ARD had selected an artist and song to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 , to be held in Oslo , Norway . Due to the large number of countries wanting to compete at Eurovision , they determined that only 23 of the 30 countries could compete . Hosts Norway qualified automatically , the other 29 songs went into an audio-only pre-qualification round , with the top 22 going on to compete alongside Norway in Oslo . Unfortunately for Germany its entry , Leon with " Planet of Blue " , failed to earn enough points to progress to the final , finishing 24th . ARD and the EBU were not happy with this , as Germany was the biggest financial contributor at the time . This is the only time that Germany has been absent from the contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest