The granddaughter of a former West German ambassador to the Soviet Union won the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest with "Satellite," an upbeat, catchy pop song, while Russia's entry placed a middling 11th.
Germany's Lena Meyer-Landrut, who turned 19 during the competition in Oslo, won 246 points in the voting Saturday by a panel of judges and telephone votes from fans in the 39 participating countries.
It was Germany's second win in the songfest's 55-year history, and the victory means that it will host next year's contest.
Onstage after winning, Meyer-Landrut demanded a kiss on the cheek from Norwegian fiddler Alexander Rybak, who won in Moscow last year.
"I'm so happy and so thankful and so grateful, and I never thought we could do this," she said, covering her face with a German flag and, looking bewildered, asked: "Do I have to sing now?"
Alone on stage, with her backup singers in shadow, and dressed in a black cocktail dress, black stockings and dark pumps, Meyer-Landrut sang "Satellite" again to cheers and applause.
Meyer-Landrut is the granddaughter of Andreas Meyer-Landrut, who served as West Germany's ambassador to Moscow from 1980 to 1983 and 1987 to 1989
Germany beat the Turkish entry by 76 points. Romania came in third.
Norway spent 200 million kroner ($31 million) to host the elaborate songfest, which led off with a performance by Rybak.
This year several countries have pulled out of the extravaganza citing financial strains, including the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Andorra and Hungary.
Observers also feared that the voting for the winner — a political consideration even in the best of times — would be affected by the continent's simmering financial tensions. The Greek government debt crisis and a subsequent European Union-led bailout have strained relations within the 27-nation bloc.
Germany's supremacy didn't inspire joy everywhere. On Russian state television, an announcer said, "Clearly everyone knows where to turn when they need money."
The contest is known for over-the-top exuberance in costumes, lighting and set design. Female singers from the group 3+2 from Belarus donned wings and glittering gowns to perform the song "Butterflies" alongside male singers dressed in dark suits. The performance placed 24th, barely edging out Britain's Josh Dubovie for last place.
Earlier in the week, 34 contestants were whittled down to 20 in two semifinals. They were competing in the final with five pre-qualified countries — last year's winner, Norway, and the contest's four perennials: Britain, Germany, France and Spain.
Politically motivated voting, as well as bloc voting, has been fairly common in Eurovision, and this year was no exception, with former Soviet bloc countries supporting one another, a trend that has helped the region win five of the last 10 contests.
Georgia's Sofia Nizharadze took ninth place with the song "Shine," while Ukraine's Alyosha placed 10th with "Sweet People."
Russia's Peter Nalitch won 11th place with a subdued performance of his song "Lost and Forgotten."
Russia won Eurovision for the first time in 2008 with an over-the-top performance that saw pop singer Dima Bilan belting out a song as Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko ice-skated on the stage.
"Wearing a green cardigan, grey scarf and black trousers, Nalitch did not make a single step aside while singing the song with a woman's photo in his hands," state news agency RIA-Novosti wrote in its appraisal of Saturday's performance. "The only special effect was artificial snow, which fell around Nalitch and his band during the performance."
(MT, AP)
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