THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

 SELECTION
Following a series of poor results, with no Top 5 finish since 2000, German broadcaster NDR decided to upscale their Eurovision selection for 2010. A widely publicised national talent search "Unser Star Für Oslo" (Our Star For Oslo) ran for several weeks, with live shows starting on February 2nd.

Eventually two singers reached the final of the selection which was held on March 12th in Cologne-Mülheim and hosted by Sabine Heinrich & Matthias Opdenhövel. In the final, the winner was chosen over two rounds. In the first round, each singer performed three potential Eurovision entries and televoters chose their favourite song from both performers. In the second round these two song went head to head in a second round of televoting. The public chose the song "Satellite" sung by Lena Meyer-Landrut.

 BIOGRAPHY
Lena Meyer-Landrut won the German national final Unser Star Für Oslo and will now be the country's hope in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest.

It’s a story that only pop music could write. Lena Meyer-Landrut from Hanover is actually right in the middle of preparing for her high school exams. She’s doing Biology, Sport and History and she’s got a lot of revising to do. But now she’s going to be representing Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in the Norwegian capital Oslo. On the 29th of May, 2010, just after her 19th birthday, she’ll be up on the big stage performing the song Satellite. “It’s going to be hard going up to the exams in April, but I’ll manage,” she says with a sigh. “Then it will almost be relaxing to head off to the Eurovision final.”

Pretty much out of nowhere – apart from the homemade dance videos and a few attempts with the school band – she conquered the audience’s heart. “I didn’t tell my friends about my first casting, so there wouldn’t be any stupid comments if I got kicked out straight away,” she says, thinking of her terrible stage fright. Even though Lena danced regularly during her childhood – from Ballet to Jazz and Hip Hop – she made her way to music without piano lessons or vocal training. But she got her chance, grabbed it and developed rapidly.

Directly after the German national final, her single "Satellite" went already to the top of all the most important download portals. Lena even created a new German download record: never before has a song sold so well in such a short time!

 REACTION
Like so many high profile television talent searches, the winner became an immediate national chart success and the impact of "Lena and "Satellite", quickly spilled over to Austria an Switzerland, meaning that it became a #1 on the Pan-European chart. this success saw a rush on money on the German entry, making it the joint favourite to win in Oslo.  Despite little international promotion, the German entry the song has also made it into the Top 5 in most internet polls.

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