The final was held in Lübeck, hosted by Jens Riewa. Nine songs took part and the winner was chosen by televoting, converted into percentages. "Zeit" received over three times more votes than the second-placed song. Other participants included the previous year's German winner Leon – who had notoriously been eliminated in the audio-only pre-qualifying round of the 1996 Eurovision – and Michelle, who would represent Germany in 2001.