Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957

Eurovision Song Contest 1957
Country	Austria
National selection
Selection process	Internal Selection
Selected entrant	Bob Martin
Selected song	"Wohin, kleines Pony?"
Finals performance
Final result	10th, 3 points
Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest
1957 • 1958►

Austria took part for the first time in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957. The country was represented by Bob Martin with the song "Wohin, kleines Pony?" written by Kurt Svab and Hans Werner.

Before the contest

Austria actually wanted to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 but was, like Denmark and the United Kingdom disqualified because no entry was subimitted before the submission deadline. For the 1957 contest, Bob Martin was selected internally to represent his country with the song “Wohin, kleines Pony?” (Where, little pony?), a typical schlager for that time with a cowboy theme.

At Eurovision

Carl de Groof conducted the song at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the fifth song presented that tonight following Italy with “Corde della mia chitarra” and proceeding the Netherlands with “Net als toen”. At the close of voting, Austria had received three points in total (two from the United Kingdom and one from the Netherlands) and would be the debuting country in the Eurovision Song Contest to finish last. As only the winner was announced in 1956, Austria is also the first country at all to finish last in the competition. Austria gave six of its ten points to the Netherlands, which marked the second highest vote for the winning country that evening.

Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

Commercial success and critical reception

Bob Martin has never recorded the song^[1] and it was therefore also never released as a single. After the contest, a German newspaper stated that Austria's three points “for this musical confectionery, a mixture of a schmaltzy song and a cowboy song à la Bruce Low” were a decent proof that the judges “could not be improved by the random taste of the masses”.^[2]

Sources

• Jan Feddersen: Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein, Hoffmann und Campe 2002

References

Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 to 1970 1971 1972 1973 to 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 to 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1950s 1956 Bob Martin Liane Augustin Ferry Graf 1960s Harry Winter Jimmy Makulis Eleonore Schwarz Carmela Corren Udo Jürgens Udo Jürgens Udo Jürgens Peter Horton Karel Gott 1969 1970s 1970 Marianne Mendt Milestones 1973 to 1975 Waterloo & Robinson Schmetterlinge Springtime Christina Simon 1980s Blue Danube Marty Brem Mess Westend Anita Gary Lux Timna Brauer Gary Lux Wilfried Thomas Forstner 1990s Simone Thomas Forstner Tony Wegas Tony Wegas Petra Frey Stella Jones George Nussbaumer Bettina Soriat 1998 Bobbie Singer 2000s The Rounder Girls 2001 Manuel Ortega Alf Poier Tie Break Global Kryner 2006 Eric Papilaya 2008 to 2009 2010s 2010 Nadine Beiler Trackshittaz Natália Kelly Conchita Wurst The Makemakes Zoë   Songs 1950s 1956 "Wohin, kleines Pony?" "Die ganze Welt braucht Liebe" "Der K und K Kalypso aus Wien" 1960s "Du hast mich so fasziniert" "Sehnsucht" "Nur in der Wiener Luft" "Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder" "Warum nur warum?" "Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen" "Merci, Chérie" "Warum es hunderttausend Sterne gibt" "Tausend Fenster" 1969 1970s 1970 "Musik" "Falter im Wind" 1973 to 1975 "My Little World" "Boom Boom Boomerang" "Mrs. Caroline Robinson" "Heute in Jerusalem" 1980s "Du bist Musik" "Wenn du da bist" "Sonntag (song)" "Hurricane" "Einfach weg" "Kinder dieser Welt" "Die Zeit ist einsam" "Nur noch Gefühl" "Lisa Mona Lisa" "Nur ein Lied" 1990s "Keine Mauern mehr" "Venedig im Regen" "Zusammen geh'n" "Maria Magdalena" "Für den Frieden der Welt" "Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt" "Weil's dr guat got" "One Step" 1998 "Reflection" 2000s "All To You" 2001 "Say a Word" "Weil der Mensch zählt" "Du bist" "Y así" 2006 "Get a Life - Get Alive" 2008 to 2009 2010s 2010 "The Secret Is Love" "Woki mit deim Popo" "Shine" "Rise Like a Phoenix" "I Am Yours" "Loin d'ici" (Note: Entries scored out are when Austria did not compete)