Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest

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Austria

Flag
Member station ORF
National selection events none
Appearances 43
First appearance 1957
Best result 1st, 1966
Worst result last, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991
External links
Austria's page at Eurovision.tv
Eric Papilaya at Helsinki (2007)
Eric Papilaya at Helsinki (2007)

Austria has appeared frequently at the Eurovision Song Contest, although without much success. The country has won on one occasion with the song "Merci Cherie".[1]

In recent years, Austria's entries have tended towards the humorous, in contrast with the dance-pop achieving success. 2003 saw comedian and personality Alf Poier perform "Weil Der Mensch Zählt", a song about farm animals.[2] 2005 saw a performance by folk band Global Kryner singing the Latin-inspired "Y Así".[3] This was Austria's first appearance in the semi-final, and the country failed to qualify for the final.

Contents

[edit] Absences

Austria has opted out of participation in several Contests. The first of these was the 1969 Contest, which was staged in Madrid. As Spain was ruled at that time by Francisco Franco, Austria chose to boycott the Contest. Contest historian John Kennedy O'Connor 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.[4]

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.[5]

From 1973 to 1975, 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 and 2001, as it had not achieved sufficiently high placings in the five previous years.[6]

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.[7][8] They returned for the 2007 contest in Helsinki, 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 will not return to the contest in 2008. 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." [9] Despite withdrawing, the final of the 2008 contest was screened on ORF. This would give Austria the option of returning to the contest in 2009. [10]

[edit] Selection Procedures

Austria selects their entry during the annual song. XX Festival (where XX is the last two digits of the year - eg. 'song.null.funf' in 2005)

[edit] Participants

Year Artist Title Final Points Semi Points
1957 Bob Martin Wohin, kleines Pony? 10 3
1958 Liane Augustin Die ganze Welt braucht Liebe 5 8
1959 Ferry Graf Der K und K Kalypso aus Wien 9 4
1960 Harry Winter Du hast mich so fasziniert 7 6
1961 Jimmy Makulis Sehnsucht 15 1
1962 Eleonore Schwarz Nur in der wiener Luft 13 0
1963 Carmela Corren Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder 7 16
1964 Udo Jürgens Warum nur warum? 6 11
1965 Udo Jürgens Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen 4 16
1966 Udo Jürgens Merci Chérie 1 31
1967 Peter Horton Warum es hunderttausend Sterne gibt 14 2
1968 Karel Gott Tausend Fenster 13 2
1971 Marianne Mendt Musik 16 66
1972 Milestones Falter im Wind 5 100
1976 Waterloo & Robinson My Little World 5 80
1977 Schmetterlinge Boom Boom Boomerang 17 11
1978 Springtime Mrs. Caroline Robinson 15 14
1979 Christina Simon Heute in Jerusalem 18 5
1980 Blue Danube Du bist Musik 8 64
1981 Marty Brem Wenn du da bist 17 20
1982 Mess Sonntag 9 57
1983 Westend Hurricane 9 53
1984 Anita Einfach weg 19 5
1985 Gary Lux Kinder dieser Welt 8 60
1986 Timna Brauer Die Zeit ist einsam 18 12
1987 Gary Lux Nur noch Gefühl 20 8
1988 Wilfried Lisa Mona Lisa 21 0
1989 Thomas Forstner Nur ein Lied 5 97
1990 Simone Keine Mauern mehr 10 58
1991 Thomas Forstner Venedig im Regen 22 0
1992 Tony Wegas Zusammen geh'n 10 63
1993 Tony Wegas Maria Magdalena 14 32
1994 Petra Frey Für den Frieden der Welt 17 19
1995 Stella Jones Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt 13 67
1996 George Nussbaumer Weil's dr guat got 10 68
1997 Bettina Soriat One Step 21 12
1999 Bobbie Singer Reflection 10 65
2000 The Rounder Girls All To You 14 24
2002 Manuel Ortega Say A Word 18 24
2003 Alf Poier Weil der Mensch zählt 6 101
2004 Tie Break Du bist 21 9 NA NA
2005 Global Kryner Y Así NA NA 21 30
2007 Eric Papilaya Get A Life - Get Alive NA NA 27 4

[edit] References

  1. ^ Diggiloo Thrush. 1968 Austria. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  2. ^ Diggiloo Thrush. 2003 Austria. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  3. ^ Diggiloo Thrush. 2005 Austria. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  4. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. 
  5. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. 
  6. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. 
  7. ^ Philips, Roel (June 18, 2005). Austria withdraws from 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  8. ^ Philips, Roel (June 20, 2005). Austrian Broadcaster explains withdrawal. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  9. ^ Holyer, Steve (20 November, 2007). Austria will not go to Belgrade. Retrieved on 2007-20-11.
  10. ^ Klier, Marcus (2 Jan, 2008). ORF likely to broadcast Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.

[edit] External links

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