AUSTRIA IN THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

'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 Asi".^[3] This was Austria's first appearance in the semi-final, and the country failed to qualify for the final.

Contents

Absences

Selection Procedures

Participants

References

External links

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 disigenuous.^[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.^[4]
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.^[4]
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] ORF announced in October 2006 that Austria will participate in the 2007 event.^[9]

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)

Participants

Year	Singer	Song	Finals	Pts
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
1969	---	---
1970	---	---
1971	Marianne Mendt	Musik	16	66
1972	Milestones	Falter im Wind	5	100
1973	---	---
1974	---	---
1975	---	---
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
1998	---	---
1999	Bobbie Singer	Reflection	10	65
2000	The Rounder Girls	All To You	14	24
2001	---	---
2002	Manuel Ortega	Say A Word	18	24
2003	Alf Poier	Weil der Mensch zählt	6	101
2004	Tie Break	Du bist	21	9
2005	Global Kryner	Y Así	SF:21	30
2006	---	---
2007	Eric Papilaya	Get A Life - Get Alive	SF:27	4
2008

References

1. 1968 Austria Diggiloo Thrush
2. 2003 Austria Diggiloo Thrush
3. 2005 Austria Diggiloo Thrush
4. The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History, , John, Kennedy O'Connor, , 2005,
5. The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History, , John, Kennedy O'Connor, , 2005,
6. The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History, , John, Kennedy O'Connor, , 2005,
7. Austria withdraws from 2006 Eurovision Song Contest Philips, Roel
8. Austrian Broadcaster explains withdrawal Philips, Roel
9. Austria back to Eurovision Song Contest! Floras, Stella

External links

★ Official Eurovision Song Contest site

★ Austrian TV's Eurovision site

★ Lyrics for all Austrian entries