Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976

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Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976
Eurovision Song Contest 1976
Participating broadcaster	ARD[a] – Hessischer Rundfunk (HR)
Country	Germany
Selection process	Ein Lied für Den Haag
Announcement date	18 February 1976
Competing entry
Song	"Sing Sang Song"
Artist	Les Humphries Singers
Songwriters	Ralph Siegel Kurt Hertha
Placement
Final result	15th, 12 points
Participation chronology
◄1975 • 1976 • 1977►

Germany was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with the song "Sing Sang Song", composed by Ralph Siegel, with lyrics by Kurt Hertha, and performed by Les Humphries Singers. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, Hessischer Rundfunk (HR), organised the national final Ein Lied für Den Haag in order to select its entry for the contest. The national final was won by the song "Der Star" performed by Tony Marshall, but it was disqualified later. "Sing Sang Song", that originally was the runner-up, was promoted and announced as the German entry for Eurovision.

Before Eurovision

Ein Lied für Den Haag

The final was held over two nights – 31 January and 1 February – at the television studios in Frankfurt, hosted by Max Schautzer. 12 songs took part with six performed on each evening, with the winner chosen by postcard voting, the results of which were announced on 18 February. "Der Star" performed by Tony Marshall was the public choice by a margin of over 20,000 votes.

Between the participants in the national selection were Ireen Sheer (who represented Germany in 1978 and Luxembourg in 1974 and 1985), Lena Valaitis (who represented Germany in 1981), and Piera Martell (who represented Switzerland 1974).

  Winner

R/O	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Votes	Place
1	Tina York	"Das alte Haus"	Frank Cornely	17,562	12
2	Love Generation	"Thomas Alva Edison"	Günther-Eric Thöner, Erich Offierowski	58,846	5
3	Lena Valaitis	"Du machst Karriere"	Hans-Georg Moslener, Wolfgang Mürmann	47,714	7
4	Bruce Low	"Der Jahrmarkt unserer Eitelkeit"	Horst-Heinz Henning, Christine Neuhausen	43,352	9
5	Ina Deter	"Wenn du so bist wie dein Lachen"	Ina Deter	27,903	10
6	Nina & Mike	"Komm geh mit mir"	Karl-Heinz Bardo	61,944	4
7	Maggie Mae	"Applaus für ein total verrücktes Haus"	Werner Twardy, Dieter Lieffers	71,882	3
8	Les Humphries Singers	"Sing Sang Song"	Ralph Siegel, Kurt Hertha	96,705	2
9	Ireen Sheer	"Einmal Wasser, einmal Wein"	Günther-Eric Thöner, Erich Offierowski	45,032	8
10	Meeting Point	"Es ist ein Mensch"	Wilton Kullmann	53,568	6
11	Tony Marshall	"Der Star"	Detlef Petersen	118,250	1
12	Piera Martell	"Ein neuer Tag"	Jürgen Triebel, Horst-Herbert Krause	24,525	11

Disqualification and replacement

The winning entry was disqualified later when it was discovered that it had been performed in public prior to the national final. The runner-up, "Sing Sang Song" performed by Les Humphries Singers, was therefore promoted and announced as the German entry for Eurovision.

At Eurovision

On the evening of the contest, the Les Humphries Singers performed 3rd in the running order, following Switzerland and preceding Israel. At the close of voting "Sing Sang Song" had received 12 points, placing Germany 15th of the 18 entries.^[1] The German jury awarded 12 points to France.^[2]

The show was watched by 11.6 million viewers in Germany.^[3]

Voting

Points awarded to Germany[2] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points  Yugoslavia 2 points  France  Luxembourg  Spain   Switzerland 1 point  Belgium

Points awarded by Germany[2] Score Country 12 points  France 10 points  Austria 8 points  United Kingdom 7 points  Monaco 6 points  Finland 5 points   Switzerland 4 points  Netherlands 3 points  Israel 2 points  Yugoslavia 1 point  Ireland

Notes

1. Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland