Intro Post

< 2010 Final | 2011 Semifinals | 2011 Final >

Yesterday, Czechia released a revamp of their 2024 entry “Pedestal”. The song has grown on me and the new section makes it feel a lot more complete. Still far from my favorite of the year, but I’d now be happy if it qualifies.

Introduction

As one of the most populous countries in Europe, Germany has a rich assortment of cities that could feasibly host a modern-day Eurovision. Reportedly 23 cities expressed interest at first, then eight publicly declared they’d like to bid, then four officially applied: Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and Hannover. Eventually Düsseldorf won the right to host the first Eurovision Song Contest in reunified Germany.

Eurovision 2011 came amazingly close to featuring the entirety of Europe. At a glance, the only gap in the map of participants seems to be the Czech Republic, but a few others are missing: Montenegro, Luxembourg, a few microstates, and Kosovo who probably can’t join Eurovision unless Serbia recognizes their independence. Austria, Hungary, and San Marino all returned after skipping the last one or two years, and most excitingly of all, Italy finally rejoined Eurovision after last participating in 1997. Perhaps Germany’s victory last year convinced Italy that it was worth taking part.

After not doing postcards last time Germany hosted in 1983, it’s refreshing to see some proper German postcards. These postcards are a lovingly crafted tour of places in Germany, and they each end with the contest’s slogan “Feel Your Heart Beat!” written or spoken in each country’s language.

The rules this year were mostly the same, except the Big Four were now the Big Five: the UK, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. This means that the grand final would consist of 25 countries if a Big Five country won last year, 26 countries otherwise. As with last year, the voting opened shortly before the songs began. We have 18 non-qualifiers to review in this post, and as with last year, Peter Urban’s German commentary to guide us. The first semifinal has a special guest commentator, TV host Steven Gätjen.