GERMANY

The German final took place on the 18th February and filmed at the Brainpool TV Studios in Cologne and once again presented by Sabine Heinrich & Matthias Opdenhövel.

The show starts with a recap of Lena’s journey in Eurovision 2010. The panel is introduced which, this episode, is Barbra Schöneberger and Ich+Ich singer Adel Tawil. An the band “The Heavytones” is also introduced to the audience. They will be providing live backing to all the songs.

Song 1 is Maybe.
This song appeals to the cheekier and nonchalant side of Lena’s character. She is able to put a lot of her attitude and character into the lyrics and choreography of the song. She is wearing a similar dress she sung this in the semi but her hair is in a pony tail. Her vocals are much stronger in the SF, and sounds like her mic has been upped in volume. The tune to this song is very catchy but the words in the chorus are still a bit garbled. The finish is a bit weak. Good applause from the audience

Song 2 is What Happened To Me Today
This is a very typical Raab sounding song and you can hear Lena’s influences in the words. I guess one could say this is one of the safer choices on offer today. Again she is a wearing a similar dress to her semi performance and her mic seems much louder. The intro to the song is very interesting and engages the listener and slowly grows. She is bopping around quite happily to the song but she would enjoy it – it is her own XD Not sure about the bridge part though. Nice applause from the audience.

Song 3 is Push Forward
This ballad is not normally the kind of song you would associate with Lena. It is nice to see her doing something much more simple and focusing on her voice. She is wearing the same outfit as in the semi. The song starts of very quiet and grows as the song progresses. It is a simple song with some lovely chords progressions. Her voice still doesn’t seem strong enough, especially the very final chorus) for this song but she does give over a lot of meaning. Very enthusiastic clapping and stomping from the audience.

Song 4 is Mama Told Me
Another typical Raab number with lots of brass backing. As Lena had input into this song too I guess she will enjoy singing it again. Lena is wearing a mid length black dress and the dancers are back. Lena is even joining in some of the dancing. She seems very comfortable singing the song and obviously likes singing this style of music and can interpret the lyrics and meaning of the song well.. The ending of the song is strange too. Warm applause from the audience.

Song 5 is A Million And One
This song is a strange mix of styles. Parts of it are quiet and slow others are more up-tempo and fast. It does show off the higher part of her range. Lena is again in black and the dancers are barefoot in red and black. The backing music is very minimal which helps project her voice through the song. The verses are too low although they fit Lena’s personality perfectly, the choruses are better but not catchy enough for Eurovision. An enthusiastic reception from the audience.

Song 6 is Taken By A Stranger
This song is the most unusual of the whole bunch and shows Lena in a brand new light. She is able to show a different genre of music and a more sinister tone in her voice. She is wearing the same outfit as the semis but the dancers are wearing sliver cat suits. The song is very atmospheric and captures the moment well. It has a slight ’80s electronica- industrial-goth feel about it The style also suits her tone and voice volume . Very enthusiastic whooping, clapping and stomping from the audience.

The panel then discusses who they ant in the ‘super final’
Barbra – Taken By A Stranger and Push Forward
Adel – Taken By A Stranger and Mama Told Me
Stefan – cannot choose but his favourite is Taken By A Stranger

The presenters then go through the voting numbers.
Songs 3 and 6 get the biggest cheers by far from the audience


So the Super Final will be between… Push Forward and Taken By A Stranger.

They then do a feature about some of the songs already chosen for the contest


Lena then takes the stage again to sing Push Forward. The lighting for this song also works effectively. I could imagine the audience in May being laced with glow sticks to recreate the look in the whole auditorium. Another good performance Another round of appreciative and enthusiastic applause.

Lena re-appears for Taken By A Stranger. The backing singers and dancers for this song really add to the atmosphere. The instrumental of this song seems just as interesting The whole audience seems to be clapping along to the beginning of the song. Wild cheers from the audience.

Whilst the voting is taking place Adel Tawil sings a song from Ich+Ich’s new album

The winner with 79% of the super final vote is … Taken By A Stranger !!!

SINGER – Lena Meyer-Landrut
SONG – Taken By A Stranger
MUSIC – Gus Seyffert, Nicole Morier and Monica Birkenes
WORDS - Gus Seyffert, Nicole Morier and Monica Birkenes

Here is a video of the winning song taken from the semi-final

Lena - Taken by a stranger from Hanazawa Rui on Vimeo.