Germany 1984

Germany was represented by Mary Roos, with the song Aufrecht geh'n, at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest. Aufrecht geh'n was the winner of the German national final, held on March 29. Mary Roos had previously represented Germany in the 1972 contest in Edinburgh, where she had finished third.

Before the final, there were 2 semi-finals. The German semi-final was broadcast on several radio stations, and around 500 people were selected by a German polling institute to select the 12 finalists. The semi-final was in two separate parts which were broadcast on different days.

The German Final was held on March 29th at the German Theatre in Munich, hosted by Sabine Sauer. The winning song was chosen by the votes of approximately 500 people who were chosen by an institute to be representative of the German population.

Results:

01. Aufrecht geh'n - Mary Roos, 4124 points
02. Liebe Ist - Bernhard Brink, 4003 points
03. Tingel Tangel Mann - Harmony Four, 3852 points
04. Mensch aus Glas - Monitor, 3754 points
05. Niemand - Anne Karin, 3669 points
06. Jeder muß sein Leben leben - Giorgia Lauda, 3350 points
07. Hier ist einer zuviel - Helmut Frey, 3072 points
08. Al die Erde war geboren - Jürgen Renfordt, 3035 points
09. O, i woas net - Cosi & Relax, 2949 points
10. Wo warst du, als ich starb - Frank Daniel, 2699 points
11. Halt mich fest - Madeleine, 2674 points
12. Primaballerine - Pas de Bas, 2599 points

On the night of the final Mary Roos performed 14th in the running order. At the close of voting Aufrecht geh'n had received 34 points (the highest a 7 from Norway), placing Germany joint 13th (with the Netherlands) of the 19 entries. This ended a run of five consecutive top 5 placings for Germany between 1979 and 1983, and was seen as very disappointing since Aufrecht geh'n had been considered one of the stronger entries in what is generally regarded as one of Eurovision's more undistinguished contests.

Mary Roos (born Rosemarie Schwab on January 9, 1949) is a German singer and actress.

Mary Roos was born in Bingen. At the age of nine, she recorded her first song Ja die Dicken sind ja so gemütlich as Die kleine Rosemarie. It was no major commercial success. In 1958, she also appeared in the film Die Straße. Over the following years she would release many records and she also appeared in many singing competitions. Her first chart success came in 1965, when the single Geh nicht den Weg peaked at #36. In 1969, she took part in the Grand Prix RTL International with the song Die Legende der Liebe. The same year, she reached the single charts again - Das hat die Welt noch nicht erlebt peaked at #19. Her first major was achieved in 1970 with the song Arizona Man. It peaked at #9 in the single charts and remains her only top ten hit to date. The same year, she took part in the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. She was chosen to take part in the last minute - Edina Pop had to withdraw from the competition as she fell ill and Mary Roos was chosen to sing Bei jedem Kuss instead. She finished joint second among the six participants; nevertheless, the song was never recorded.

In the early 1970s, Mary Roos got her own TV show on German television. At the same time, she tried to start a career in France, where she played the lead role in the musical Un enfant dans la ville next to Michel Fugain. In 1972, she entered the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest the second time. With her song Nur die Liebe läßt uns leben she finished second after the first round of voting only one point behind Cindy & Bert but got the overall victory after the second round of voting. After the reprise of the winning song, she was booed off stage and her victory caused a stir in Germany as she was not the winner of the first round of voting and because of her mediocre vocal performance. In a later interview, she stated that she did not expect to win at all and that she was already removing her make-up when she was called back on stage. However, at the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 in Edinburgh, she finished third. The song was a minor hit in Germany peaking at #17 in the single charts. Over the 1970s she kept releasing singles and albums and was a frequent guest in music shows, although she did not have any major hits anymore. In 1975, she took part in the German national final again and finished third with Eine Liebe ist wie ein Lied. Her fourth participation in the national final took place in 1982, where she competed among others against her then husband Werner Böhm. She performed the duet Lady with David Hanselmann and finished sixth out of the twelve participants, however, the song was commercially the second most successful one of the year.

In 1982 she covered F. R. David's song Words.

In 1984, Mary Roos took part in the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest for the fifth and last time so far and she sang herself to victory again: Aufrecht geh'n narrowly won the ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest 1984. At the contest, the song only received 34 points and finished 13th among the 19 contestants. Mary Roos was blamed for a bad vocal performance which she says was caused by an emotional crisis after her separation from her husband Werner Böhm. Aufrecht geh'n would also be her last appearance in the single charts until 1999, when she released a German cover version of Cher's song Believe. Today, she still has many live concerts and is said to be one of the most-booked singers of the schlager genre. In 1985 Mary Roos covered some C. C. Catch and Modern Talking's songs in German, including You're My Heart, You're My Soul, I Can Lose My Heart Tonight etc.