Another Favourite

This is Lena Meyer-Landrut, from Germany, with "Satellite". Lena's the bookie's current second favorite and I agree there's something appealing about her. The song is catchy and her slightly odd English accent grew on me. The lyrics are a hoot, too.

Germany has a long history in the contest; they were an original competitor in 1956 and have been in the final every year except 1996. However, they've won it only once, in 1982 with Nicole's "Ein bißchen Frieden".

There's not a huge tradition of pop music in Germany. I can think of Kraftwerk, of course, and the Scorpions, but not much else. I do have a weak spot for Nena's "99 Red Balloons". (Come to think of it, her English accent is also a little off in a beguiling way.) She recorded a 25th anniversary remix last year, and I have to say Nena's holding up pretty well.

And we can't forget that Germany brought us the greatest single Eurovision performance of all time.