televote. This year, the preliminary round whittled down over 1,000 applications to 17 singers and groups who were then invited to a 2 day songwriting camp.

In the plans for next years selection, the top 20 applicants, selected by the fan jury and a 20-30 person international expert jury, will be invited to a similar 'Music Camp' where they are given the opportunity to work with successful musicians and vocal coaches to create the song they will be taken forward to the national selection. Whilst 'Unser Lied für Lissabon' had 6 finalists, the plan is to narrow the top 20 down to 8 to 10 finalists instead who will be invited to a second songwriting camp at the end of the year to find the perfect song to take forward for the National Final.

The application to be part of the fan panel have unfortunately already closed, however budding performers have until midnight on July 31st 2018 to submit their application videos to take part in next years Unser Lied für Israel.

If the process turns out anything like it did this year, viewers are definitely going to be in for a treat! Relive Michael Schulte's spectacular performance of 'You Let Me Walk Alone' below.

Let us know whether you think the German broadcaster is making the right decision by keeping things the same as this years successful national selection in the comments below, and make sure to connect with us on our social media - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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