United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest especially for the UK televised selection contest, "A Song for Europe" (a programme which in later years would be renamed to "Making Your Mind Up"). At Eurovision in Dublin, they defeated Germany's Lena Valaitis by four points. The group went on to continued success, with 13 UK top 40 hits over the next five years. This would be the last UK win for 16 years, although the country continued to be competitive at the contest with four more second-place results during this time. In 1988, Scott Fitzgerald lost to Celine Dion, who was representing Switzerland, by just one point. In
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 Germany was represented by mother and daughter duo Maxi & Chris Garden, with the song "Lied für einen Freund", at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 30 April in Dublin. "Lied für einen Freund", written by prolific Eurovision duo Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger, was the winner of the German national final, held on 31 March. Maxi & Chris Garden had finished second in the 1987 German final. One of the songs which failed to qualify for the 1988 German national final, "Das Beste" by male/female duo Duett, later became