MeKaDo — Wir geben 'ne Party

Germany has been represented at every Eurovision Song Contest since its inaugural edition in 1956, except in 1996 when its entry did not qualify past the audio-only pre-selection round, and consequently did not enter the final and does not count as one of its 68 appearances. No other country has been represented as many times. Along with France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, Germany is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to their participating broadcasters being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The German participating broadcaster in the contest is ARD, which has delegated its participation to different members of the consortium over the years.