From rock and metal, to folk or pop, Germany's Eurovision contestant will be one of these 10 acts. Germany tied for last place at the 2015 song contest, and is aiming to send a winner to Stockholm this year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/NDR/C. Barz
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Germany to send one of these 10 candidates to Eurovision 2016
Who will represent Germany at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest? These 10 acts of vying for a ticket to Stockholm.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/NDR/C. Barz
Gregorian
With a mix of Gregorian chant and pop, the all-male choir is hoping to garner a ticket to Stockholm for the Eurovision Song Contest. The finale is set for May 14, 2016. The eight-man ensemble has 16 years of experience with live shows and has toured all over the world.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/NDR/C. Barz
Alex Diehl
The Bavarian singer-songwriter is hoping to take his single "Nur ein Lied" (Just a song) to Stockholm. He wrote the moving German-language song in November 2015 in response to the terror attacks in Paris, recorded it in his living room, and posted it online. The song quickly went viral and has since been viewed over seven million times.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Pedersen
Keøma
The want to transport listeners into a whole new world. Australian singer Kat Frankie, who lives in Berlin, and Chris Klopfer from Cologne met at a concert in 2011 and discovered that, musically speaking, they were on the same wave-length. You could say they are cheerful musicians who make melancholic pop music. Keøma hopes to clench the ESC nomination with their song "Protected."
Image: NDR/Eduardo Pavez Goye
Ella Endlich
Ella Endlich comes from the Schlager - or German folk pop - genre, and her song "Adrenalin" is about liberation and trying new things. The 31-year-old has personal experience with just that. She studied dance and vocal performance in Munich, before launching a career in musicals.
Image: Getty Images/L. Preiss
Avantasia
Back in 2001, musician Tobias Sammet started the project "Avantasia - The Metal Opera," though he probably didn't suspect back then that he would be competing with the heavy metal band for a ticket to Eurovision some 15 years later. Heavy metal has played an important role at past ESC events, with Finnish metal band Lordi winning in 2006.
Image: picture-alliance/Jazzarchiv
Luxuslärm
The pop and rock group was started by Jini Meyer in 2003 as a cover band. Three years later, they changed their name to Luxuslärm, and in 2007 they won a major song contest in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. "So lange Liebe in mir wohnt" - "As long as love lives inside me" - is Luxuslärm's contribution to the ESC preliminaries.
Image: Imago
Jamie-Lee Kriewitz
The winner of the casting show "The Voice of Germany" is just 17 years old. Because she's still a minor, she wasn't allowed to give interviews after her victory last year. She's taking her winning song from "The Voice" to the ESC preliminaries. "Ghost" has a melancholic pop flair, but will it convince the TV viewers?
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Carstensen
Woods of Birnam
Success has not overlooked the band behind actor Christian Friedel. They are behind the title track to Til Schweiger's film hit, "Head Full of Honey." And Friedel had a role in the film "The White Band," which won a Golden Palm in 2009. ESC is more about acting than music - but their song "Lift Me Up" could have good chances.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Düren
Joco
The sisters Josepha and Cosima Carl wrote their entry song themselves: "Full Moon." The pair say they grew up in a musical family and do everything together. Their mother directs a school choir and used to sing with them.
She's just 19, but Laura Pinksi has an experienced ESC veteran supporting her. Producer and songwriter Ralph Siegel wrote Germany's first winning Eurovision entry, "Ein bisschen Frieden," which was performed by Nicole in 1982. For Pinksi, Siegel has composed "Under the Sun We Are One."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Seeger
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On Thursday (25.02.2016), Germany selects its contestant for this year's Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Stockholm with the finale on May 14.
Germany hasn't had much luck selecting its Eurovision candidates in recent years. In November 2015, broadcaster NDR appointed influential pop soul singer Xavier Naidoo to represent Germany at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm this May. But he was given the boot just days later following a public outcry over his politics, with critics citing ties to right-wing groups.
Last year, Germany had held a preliminary TV casting show to choose its candidate, but the overwhelming winner - Andreas Kümmert - withdrew immediately on live television, handing the opportunity over to runner-up Ann Sophie. She earned a total of zero points at the finale, tying with Austria for last place.
Now, after the Xavier Naidoo debacle, German broadcasters have decided to try go for a casting show again and rounded up 10 promising musicians to take part on Thursday.
From metal to folk-pop
Among the nominees is Alex Diehl, a singer-songwriter from Bavaria who came into the limelight in the fall after his tribute to the victims of the November 13 Paris terror attacks went viral. He gave an exclusive performance of his song, "Nur ein Lied," in DW's television studios.
Eurovision qualifications
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Jamie-Lee Kriewitz, the 17-year-old most recent winner of the casting show "The Voice of Germany" will compete with her new single, "Ghost." Successful pop-rock group Luxuslärm (pictured above), which has been nominated for an Echo, Germany's top music award, is also on board.
Another promising contestant is the heavy metal project Avantasia, fronted by Tobias Sammet. Metal frequently turns up at the otherwise pop-heavy song contest, with Lordi from Finland winning in 2006.
Heavy metal for Europe
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Some 150 suggestions were submitted to NDR from radio broadcasters, producers, record labels and artists. The final 10 were chosen by NDR, two youth radio shows, music labels, and the TV production company Brainpool. For the complete list of entrants, click through the picture gallery above.
Germany's most recent victory at the Eurovision Song Contest came in 2010 with Lena Meyer-Landrut, who has since launched a successful singing career.
