Austria In The Eurovision Song Contest
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Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
has participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
54 times since its debut in . The country has won twice, in and , and such it holds the record for the longest gap between consecutive wins — 48 years. The contest is broadcast in Austria by
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
.
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
was the host city on both of the occasions that the contest was held in Austria, in and . Having finished sixth at the contest and fourth in ,
Udo Jürgens Udo Jürgens (born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann; 30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014) was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close ...
won at his third attempt in with the song "". This was Austria's only top three result of the 20th century. Austria won again in , with
Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). Neuwirth came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as with t ...
and "
Rise Like a Phoenix "Rise Like a Phoenix" is a pop song performed by Austrian singer Conchita Wurst, and the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Selected to represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark, its official release on 18 March 2014 w ...
". Austria has finished last in the contest final seven times (1957, 1961, 1962, 1979, 1984, 1988 and 1991) and finished last in the semifinal in 2012.
Cesár Sampson Cesár Sampson (born 18 August 1983) is an Austrian singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and model. He was also a social worker and fitness coach. He represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song " Nobody but You", winnin ...
achieved Austria's eighth top five result and second-best result of the 21st century at the contest, finishing third with the song " Nobody but You".


History

Austria finished last at its first attempt in the contest in 1957, before
Liane Augustin Liane Augustin (18 November 1927 – 30 April 1978) was a German Austrian singer and actress. Biography Liane Augustin was born in Berlin, Germany in 1927. Her postwar successes as a nightclub singer in the Viennese Boheme Bar led to numerou ...
gave the country the first of its eight top five results in , with fifth. Having finished sixth in and fourth in , Udo Jürgens won the contest at his third attempt in 1966. This would be Austria's only top three result of 20th century. The country's best result over the next 46 years (1967–2013) would be fifth place, which it achieved with
Milestones A milestone is a marker of distance along roads. Milestone may also refer to: Measurements *Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project *Software release life cycle state, s ...
in ,
Waterloo & Robinson Waterloo and Robinson is an Austrian band, consisting of Johann Kreuzmayr ("Waterloo") and Josef Krassnitzer ("Robinson"). The duo are most famous for representing Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performing the song My Little W ...
in and
Thomas Forstner Thomas Forstner (born December 3, 1969 in Deutsch-Wagram, Lower Austria) is a singer who has represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest twice. In 1989 he performed "Nur ein Lied" ( en, "Only A Song") in Lausanne, giving Austria the fifth p ...
in . Austria has finished last in the final a total of seven times, in 1957, 1961, 1962, 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991. The country also finished last in the semi-final in 2012. Austria's best result of the 1990s was four tenth-place finishes, in , , and . Austria's best result of the 2000s was
Alf Poier Alf Poier (born 22 February 1967 in Judenburg, Styria) is an Austrian artist and stand-up comedian. Biography Born in Judenburg in Styria, he started doing cabaret in 1995 in Graz, and has won several prizes for his work, including the ...
's sixth-place in , which was Austria's best placement since 1989. After a three-year absence,
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
announced on 28 July 2010 that Austria would return to the contest in , where the country reached the final for the first time since 2004, finishing 18th. Austria achieved its second victory in the contest at the contest, with
Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). Neuwirth came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as with t ...
winning with 290 points. In a complete reversal of fortunes in 2015, following a tie-break rule Austria was placed 26th and scored nul points along with
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(27th), they became the first countries since the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in 2003 to score nul points at the final. Because of this, Austria became the first host country to receive ''nul points''. Austria qualified for the final for the next three years, finishing 13th in 2016, 16th in 2017 and in 2018, when " Nobody but You" by
Cesár Sampson Cesár Sampson (born 18 August 1983) is an Austrian singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and model. He was also a social worker and fitness coach. He represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song " Nobody but You", winnin ...
finished third. The country's fortunes were once again reversed afterwards, with
Paenda Gabriela Horn (born 25 January 1988), known professionally as Paenda (pronounced "panda"; stylised as Pænda and in all caps), is an Austrian singer, songwriter and music producer. She represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 wit ...
(2019),
Vincent Bueno Vincent Mendoza Bueno (born 10 December 1985) is an Austrian singer of Filipino descent. On 12 January 2008, he became the winner of the ORF programme, '' Musical! Die Show'' (''Musical! The Show''), an Austrian television musical contest. He ...
(2021) and
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feat. Pia Maria (2022) failing to qualify for the final.


Absences

Austria has opted out of participation in several Contests. The first of these was the 1969 Contest, which was staged in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. As
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was ruled at that time by
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
, Austria chose to boycott the Contest. Contest historian
John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous m ...
points out, however, that Austria had given Spain two points in the previous event and since Spain only won by one point, the political protest was perhaps disingenuous. The following year, Austria was again absent. This was due to the unprecedented result in 1969 in which four songs tied for first place, a result which prompted several other countries to opt out as well. From
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to
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, Austria stayed away as well. The exact reason for this is unclear, however the scoring system in use at one of these Contests - allowing all entrants a guaranteed number of points - may have been a factor. The country was ineligible to compete in
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
and
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, as it had not achieved sufficiently high placings in the five previous years. Prior to the 2006 contest, Austria announced that they would not enter a performer in protest at their poor results in previous years, arguing that the musical talent of the performers was no longer the determining factor in Contest success. They returned for the 2007 contest in
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, but came second to last in the semi-final. National broadcaster ORF cited the 2007 result, as well as declining interest in the Contest among Austrian viewers, as the reason Austria would not return to the contest in
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. ORF programme director Wolfgang Lorenz also hinted that Austria may withdraw from the contest indefinitely, stating "ORF has no desire to send more talent out of Austria to a competition where they have no chances...Should the situation change, we'll be happy to take part again". Despite withdrawing, the final of the 2008 contest was screened on ORF. In 2008, the EBU introduced two semi-finals to the contest, hoping that spreading countries out by random draw would prevent the kind of bloc voting that had warded Austria off. Additionally, they reintroduced juries to determine 50% of each country's result in 2009 (albeit not in the semi-finals, in which all but one of the qualifiers were decided entirely by televote). However, Edgar Böhm, director of entertainment for ORF, said that the semi-final format "still incorporates a mix of countries who will be politically favoured in the voting process" and "that, unless a clear guideline as to how the semifinals are organised is made by the EBU, Austria will not be taking part in Moscow 2009". ORF decided not to participate in the 2009 contest, but did broadcast the final as in 2008. The EBU announced that they would work harder to bring Austria back to the contest in
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, along with former participants
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and
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. It was, however, confirmed that Austria would not participate in the 2010 Contest in Oslo. In July 2010, the chairman of ORF, Alexander Wrabetz, stated that Austria would return for the 2011 contest, due to it being held in its neighbour Germany. In 2011, Austria reached the final for the first time since 2004.


Participation overview


Hostings


Awards


Marcel Bezençon Awards


Related involvement


Conductors


Heads of delegation


Commentators and spokespersons

Between the and contests, every contest was commentated by Austrian radio journalist and actor
Ernst Grissemann Ernst Grissemann (18 February 1934 – 6 January 2023) was an Austrian radio host, journalist, and actor. Biography Grissemann began his career in radio in 1954 with in the Allied-occupied Austria, French occupation of Austria. The following ye ...
, with the exception of the and contests. Grissemann admitted to future German commentator Peter Urban in 1995 that he only stayed for the dress rehearsal and then provided the Austrian commentary live from the
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
studios. After 1998 Grissemann stepped down from the commentary and was replaced by
Andi Knoll Andreas "Andi" Knoll (born 11 June 1972 in Innsbruck) is an Austrian radio and television presenter. He is Austria's commentator at the Eurovision Song Contest each year. Eurovision Song Contest work Since the 1999 contest (with the except ...
. Austria has also broadcast the contests which it did not compete in, except for the contest.


Photogallery

File:Eurovision Song Contest 1958 - Liane Augustin 2.png,
Liane Augustin Liane Augustin (18 November 1927 – 30 April 1978) was a German Austrian singer and actress. Biography Liane Augustin was born in Berlin, Germany in 1927. Her postwar successes as a nightclub singer in the Viennese Boheme Bar led to numerou ...
performing "" in
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() File:Eurovision Song Contest 1965 - Udo Jürgens.jpg,
Udo Jürgens Udo Jürgens (born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann; 30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014) was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close ...
performing "" in
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() File:Tie Break - Austria 2004.jpg, Tie Break performing "" in
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Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
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Nadine Beiler Nadine Beiler (born 27 May 1990) is an Austrian Contemporary R&B, R&B and pop singer, who won the third season of the Austrian casting show ''Starmania (TV series), Starmania'' in 2007. On 16 February 2007, she released her first single, "Alles ...
in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
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Natália Kelly Natália Kelly (born December 18, 1994) is an American-Austrian singer. She currently resides in Bad Vöslau, Lower Austria. Kelly represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, with the song " Shine". Biography 2 ...
performing "Shine" in
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
() File:ESC2014 - Austria 02.jpg,
Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). Neuwirth came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as with t ...
performing "
Rise Like a Phoenix "Rise Like a Phoenix" is a pop song performed by Austrian singer Conchita Wurst, and the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Selected to represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark, its official release on 18 March 2014 w ...
" in
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() File:20150522 ESC 2015 The Makemakes 9840.jpg,
The Makemakes The Makemakes are an Austrian pop rock band, comprising Dominic "Dodo" Muhrer, Markus Christ and Florian Meindl. They represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song " I Am Yours". Career 2012–2014: Early beginnings On 15 ...
performing "I Am Yours" in
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Nathan Trent Nathanaele Koll (born 4 April 1992), known professionally as Nathan Trent, is an Austrian singer. He represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Austria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song " Running on Ai ...
performing "Running on Air" in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
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Cesár Sampson Cesár Sampson (born 18 August 1983) is an Austrian singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and model. He was also a social worker and fitness coach. He represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song " Nobody but You", winnin ...
performing "Nobody but You" in
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Paenda Gabriela Horn (born 25 January 1988), known professionally as Paenda (pronounced "panda"; stylised as Pænda and in all caps), is an Austrian singer, songwriter and music producer. She represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 wit ...
performing "Limits" in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
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and Pia Maria performing "Halo" in
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See also

*
Austria in Eurovision Choir Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine States of Austria, states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, th ...
– A competition organised by the EBU for non-professional choirs. *
Austria in the Eurovision Dance Contest The Eurovision Dance Contest was an international ballroom dancing competition that was held for the first time in the United Kingdom on Saturday 1 September 2007. The contest was similar in format to the long-running Eurovision Song Contest and ...
– Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest. *
Austria in the Eurovision Young Dancers Austria has participated in the Eurovision Young Dancers 5 times since its debut in 1987, most recently taking part in 2001. Participation overview See also *Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest Austria has participated in the Eurovis ...
– A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21. *
Austria in the Eurovision Young Musicians Austria has participated in the biennial classical music competition Eurovision Young Musicians 18 times since its debut in 1982 and is the most successful country in the contest, with a total of five wins. Austria has hosted the contest a record ...
– A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.


Notes and references


Notes


References


External links


Independent Eurovision Song Contest site from AustriaLyrics for all Austrian entries
''eurovisioncovers.co.uk'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Austria In The Eurovision Song Contest Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest