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 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (E ...

with the song " Nobody but You", winning the jury vote, coming in 13th place in the televote and finishing in third place overall.

Life and career

At the age of seventeen, he started touring locally and internationally. He was a backing singer on the Austrian version of ''

Dancing With the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''.

Music production

Symphonix

In the music production domain, he is part of the music formation Symphonix or Symphonix International, a musical production and events project, mostly active in Austria, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom. Borislav "Boby" Milanov is the CEO with the other members being Johan Alkenäs, Joacim Persson and Cesár Sampson himself. Symphonix has been involved in the launching of a number of songs particularly for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

including " Dance Alone" by Macedonian singer Jana Burčeska, "

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

" by

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n band

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

, " Beautiful Mess" by Bulgarian singer

Kristian Kostov Kristian Konstantinov Kostov (; born 15 March 2000) is a Bulgarian-Russian singer.He has a double citizenship: Russian and Bulgarian.Sources:1. Quote: "''17-летний участник «Евровидения» родился в Москве ...

and Cesár Sampson's own entry for Austria " Nobody but You". Sampson also worked with the formation Electric Church.

Eurovision Song Contest

2016 and 2017

Sampson performed backing vocals for the Bulgarian acts for two consecutive years in the

. In Eurovision 2016, he was backing

Poli Genova Poli Plamenova Genova (; born 10 February 1987) is a Bulgarian singer, songwriter, actress, and television presenter. Genova began her career in 1991, at the age of four, as a member of the Bulgarian children's ensemble Bon-Bon. Genova later wen ...

in " If Love Was a Crime". The song finished 4th place overall. And in Eurovision 2017, he was

's vocal coach and support vocalist for his performance of " Beautiful Mess". The song finished second overall behind the winning song from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

2018

On 5 December 2017, he was announced as the Austrian representative in the

. He sang " Nobody but You". The song is composed by Sampson himself as well as Boris Milanov and Sebastian Arman, who have been involved in the composition of a number of songs for

. He went on to win the jury vote with 271 points, but finished third overall, after taking into account the televoting where he ranked 13th with 71 points, thus preserving him the third overall position, with the public vote favouring Israel as the winner and Cyprus as the runner-up. This was the third highest ranking of all Austrian entries after its two Eurovision winning songs, first in Eurovision 1966 with "

Merci, Chérie "Merci, Chérie" (; "Thank you, darling") is a song composed and recorded by Austrian singer Udo Jürgens with lyrics by himself and Thomas Hörbiger. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, resulting in the ...

" by

Udo Jürgens Jürgen Udo Bockelmann (30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014), generally known as Udo Jürgens, was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, ...

and 48 years later in Eurovision 2014 with " Rise like a Phoenix" with

Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer, fashion designer, human rights activist and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). He came to international attention after winning the Euro ...

. Later that year, he appeared as a guest star in the Christmas edition of the Spanish TV program '' Operación Triunfo.''

Personal life

Sampson was born in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

, Austria. His father is a choreographer and

pilates Pilates (; ) is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. Pilates called his method "Contrology". Pilates uses a combination of around 50 repetitive e ...

master teacher of Saint Lucian origin, who introduced pilates in the German-speaking countries. Sampson himself became a personal trainer and strength and mobility coach in pilates. His mother was a pianist, singer and songwriter most famous for co-writing and performing the theme song of the popular Austrian TV series ''

Inspector Rex ''Inspector Rex'' (German: ''Kommissar Rex''; Italian: ''Il commissario Rex'') is an Austrian-Italian police procedural television series created by Peter Hajek and Peter Moser. Originally an Austrian series aired from 1994 to 2004 on ORF 1, in ...

'' (). Sampson is also the nephew of Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque from the 1980s duo Pepsi & Shirlie. He also sang as a lead vocalist for

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

. Sampson worked for many years as a

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

er. He studied sports sciences getting a diploma and starting at age 20, he worked for several years as a

physical therapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease prevention ...

, and in particular, worked with people with disabilities and handicaps. Sampson has done modeling, and is signed to a Slovak model agency.

Discography

Singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Cesar 1983 births Austrian electronic musicians Austrian people of Saint Lucian descent Austrian male models 21st-century Austrian male singers Austrian pop singers Austrian songwriters Austrian male songwriters Living people Musicians from Linz Austrian people of British descent Eurovision Song Contest entrants