Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980

Eurovision Song Contest 1980
Country	Germany
National selection
Selection process	Ein Lied für Den Haag
Selection date(s)	20 March 1980
Selected entrant	Katja Ebstein
Selected song	"Theater"
Finals performance
Final result	2nd, 128 points
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1979 • 1980 • 1981►

Germany was represented by Katja Ebstein, with the song "Theater", at the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 19 April in The Hague. "Theater" was the winner of the German national final, held on 20 March. This was Ebstein's third Eurovision appearance; she had previously represented Germany in 1970 and 1971, finishing third on both occasions.

Final

Katja Ebstein (1980)

The final was held at the Bayerischer Rundfunk TV studios in Munich, hosted by Caroline Reiber and Thomas Gottschalk. 12 songs took part and the winner was chosen by a panel of approximately 1,000 people who had been selected as providing a representative cross-section of the German public.

Draw	Artist	Song	Votes	Place
1	Mel Jersey	"Du bist nicht mehr frei" (You are not free anymore)	3310	6
2	Costa Cordalis	"Pan"	4634	2
3	Marianne Rosenberg	"Ich werd' da sein, wenn es Sturm gibt" (I will be there when there are storms)	2169	12
4	Roland Kaiser	"Hier kriegt jeder sein Fett" (Everybody gets his share here)	2823	8
5	Stefan Waggershausen & Co	"Verzeih'n Sie, Madame" (Excuse me, madam)	3625	4
6	Katja Ebstein	"Theater" (Theatre)	4828	1
7	Adam & Eve	"Hallo Adam, Hallo Eva" (Hello Adam, hello Eve)	2847	7
8	Montezuma	"Montezuma Castle"	3586	5
9	Tony & David	"Minnesänger - Mädchenfänger" (Minnesingers - Girl catchers)	2784	9
10	Stefan Hallberg	"Gib uns Zeit" (Give us time)	2266	11
11	Susanne Klee	"Wenn du nicht weißt, wohin" (If you do not know where to go)	3968	3
12	Vielharmoniker	"In der Oper" (At the opera)	2462	10

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Ebstein performed 12th in the running order, following Norway and preceding the United Kingdom. The performance was memorable, featuring four mime artists, and at the close of voting "Theater" had received 128 points (including maximum 12s from Italy, the Netherlands and Spain), placing Germany second of the 19 entries. Only Greece and Norway failed to award the song any points at all. The German jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Ireland.

The 1980 result gave Ebstein the distinction of being the only Eurovision performer to date to have finished in the top 3 on three occasions.

See also

• Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 1980