Friday, 3 September 2010

Germany 1988

Germany was represented by mother and daughter duo Maxi & Chris Garden, with the song Lied für einen Freund, at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Dublin. Lied für einen Freund, written by Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger, was the winner of the German national final, held on March 31. Maxi & Chris Garden had finished second in the 1987 German final.

One of the songs which failed to qualify for the 1988 German national final, Das Beste by male/female duo Duett, later became embroiled in controversy when it was entered by the same performers in the 1990 Austrian selection, which it duly won in dramatic circumstances after the female singer had appeared to faint onstage during the initial performance. When the song's previous history subsequently came to light, Austrian broadcaster ORF had no choice but to disqualify it as a clear violation of Eurovision rules, handing the 1990 Austrian ticket to original runner-up Simone Stelzer.

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 31st at the Frankenhalle in Nürnberg, hosted by Jenny Jürgens. The winning song was chosen by the votes of approximately 600 people who were chosen by an institute to be representative of the German population.

Results:

01. Lied für einen Freund - Maxi & Chris Garden, 4475 points
02. Und leben will ich auch - Cindy Berger, 3769 points
03. Komm' ins Paradies - Bernhard Brink & Gilda, 3538 points
04. Hättest du heut' Zeit für mich - G. G. Anderson, 3508 points
05. Regenbogenland - Ann Thomas, 3351 points
06. Insel Im Wind - Tommy Steiner, 3185 points
07. Tanzen geh'n - Tammy Swift, 3172 points
08. Ein kleines Wunder - Michaela, 3171 points
09. Ich geb' dir mein Herz - Heartware, 3021 points
10. Du bist ein Stern für mich - Rendezvous, 2826 points
11. In deiner Hand - Christian Francke, 2596 points

On the night of the final the duo performed 11th in the running orde. At the close of voting Lied für einen Freund had received 48 points, placing Germany 14th of the 21 entries.

Maxi & Chris Garden are Meike (born June 29, 1974 in Hanau) and Chris Garden (born December 29 1950 in Zellhausen), was a German singing duo, consisting of mother and daughter.

In 1987 Maxi & Chris came 2nd in the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Frieden für die Teddybär’n. In 1988 they won the German national final and then represented Germany with the song Lied für einen Freund produced by Ralph Siegel. At the ESC in Dublin they came 14th.

After graduating from high school and completed training as an art and wall painter, Meike studied at the University of the Arts for two years of art and music education. She received her diploma in technical and musical show (singing, acting and dance).

Following her graduation, she was successful as a musical performer in several productions in Germany and Austria. 

2 comments:

  1. the link to Insel Im Wind is working now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You can now download Insel Im wind via MediaFire

    ReplyDelete