Eurovision Song Contest 2025: Hope for Germany: Raab back on board at the ESC

Will Germany find a new Lena? Stefan Raab’s return to the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) raises hopes of winning the competition for the first time in many years. The entertainer should help organize the next preliminary decision again. The ARD, the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) and the private broadcaster RTL want to announce the details at a press conference on Thursday, as they announced.

This announcement is making big waves. Raab is considered a very successful ESC manager – and thus stands in contrast to the almost consistently disastrous to mediocre placements that German acts achieved in recent years, when the “Raabinator” had largely withdrawn from the public eye.

Raab’s ESC history goes back to 1998, when he composed Guildo Horn’s Eurovision song “Guildo hat euch lieb” under the pseudonym Alf Igel. At that time, the song and performance were seen as an awakening experience for the outdated hit competition, which was still pathetically called the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson.

Two years later, Raab reached fifth place as a singer on stage with the Gaga song “Wadde hadde dudde da?”. In 2004, his protégé Max Mutzke came in an impressive eighth place at the ESC in Istanbul.

What will forever be associated with Raab’s name is Lena Meyer-Landrut’s victory with the title “Satellite” in Oslo in 2010. At the time, Raab was considered the mastermind behind the triumph, which was only the second for Germany after Nicole’s victory in 1982 with “A Little Peace”. In 2011, the ESC took place in Germany – and became the big Raab show. In 2012 he was once again on the jury for the German preliminary round. So now he should help find a song for Basel 2025.

Raab is now back in the spotlight. In 2015, he surprisingly withdrew from the public eye and from then on worked behind the scenes. He only returned in front of the cameras in mid-September 2024. Raab boxed against former boxing world champion Regina Halmich. RTL showed the show live, after which Raab announced his long-term return to the screens.

At the same time, he was contractually bound to RTL. He now moderates a weekly show (RTL+) again. A Saturday evening show with his colleague Michael “Bully” Herbig has also been announced (RTL).

There is a lot at stake for Raab with his renewed participation in the ESC preliminary round. Until now, he was considered a guru who was sorely missed by many German ESC fans and who would certainly have a recipe for the chronic German misery in the competition. Now he actually has to deliver.

Germany’s ESC record has been very mixed in recent years. Most recently, singer Isaak achieved a decent twelfth place for Germany in Malmö. Before that, however, there had been many last or penultimate places. The only exception in 2018 was Michael Schulte with fourth place. The misery also led to the name Raab being discussed from time to time – in memory of actually or supposedly better times.

For the upcoming ESC, NDR, as ARD’s ESC leader, will now work with RTL. The last time we cooperated with a private broadcaster was in 2012. At that time, Roman Lob won a casting show (“Our Star for Baku”) that was broadcast on Erste and ProSieben. Also on the talent hunt was Stefan Raab.