Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Prior to the 1998 Contest, ARD had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Germany forty-one times since its debut in 1956. It has won the contest on one occasion: in 1982 with the song "Ein bißchen Frieden" performed by Nicole.^[1] Germany, to this point, has been noted for having appeared in the contest more than any other country; they have competed in every contest since the first edition in 1956 except for 1996 when it was eliminated in a pre-contest elimination round.^{[citation needed]} In 1997, the German entry "Zeit" performed by Bianca Shomburg placed eighteenth out of twenty-five competing songs scoring 22 points.^[1]

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, ARD organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Since 1996, ARD had delegated the participation in the contest to its member Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). NDR had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision. The broadcaster organised a multi-artist national final in cooperation to select their entry for the 1998 contest.

Countdown Grand Prix 1998 was the competition organised by NDR to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. Ten acts were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of NDR, which included head of the entertainment department Jürgen Meier-Beer, from proposals received by the broadcaster from record companies and producers and among the competing artists was Wind (with different group members) which represented Germany in 1985, in 1987, and in 1992.^{[citation needed]}

The televised final took place on 26 February 1998 at the Stadthalle in Bremen, hosted by Axel Bulthaupt and Nena and broadcast on Das Erste.^[2] The winner, "Guildo hat euch lieb!" performed by Guildo Horn, was selected solely through public televoting.^[3] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Nena performed her song "Was hast du mit meinem Traum gemacht", and Paul Oscar, who represented Iceland in 1997, performed his entry "Minn hinsti dans". The national final was watched by 7.73 million viewers in Germany and 689,402 votes were cast during the show.^{[citation needed]}