Germany's song for Austria 2015 is "Black Smoke" by Ann Sophie

Tonight Germany selected their song for Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna. In the show "Unser Song für Österreich" (Our song for Austria) 8 artists contested for the ticket to Vienna. Four artist proceeded to the second round: Alexa Feser, Andreas Kümmert, Laing and Ann Sophie. Here they performed again, and after the second voting, Ann Sophie (with "Black Smoke") and Andreas Kümmert (with "Heart of stone") proceeded to the superfinal.

The superfinal was won by Andreas Kümmert with the song "Heart of stone", but he announced from the stage, that he wanted Ann Sophie to go instead of him!

Unser Song für Österreich results

1. Andreas Kümmert - "Home is in my hands" & "Heart of stone" (1st)
2. Ann Sophie - "Jump the Gun" & "Black Smoke" (2nd)
3. Alexa Feser - "Gluck" & "Das gold von morgen"
4. Laing - "Zeig deine Muskeln" & "Wechselt die Beleuchtung"
5. Fahrenhaidt - "Frozen silence" & "Mother Earth"
6. Mrs. Green Bird - "Shine, shine" & "Take my hand"
7. Noize Generation - "Song for you" & "Crazy now"
8. Faun - "Horst du die Trommeln" & "Abschied"

Unser Song für Österreich

The German national final, "Unser Song für Österreich" (Our Song for Austria), took place on 5 March 2015 at TUI Arena in Hannover.

The seven of the eight artists were selected by the public broadcaster NDR, and the last artist was chosen at the "Club Concert" on 19 February 2015. At the Club Concert ten selected songs performed live, and the public voted for Ann Sophie to participate in Unser Song für Österreich.

There were 3 rounds in Unser Song für Österreich, all took place on 5 March 2015:

Each artist had two songs

First round
All the eight artists performed one of their two songs. Hereafter the televoters selected four artists to proceed to the second round.

Second round
The four artists qualified from the first round performed their second song. Hereafter the televoters selected two artists to proceed to the third round.

Third round
The two artists qualified from the second round performed again, and the televoters decided the winner of Unser Song für Österreich, and the ticket for Vienna.

Germany in Eurovision Song Contest

Best result is two victories in 1982 (Nicole - "Ein Bißchen Frieden") and 2010 (Lena - "Satellite"), and the worst is four last places. They are also a member of "Club Zero Points", with zero points in 1964 and 1965.

Germany is a grand old country in the Eurovision Song Contest. They have participated 58 times since the beginning of ESC in 1956. The only year Germany didn't participate was in 1996. Prior to the competition in 1996, 30 countries had signed up for participation, so EBU had to make a selection. Judges from the countries made a secret voting, where the 22 best qualified. During this voting, the judges only listen to but didn't watch the contestants. This turned out to be highly unpopular, and it was also the only time this method was used. The result of the voting was that Germany was ruled out. This was the first and only time Germany didn't participate in Eurovision Song Contest.