(eca001): Germans ecstatic at schoolgirl's song contest win (News Feature)

By Jean-Baptiste Piggin May 30, 2010, 1:28 GMT

Berlin - Germans reacted with ecstasy early Sunday to the victory of a pert 19-year-old schoolgirl in the Eurovision song contest, the first time a German performer has won the continental TV event for 28 years.

Residents set off fireworks in some German cities after Lena Meyer-Landrut gained a commanding lead in phone-in votes from a wide range of European nations to the contest in Oslo. Just a few months ago the bubbly teenager had been practically unknown, even in her own country.

A series of variety and talk-show appearances just before the climax of the annual television pop-music extravaganza turned her into a national celebrity. Germans were as impressed with her good manners as they were with her unstilted girlish chatter.

Lena's English-language love song, Satellite, sung with lots of tummy rubbing and expansive arm gestures, delighted Germans, who figured out early on that it might end the decades-old jinx that has seen so many German contestants finish far back in the rankings.

The one and only grand-prize win for Germany had been by the singer Nicole singing a reedy guitar song, 'A Little Peace,' in 1982.

The Song Contest may be just a TV event, but over the years, some Germans had developed a dark suspicion that their country 'always' lost because of lingering resentment towards their nation from the Second World War.

Late Saturday, viewers in nine of the 39 participating nations rated Lena in first place.

The viewers are not allowed to vote for the performer from their own country.

There had also been a sense of injustice because Germany is one of 'big four' nations - the others are Britain, France and Spain - which contribute the most to the organizing body, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and have a direct berth in the finals.

Meyer-Landrut, from the northern city of Hanover, had to cram for her final-year high-school tests in biology, sport and history while she was rehearsing her act. She went straight from exams to a round of pre-final media appearances.

That marked her out in the public mind as better-educated than many other contestants in the TV talent quests popular in Germany.

After hearing that her grandfather is a retired ambassador, many Germans became convinced that Lena was 'posh' and had learned English from hobnobbing with high society (in fact she learned all her English at German school).

The singer, who says she had no early vocal training, told reporters her previous entertainment experience had been limited to homemade dance videos and some stage appearances with a school band.

Germans partly credit Lena's success to Stefan Raab, an astute television personality who oversaw the Eurovision selection process and was determined to end a long tradition of sending outlandishly bad German singers to the Song Contest final.

By some accounts, Satellite set a download record for Germany, with the highest number of sales in the shortest period. Lena earlier scored top-five ranking with three other songs, and she has released an album, My Cassette Player.

A great cry went up from a crowd gathered in the St Pauli entertainment district of the German port city of Hamburg when Lena was declared Eurovision winner early Sunday. The victor is decided by viewers who phone a preset number or send a text message to vote.

Meyer-Landrut was set to arrive back in her hometown Hanover on Sunday to a hero's welcome.

Lena hype has also been keyed up by the singer's insistence that her private life is no business of the press.

There was consternation last month when photos showed up in the German media of Lena skinny-dipping with a boy at night in a pond.

But Lena insisted the topless sex scene was a dull day's work for a film company: she also accepts acting assignments if the fee is right. 'That wasn't me. It was a role I was playing,' she said.

She also often hints that her TV singing career is just a bit of fun before she follows up some more noble vocation.

Some have wondered if her giggly public persona is also a role she plays, but reporters who have interviewed Meyer-Landrut say that, off screen, she is the same self-confident, chattery young person who charms the TV audiences.

They say she seems to be simply a born entertainer who enjoys the attention. At the same time, she has the discipline and intelligence to keep up a busy schedule, plan her moves and remain on message.

Internet: www.lena-meyer-landrut.com