Thursday 19 August 2010

Germany 1981

In 1981 Germany was represented by Lena Valaitis with the song Johnny Blue. Johnny Blue was the winner of the German national final, held on February 28. Lena Valaitis had previously taken part in the German final in 1976.

The final was held at at the Bayerischer Rundfunk TV studios in Munich, hosted by the previous year's German representative Katja Ebstein. 12 songs took part and the winner was chosen by a panel of approximately 500 people who had been selected as providing a representative cross-section of the German public.

Result:

01. Johnny Blue - Lena Valaitis, 5023 points
02. Mannequin - The Hornettes, 4304 points
03. Boogie Woogie - Martin Mann, 4039 points
04. Barfuß durch ein Feuer - Jürgen Renfordt, 3963 points
05. Das Ungeheuer von Loch Ness - Leinemann, 3921
06. Träumer, Tramps und Clowns - Peter Cornelius, 3769 points
07. Josephine - Thomas Fuchsberger, 2956
08. Moment - Lenz Hauser & Harald Stümpfl, 2856 points
09. Mein Transistorradio - Rudolf Rock & Die Schocker, 2735 points
10. Steine - Janz, 2355 points
11. Männer - Nina Martin, 2292 points
12. Träume brauchen Zeit - Taco Ockersee, 2269 points

On the night of the final Valaitis performed 3rd in the running order. The 1981 contest is noted for providing one of the closest and most exciting voting sequences in Eurovision history, with the lead changing hands regularly between France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Germany finished 2nd for the second year in succession.

***

Lena Valaitis (born September 7, 1943) is a Lithuanian-German Schlager singer. She had her greatest success during the 1970s and 1980s.

Lena Valaitis began her musical career by joining the band Frederik Brothers. She signed a record contract with Philips in 1970 and released her first single, Halt das Glück für uns fest. She made her first television appearance in the same year, appearing on ZDF-Drehscheibe, a musical program on ZDF. Lena Valaitis achieved her first hit in 1971 with Ob es so oder so, oder anders kommt. Under the production of Jack White, she had hits in the following years with So wie ein Regenbogen, Bonjour mon amour, and Wer gibt mir den Himmel zurück.

In 1976 Valaitis reached the Top 20 of the German singles chart for the first time with Da kommt José der Straßenmusikant and Ein schöner Tag, a German version of Amazing Grace. She sang Du machst karriere in the German finals of the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, achieving seventh place. She also sang the chanson in the 1977 feature film Der Mädchenkrieg.

Valaitis is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland. She represented Germany with the song Johnny Blue, which finished 2nd. In the following years she made additional recordings, including a duet with the Greek-born German singer Costa Cordalis in 1984.

Her last Eurovision attempt was in 1992 with Wir sehen uns wieder, which came third in the German selection show, Ein Lied Für Malmö. Lena Valaitis left show business in the end of 1993, but began releasing new material in the 2000s. She released Ich lebe für den Augenblick in 2001 and Was kann ich denn dafür, a duet with the Austrian singer Hansi Hinterseer.Lena Valaitis recorded another duet with Hansi Hinterseer, Muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus, in summer 2006.

1 comment:

  1. For me beside Amsterdam,Johnny Blue is the most beautiful song ever performed on Eurovision..

    Thank you so much for Wir Seh'n Uns Wieder!!!!

    ReplyDelete