Germany was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song "What's Another Year" performed by Johnny Logan. Organised by the Euro ...

with the song "Johnny Blue", composed by

Ralph Siegel Ralph Siegel (born 30 September 1945) is a German record producer and songwriter. Siegel is one of the most notable figures at the Eurovision Song Contest, in which he has participated with 24 songs so far, among them the 1982 winner song Ein ...

, with lyrics by

Bernd Meinunger Bernd Meinunger (born 30 September 1944) is a German lyricist and record producer (with Hanne Haller) who frequently works with Ralph Siegel and David Brandes. Several of his songs have represented Germany in the ''Eurovision Song Contest''. Ca ...

, and performed by

Lena Valaitis Lena Valaitis (born 7 September 1943) is a Lithuanian– German schlager singer who had her greatest success during the 1970s and 1980s. She finished second at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest. Early life and education Valaitis was born on 7 S ...

. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, (BR), selected their entry through a national final. Valaitis had previously taken part in the German final in .

Before Eurovision

(BR) held the national final at its television studios in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, hosted by

Katja Ebstein Katja Ebstein (born Karin Witkiewicz; 9 March 1945) is a German singer. She was born in Girlachsdorf (now Gniewków, Poland). She achieved success with songs such as "Theater (song), Theater" and "Es war einmal ein Jäger". She was married to , w ...

who represented . 12 songs took part and the winner was chosen by a panel of approximately 500 people who had been selected as providing a representative cross-section of the German public.

At Eurovision

On the evening of the final Valaitis performed 3rd in the running order, following and preceding . Germany finished runners-up for the second year in succession with 132 points. The German jury awarded its 12 points to France. The show was watched by 10.14 million viewers in Germany.

Voting

Notes

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1981

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...