Germany was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with the song "Sing Sang Song", composed by Ralph Siegel, with lyrics by Kurt Hertha, and performed by Les Humphries Singers. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, (HR), organised the national final in order to select its entry for the contest. The national final was won by the song "" performed by Tony Marshall, but it was disqualified later. "Sing Sang Song", that originally was the runner-up, was promoted and announced as the German entry for Eurovision.
Before Eurovision
The final was held over two nights – 31 January and 1 February – at the television studios in Frankfurt, hosted by Max Schautzer. 12 songs took part with six performed on each evening, with the winner chosen by postcard voting, the results of which were announced on 18 February. "" performed by Tony Marshall was the public choice by a margin of over 20,000 votes.
Between the participants in the national selection were Ireen Sheer (who represented and and ), Lena Valaitis (who represented ), and Piera Martell (who represented ).
Artist Song Songwriter(s) Votes Place 1 Tina York "Das alte Haus" Frank Cornely 17,562 12 2 Love Generation "Thomas Alva Edison" 58,846 5 3 Lena Valaitis "Du machst Karriere" 47,714 7 4 Bruce Low "Der Jahrmarkt unserer Eitelkeit" 43,352 9 5 Ina Deter "Wenn du so bist wie dein Lachen" Ina Deter 27,903 10 6 Nina & Mike "Komm geh mit mir" Karl-Heinz Bardo 61,944 4 7 Maggie Mae "Applaus für ein total verrücktes Haus" 71,882 3 8 Les Humphries Singers "Sing Sang Song" 96,705 2 9 Ireen Sheer "Einmal Wasser, einmal Wein" 45,032 8 10 Meeting Point "Es ist ein Mensch" Wilton Kullmann 53,568 6 11 Tony Marshall "Der Star" Detlef Petersen 118,250 1 12 Piera Martell "Ein neuer Tag" 24,525 11
Disqualification and replacement The winning entry was disqualified later when it was discovered that it had been performed in public prior to the national final. The runner-up, "Sing Sang Song" performed by Les Humphries Singers, was therefore promoted and announced as the German entry for Eurovision.
At Eurovision On the evening of the contest, the Les Humphries Singers performed 3rd in the running order, following and preceding . At the close of voting "Sing Sang Song" had received 12 points, placing Germany 15th of the 18 entries. The German jury awarded 12 points to .
The show was watched by 11.6 million viewers in Germany.
Voting
+ Points awarded to Germany Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by Germany Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Notes
References