Veteran songwriter Ralph Siegel is aiming to return to Eurovision in the 2024 contest, the Allgäuer Zeitung reports. Siegel, who has written countless Eurovision tracks including the 1982 winner “Ein bißchen Frieden,” is working on a song for the German national final with Schlager singer Aileen Sager.
“My dream is to win for Germany again”
Talking to German tabloid BILD, Siegel said that his big dream was to to give Germany another Eurovision victory. To achieve this, the songwriter continued, he already was working day and night in a music studio. Now the Allgäuer Zeitung has revealed that he hopes that Aileen Sager might win it all for Germany next year in Malmö. She was a semi-finalist in the final season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (the German edition of the Idol franchise), which aired this year. The upcoming song is not the first time Sager and Siegel work together, as she also is part of Siegel’s new musical “Ein bisschen Frieden Summer of Love”.
Who is Ralph Siegel?
Ralph Siegel is a German record producer and songwriter from Munich. A prolific producer of Schlager music, he has worked with countless names in the German-speaking music industry his first foray into Eurovision was in 1974, where he co-wrote Luxembourg’s “Bye Bye I Love You,” sang by Ireen Sheer. With the song finishing in fourth place, many Eurovision entries would soon follow. Often collaborating with Bernd Meinunger, he would (co-)write 24 Eurovision entries. Memorable entries include “Dschinghis Khan,” “Theater,” “Johnny Blue,” “Wir geben ‘ne Party” and many others. He slowly withdrew from Eurovision with his last German entry in 2003, but still was a part of the team that got San Marino their very first Eurovision final appearance in 2014. He also has been prolific in National Finals across Europe, with the last time he penned something intended for Eurovision dating back to 2017 (San Marino’s entry, and a song for Moldova’s national final).
Germany’s Eurovision journey
Germany has been part of Eurovision since the beginning, debuting in 1956. Their debut entries were Walter Andreas Schwarz’s “Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück” and Freddy Quinn’s “So geht das jede Nacht”. Germany has appeared at every Eurovision except for 1996, which means they have been at more Contests than any other country. They have a long history of success in Eurovision, finishing in the top 3 an impressive 13 times. Germany has won the contest twice: Nicole won in 1982 with her song “Ein bißchen Frieden”, taking home 161 points. Their second win came in 2010, when Lena scored 246 points with her song “Satellite”.
Germany’s most recent Eurovision entry was Lord of the Lost with “Blood and Glitter”. As Germany is part of the Big 5, they automatically qualified for the Grand Final. In the Final, the song received 15 points and finished last – 26th – for the second year in a row.
Would you be excited to hear Ralph Siegel return to Eurovision? Do you think he might be able to get Germany its third win? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!
News Source: Allgäuer Zeitung
Photo Source: Ralph Siegel / Wikimedia
