Germans fret no one likes them after Eurovision dud

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans fretted about being unloved in Europe on Sunday after their most popular band of the last decade got zero points from 40 of 42 countries in the Eurovision Song Contest and they ended up sharing last place.

"Why doesn't anyone like us?" asked Bild am Sonntag newspaper after Germany had yet another horrendous showing in the annual contest watched by more than 100 million viewers.

"Are we too stupid to win or is it simply we're not liked?" the Sunday newspaper said. "The fact is Germany's top recording artists have failed spectacularly in this contest. Do our singers simply have no chance abroad?"

Britain's veteran Eurovision presenter Terry Wogan questioned whether the contest favoured Eastern European countries after Britain's highly touted entry came last with Germany and Poland.

"It's no longer a music contest," Wogan said, adding he was not sure he would bother going to Eurovision anymore. "Indeed, western European participants have to decide whether they want to take part from here on in because their prospects are poor."

"I'm afraid nobody loves the UK," he broadcasted during the show.

The "No Angels", four women in skimpy dresses who sold more than 5 million albums in the last eight years, went into the contest in Belgrade with hopes of giving Germany their second victory, in the 53-year-old contest. Germany last won in 1982.

The Eurovision Song Contest might be dismissed as tacky and kitsch in some countries -- as witnessed by novelty acts such as singing pirates from Latvia and writhing devils from Azerbaijan. But it is serious stuff in Germany, where 6.5 million watched.