Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

The logo of Unser Song für Malmö

Unser Song für Malmö (English: Our Song for Malmö) was the competition that selected Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The competition took place on 14 February 2013 at the TUI Arena in Hanover, hosted by Anke Engelke.[5] Like in the previous three years, the national final was co-produced by the production company Brainpool, which also co-produced the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf and the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku.[6] Twelve acts competed during the show with the winner being selected through a public televote. The show was broadcast on Das Erste as well as online via the broadcaster's Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.de and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[7] The national final was watched by 3.24 million viewers in Germany with a market share of 10.4%.[8]

The twelve competing entries were selected by a seven-member panel consisting of Thomas Schreiber (ARD entertainment coordinator, head of the fiction and entertainment department for NDR), Jörg Grabosch (Brainpool managing director) and representatives of record companies Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music Entertainment, EMI and Embassy of Music.[9] The first eleven participating acts were announced on 17 December 2012, while the twelfth act was announced on 21 December 2012.[10][11]

The televised final took place on 14 February 2013. The winner, "Glorious" performed by Cascada, was selected through a combination of votes from an expert jury (1/3), radio voting (1/3) and public televoting which included options for landline and SMS voting (1/3).[9] The jury panel consisted of Tim Bendzko (singer-songwriter), Roman Lob (singer, German Eurovision entrant in 2012), Anna Loos (actress and singer), Mary Roos (singer, German Eurovision entrant in 1972 and 1984) and Peter Urban (radio host and German commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest).[12][13] For the radio vote, listeners were able to vote online via the websites of the nine ARD radio channels between 7 and 14 February 2013. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2010 German Eurovision Song Contest winner Lena performed her new songs "Dynamite" and "Neon (Lonely People)", while 2012 Swedish Eurovision Song Contest winner Loreen performed her entry "Euphoria" and the song "My Heart Is Refusing Me".[14] More than 837,000 televotes were cast during the show.[15]

Following Cascada's victory at the German national final, "Glorious" has come under investigation by NDR following allegations that the song is a copy of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 winning song "Euphoria" by Loreen.[17] On 19 February, NDR spokeswoman Iris Bents reported that the results of the study would be published when they were available but played down the allegations, stating that "every year there are attempts to create scandals around the Eurovision Song Contest and the participants".[18] On 25 February, it was announced that "Glorious" was cleared of plagiarism and would remain as the German entry for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

Cascada at rehearsal in Malmö.

During the German delegation's press conference on 15 May 2013, Cascada took part in a draw to determine in which half of the final the German entry would be performed. Germany was drawn to compete in the first half.[27] Following the conclusion of the second semi-final, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Germany was subsequently placed to perform in position 11, following the entry from Russia and before the entry from Armenia.[28]

The German performance featured the lead singer of Cascada Natalie Horler performing on stage wearing a champagne beige glittered dress designed by Katja Convents. The performance also featured a glass staircase which Horler stood at the beginning, as well as flames and shots during the first chorus and a pyrotechnic waterfall effect during the last chorus.[29][30] The two backing vocalists that joined Horler on stage were Elli Azuro and Rayla Sunshine.[31] Although the song was widely tipped to do well, being the second favourite to win with the British Bookmakers and also being number 6 in Austrian Airplay and number 21 in British Airplay in the week leading up to the contest, Germany placed twenty-first in the final, scoring 18 points.[32]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding points from 1-8, 10 and 12 based on the results of their professional jury and televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry 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 was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The members that comprised the German jury were Lena, Tim Bendzko (singer-songwriter), Alina Süggeler (singer), Carolin Niemczyk (singer) and Florian Silbereisen (singer and television presenter).[33]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Germany and awarded by Germany in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest: