Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980

Germany was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song "Theater", composed by Ralph Siegel, with lyrics by Bernd Meinunger, and performed by Katja Ebstein. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), selected their entry through a national final. This was Ebstein's third Eurovision appearance; she had previously represented Germany in 1970 and 1971, finishing third on both occasions.

Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980
Eurovision Song Contest 1980
Participating broadcaster	ARD[a] – Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)
Country	Germany
Selection process	Ein Lied für Den Haag
Selection date	20 March 1980
Competing entry
Song	"Theater"
Artist	Katja Ebstein
Songwriters	Ralph Siegel Bernd Meinunger
Placement
Final result	2nd, 128 points
Participation chronology
◄1979 • 1980 • 1981►

Before Eurovision

Ein Lied für Den Haag

Katja Ebstein (1980)

Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) held the national final at its television studios in Munich, hosted by Carolin Reiber and Thomas Gottschalk. 12 songs took part and the winner was chosen by a panel of approximately 1,000 people who had been selected as providing a representative cross-section of the German public.

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriters	Votes	Place
1	Mel Jersey	"Du bist nicht mehr frei"	Walter Gerke, Mick Hannes	3310	6
2	Costa Cordalis	"Pan"	Ralph Siegel, Kurt Hertha	4634	2
3	Marianne Rosenberg	"Ich werd' da sein, wenn es Sturm gibt"	Joachim Heider, Horst-Herbert Krause	2169	12
4	Roland Kaiser	"Hier kriegt jeder sein Fett"	Jürgen Triebel, Horst-Herbert Krause	2823	8
5	Stefan Waggershausen & Co.	"Verzeih'n Sie, Madame"	Stefan Waggershausen	3625	4
6	Katja Ebstein	"Theater"	Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger	4828	1
7	Adam & Eve	"Hallo Adam, Hallo Eva"	Alexander Gordan, Norbert Hammerschmidt	2847	7
8	Montezuma	"Montezuma Castle"	Rudi Bauer, Gerd Thumser	3586	5
9	Tony & David	"Minnesänger - Mädchenfänger"	Alexander Gordan, Norbert Hammerschmidt	2784	9
10	Stefan Hallberg	"Gib uns Zeit"	Jean Frankfurter, Robert Puschmann	2266	11
11	Susanne Klee	"Wenn du nicht weißt, wohin"	Jean Frankfurter, John Möhring	3968	3
12	Viel-Harmoniker	"In der Oper"	Gert Wilden, Wolfgang Hofer	2462	10

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Ebstein performed 12th in the running order, following Norway and preceding the United Kingdom. At the close of voting "Theater" had received 128 points, placing Germany second of the 19 entries.^[1] Only Greece and Norway failed to award the song any points at all.^{[citation needed]}

The 1980 result gave Ebstein the distinction of being the only Eurovision performer to date to have finished in the top 3 on three occasions.^{[citation needed]}

The German jury was composed of ten members and a jury president with no voting rights. Each jury member gave each song between one and five votes. The total of these points was then converted to the known Eurovision voting format. In case of a draw the placement was decided by a show of hands.^[2] The German jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Ireland.^[3]

The show was watched by 17.35 million viewers in Germany, the highest TV rating ever measured in Germany for a Eurovision Song Contest final.^[4]

Voting

Points awarded to Germany[3] Score Country 12 points  Italy  Netherlands  Spain 10 points  France  Morocco  Turkey  United Kingdom 8 points  Austria  Portugal 7 points  Belgium  Denmark   Switzerland 6 points 5 points  Ireland  Sweden 4 points 3 points  Luxembourg 2 points  Finland 1 point

Points awarded by Germany[3] Score Country 12 points  Ireland 10 points   Switzerland 8 points  Netherlands 7 points  Italy 6 points  Norway 5 points  Denmark 4 points  Austria 3 points  United Kingdom 2 points  Sweden 1 point  Portugal

Notes

1. Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland