Photo Gallery Lena Wins!
Lena was greeted by tens of thousands of fans at the airport in her hometown of Hanover on Sunday after retuning from the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. Her victory with the song "Satellite" marked the second time Germany has won Eurovision in its 55-year history -- the other time was 1982.
Lena, who turned 19 a week ago, told the crowd: "You guys are crazy, go inside, it's raining." She was also greeted by the governor of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff, who deemed Lena a "big asset for our country."
An estimated 40,000 fans turned out to see Lena speak outside of Hanover's city hall on Sunday.
Lena arrives in Hanover with her mentor, TV personality Stefan Raab. Raab is a former German entrant in the song contest -- his performance in 2000 finished in fifth place.
Lena's performance in the finals on Saturday night received 246 points, 76 points ahead of second-place Turkey. Oddsmakers pegged Azerbaijan's Safura as the favorite, but Google's prediction -- which studied Internet popularity -- correctly forecasted a Lena victory. It was the second year in a row that Google predicted the Eurovision winner.
In total shock: "I'm so happy and so thankful and so grateful, and I never thought we could do this," Lena said onstage after winning. Thirty-four countries participated in Eurovision, but only 20 made Saturday's final.
Eurovision will now be held in Germany next year. Debate has already begun about where it should be held: In Hanover, Lena's hometown; poor, but sexy, Berlin; or Cologne, the country's de facto TV capital? Hamburg has also thrown its hat into the ring.
Norway spent 25.2 million ($31 million) to host Eurovision. Next year will be Germany's turn to foot the bill. Many expect Germany to spend less considering the unhealthy economic condition of the EU. Some EU members, including the Czech Republic and Hungary, did not participate because of financial concerns.
Despite Eurovision's message of pan-European unity, politics always plays a role. This year, Greece, whose recent bailout was met with heavy bellyaching by Germany, gave only two of its 58 votes to Lena. Traditionally,various regions of Europe have been at pains to help their neighbors.
Her majesty's entrance: Norway's Princess Maertha-Louisa and her husband Ari Behn arrive Saturday at the Eurovision final in Oslo.
Alexander Rybak of Norway, last year's Eurovision winner, and his violin opened Saturday's finals.
Lena's main rival, Safura of Azerbaijan, performs her song "Drip Drop." Safura took home fifth place.
Daniel Diges of Spain performs "Algo Pequenito (Something Tiny)"...
...but Diges' performance was interrupted by Catalan prankster "Jimmy Jump," who is famous for invading football pitches during play. The judges let Diges perform his song, uninterrupted, for a second time.
Didrik Solli-Tangen, Norway's entry, finished in 20th place.
Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira of Moldova channeled their inner Lady Gaga. Voters, however, weren't buying it and Moldova finished in 22nd place...
...Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders from Cyprus fared only one spot better in 21st place.
Belgium's Tom Dice's song, "Me and My Guitar," finished sixth. Dice received the most votes from Germany, who were unable to vote for their own act according to the rules.
In 17th place: Vukasin Brajic (right) from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Milan Stankovic of Serbia was this year's favorite gender-bender, finishing in 13th place.
"Butterflies," the song from Belarus' 3+2, found the most love from Georgia. The former Soviet republic gave its Cold War brethren enough points to vault ahead of the UK in battle for last place.
Niamh Kavanagh performs "It's for You," Ireland's entry.
Giorgos Alkaios & Friends of Greece received more love from the German public, eight points, than they have since the onset of the euro crisis.
Josh from the United Kingdom "I Should Be So Lucky." This time, he wasn't. Josh brought up the rear of the competition with only 10 points.
Sofia Nizharadze's (left) song "Shine" took home ninth place for Georgia.
The Turkish group maNga dreamt of EU equality performing "We Could Be the Same." Turkey finished second with 170 points.
Not a second time: Norway's Rybak won last year with a violin, but Juliana Pasha of Albania wasn't so lucky this time with the same instrument.
Revenge of the ash cloud? Hera Björk of Iceland only managed 19th place.
Alyosha of Ukraine performs "Sweet People." She finished 10th.
Jessy Matador of France finished 12th.
Paula Seling and Ovi of Romania rode their pyrotechnic performance to third place.
Peter Nalitch and Friends were very popular among former Eastern Bloc countries, but few others. They finished 11th.
Eva Rivas of Armenia finished seventh.
In Hamburg, they were "la la" for Lena during an outdoor viewing of the competition on Saturday.
Portugal's Filipa Azevedo was one of the few contestants to sing in her native language. Her song, "Ha Dias Assim," was only good for 18th place.
Harel Skaat of Israel performs "Milim." He finished in 14th, but found strong support from Holland and Finland.
Chanee and N'evergreen's "In a Moment Like This" placed fourth. The act are from Denmark.
Despite the European economic troubles, the show went on with the usual flair and camp.
