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Germany: Lena Valaitis 65 and still in business
Lena Valaitis came to the world in the Lithuanian town of Klaipeda, but at a very early age and just before the end of the second world war she moved with her family to West Germany. While still at school, she started taking singing lessons and competing in various talent shows. In the late sixties, she entered the show businnes with the band Federick Brothers and throughout the seventies she managed to make a name and some well known hits as a solo artist. In 1976, she made her first contact with the Eurovision Song Contest by competing in the German national finals with the song Du machst Karriere, finishing 7th and eventually 6th as the winner was disqualified .
In 1981, some 5 years later, she finally got the ticket to Dublin to represent Germany with Johny Blue. The song, composed by the very successful hit maker duo Siegel/Meinunger(responsible for Nicole's Ein bißchen Frieden and many other German participations) finished second. Lena missed the victory for just four points . Her title though made a big impression on show experts from the whole Europe. It was released as a single in 14 European countries, and one day after the contest the british media praised it with titles such as "We love Johny".
In the following years she remained partly active but with less success. In 1992, she tried to make it to the Eurovision Song Contest again with the Wir sehen uns wieder, but the song came 3rd in the German national final. Since 2001 she has successfully started a comeback. Currently, she is making some TV appearances in Germany promoting her latest single and also singing some of her older hits, such as Ob es so, oder so, oder anders kommt(the Nickel song), So wie ein Regenbogen, Da kommt José der Straßenmusikant. Lena Valaitis is still seen in Germany as a talented singer and she is very appreciated for "her melancholic voice and her nice and down to earth attitude with her fans".
An article by Nikolas Psomas
Johnny blue
Du bist nicht alleine, her latest single, 2008
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@Dan:
no problem, mate :-)..i know this, because one of my best friends here in berlin comes from Lithuania, and it took him some weeks to persuade and prove to me that he has no greek origin at all. His name sounds totally greek too..And since it happens that i have also written this article about Lena, i feel somehow obliged to clear things up..but i do it with big pleasure :-)
@Vincent
Thank you pal 4 the clearing up! 
Very interesting info with regard to the Greek-Lithuanian names...
I didn't know that,thanxx 
Jan Castricum
I thought I was the only one who liked the Norwegian entry in 1981. And I agree, the Swiss song was the best one, sorry UK.
@dan..
lol! her name is definetely lithuanian. She was born in Lithuania and she had lithuanian parents(her father dies in the 2. world war). The thing is that out of a very strange reason ty[ical lithuanian name endings are similar to some greek ones. That is very true, a bit strange though, if one thinks that these 2 languages have almost nothing in common..but some name and surname endings. I can assure you, Lena is not
greek at all
...Her name is GREEK!
Could please tell me wether she has greek descent or sth???
Thanx!
@Ramón:
You are so right
The Swiss song was the best ! Johnny Blue still remains 2nd
About the rest, well.. a lot of the songs that year were rubbish
Norway had a lovely song though..
What fantastic contest was Dublin 81. It was hard to decide the best entry. In my opinion, Switzerland deserved to win, but also UK, Germany, France, Finland, Denmark, Israel, Belgium, Yougoslavia and Greece were my favourites that night.
It's one of my german favorits and I agree with "Little Imp" that she deserves to win with "Wir sehen uns wieder" 1992.
Happy Birthday!
'Johnny Blue' is the only song by Lena Valaitis I really like, in fact, it is probably the only German schlager I like. The reason might be that I was quite young in '81 and fighting the tears while watching Lena performing the song in Dublin ...
Johnny Blue was a great song. I also loved 'Wir seh'n uns wieder'. It's a shame that she didn't win and we got Wind again with a very weak song.
Happy birthday Lena !
Do you still like to spend your holidays at the dutch coast in Callantsoog, like you used to do ??
I loved "Johnny Blue", but also all your other songs, which are a big contribution for the German Schlager-scene.
i also think, this was one of the best german entries ever..frankly, i think Germany both in the older times of the esc as in its modern times has presented us some very good entries. And Max, i agree, oi also love the way sje pronounces her "rr" when she sings. Alol the best to this nice singer
Happy Birthday, Lena!
I always loved the way she pronounced her 'r'...
Happy Birthday Lena !! I love their song Johnny Blue !! For me it's one of the best German entry's !!
I really like this song, was madly in love with Lena, bought the single... Good old days. So happy birthday Lena...
I loved Johnny Blue. One of the best German entries ever! 
Go Lena!
Never liked "johnny Blue" at all. But I like Lena as a person and I do think that she has a good voice. AND I think she looks very good for her age!!!!
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