Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

During the winner's press conference of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, it was announced that Lena would again represent Germany to defend her title.[2] Lena was later confirmed by the German broadcaster NDR to have been selected as the German representative on 30 June 2010.[4][5]

The logo of Unser Song für Deutschland

Unser Song für Deutschland (English: Our Song for Germany) was the competition that selected Germany's song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The competition consisted of two semi-finals and a final that took place on 31 January 2011, 7 February 2011 and 18 February 2011, respectively, at the Köln-Mülheim Studios in Cologne and were hosted by Matthias Opdenhövel and Sabine Heinrich.[6][7] Like in the previous year, the national final was co-produced by the production company Brainpool.[8] Lena presented twelve songs, selected by a panel of music experts together with Stefan Raab and Lena from over 600 songs submitted by individual composers and lyricists and later included in her second studio album Good News, during the competition and public televoting determined the results of all three shows.[9] The semi-finals were broadcast on ProSieben and the final was broadcast on Das Erste as well as online via ARD's official website daserste.de.[10][11]

The two televised semi-finals took place on 31 January and 7 February 2011. In each semi-final Lena performed six of the participating songs and top three songs were selected solely through public televoting, including options for landline and SMS voting, to proceed to the final. Stefan Raab alongside two music experts provided feedback in regards to the songs during both semi-finals. The experts for the first semi-final were singers Der Graf and Stefanie Kloß, while the experts for the second semi-final were comedian, actress and Eurovision Song Contest 2011 co-presenter Anke Engelke and singer-songwriter Joy Denalane.[10][12]

The televised final took place on 18 February 2011. The winning song was selected through two rounds of public televoting, including options for landline and SMS voting. In the first round of voting, the top two songs were selected to proceed to the second round. In the second round, the winning song, "Taken by a Stranger", was selected. Stefan Raab and two music experts provided feedback in regards to the songs during the final. The experts were presenter and singer Barbara Schöneberger and musician Adel Tawil.[13] In addition to the performances of the competing songs, Adel Tawil performed his new song "Hilf mir".[14]

Lena took part in technical rehearsals on 7 and 8 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May. This included the jury final on 13 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. As the host nation, Germany's running order position in the final was decided through another draw on 15 March 2011. Germany was drawn to perform in position 16.[22] While Germany had already been drawn to perform in position 16, it was determined following the second semi-final winners' press conference that Germany would perform following Moldova and before the entry from Romania.

The German performance featured Lena performing on stage in a black costume with five dancers, two of them which also performed backing vocals, in silver suits covering all of their body apart from their faces. The stage began with a dark background which later transitioned to a white background with blue and white spotlights, creating the shape of a hourglass and a pyramid-like effect. The LED screens first displayed turning rectangles, later changing to duplicated images of one of the backing vocalists and lastly a breaking glass when the corresponding sound appeared on the half playback of the song.[23][24] Germany placed tenth in the final, scoring 107 points.[25]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Germany had placed ninth with the public televote and tenth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Germany scored 113 points and in the jury vote the nation scored 104 points.[26]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Germany and awarded by Germany in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Austria in the semi-final and the final of the contest.