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Germany was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 with the song "Lied für einen Freund", composed by Ralph Siegel, with lyrics by Bernd Meinunger, and performed by Maxi and Chris Garden. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), selected their entry through a national final. Maxi and Chris Garden had finished second in the 1987 national final.
Before Eurovision
Ein Lied für Dublin
Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) held the national final on 31 March 1988 at the Frankenhalle in Nuremberg, hosted by Jenny Jürgens. Twelve acts presented their entries live and the winner was selected by a panel of approximately 600 people who had been selected as providing a representative cross-section of the German public. Among the other participants was Cindy Berger, who had represented Germany in 1974 as half of Cindy and Bert. The national final was broadcast on Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen and on radio station WDR 4.
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 national final, 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.
On the evening of the final the duo performed 11th in the running order, following Ireland and preceding Austria. At the close of voting, "Lied für einen Freund" had received 48 points, placing Germany 14th of the 21 entries. The German jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Switzerland.
The show was watched by 8.61 million viewers in Germany.
Germany
