Tonight the Austrian entry will be selected through the show “Wer singt für Österreich?” at the ORF Centre in Vienna. Ten acts are competing tonight and hoping to wave the Austrian flag in Stockholm this May. The winner will be selected over two rounds of voting.
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All timestamps given in CET.
Eurovision.tv webcast
[20:00] Return at 20:15 CET for the Austrian final.
The Austrian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 will be selected over two rounds of voting. The top two entries that will get the most votes from the public and an expert jury will proceed to the second round. In the super final the winner will be selected exclusively by public voting. The jury consists of Conchita Wurst, singer and actress Madita, Julie Frost who wrote Germany’s ESC 2010 winning song “Satellite” and several press members whose votes will be aggregated. The show is hosted by Alice Tumler, one of the presenters of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, and the Austrian ESC commentator Andi Knoll.
The line-up:
- Vincent Bueno – All We Need Is That Love
- LiZZA – Psycho
- Orry Jackson – Pieces In A Puzzle
- Elly V – I’ll Be Around (Bounce)
- Lia Weller – Runaway
- Céline Roschek & Farina Miss – Sky Is The Limit
- AzRaH – The One
- Sankil Jones – One More Sound
- Bella Wagner – Weapons Down
- ZOE – Loin d’ici
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A long Austrian night has come to an end! I hope you enjoyed following our liveblog 😉
What do you think of Zoe’s “Loin d’ici”? Let us know in the comments down below!
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The final result is in! The public has decided:
ZOE will represent Austria in Stockholm with her chanson “Loin d’ici”.
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10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…The speed voting of 90 seconds has come to an end! Austria is waiting for the final result!
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Elly V and ZOE perform their songs again. The winner will be selected exclusively by public voting this time.
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The top 2 and, hence, the superfinal is the following:
ZOE – Loin d’ici vs. Elly V – I’ll Be Around (Bounce)
Which one is your favourite?
Keep in mind that ZOE was ranked only fourth by the jury. However, she qualified for the super-final, which means that she gained a lot of votes by the public and could also indicate that she is the public’s favourite tonight.
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Here are the top 3 for tonight (combined jury and televoting results) in random order:
Elly V – I’ll Be Around (Bounce)
Bella Wagner – Weapons Down
ZOE – Loin d’ici
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Conchita Wurst performs “That’s What I Am” as an interval act. The song came second in the Austrian preselection in 2012 when Trackshiitaz won with their song “Woki mit dem Pop”, which failed to qualify from the first semi-final in Baku.
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Round number 1 is about to come to an end:
The public and an expert jury voting will get combined and the top two entries will proceed to the second round. In the super final the winner will be selected exclusively by public voting.
Who is your favourite to represent Austria in Stockholm?
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Here are the final jury results that will get combined with the public voting that starts now:
Elly V – I’ll Be Around (Bounce): 10 points
Bella Wagner – Weapons Down: 9 points
LiZZA – Psycho: 8 points
Sankil Jones – One More Sound: 7 points
ZOE – Loin d’ici: also 7 points
Vincent Bueno – All We Need Is That Love: 6 points
Orry Jackson – Pieces In A Puzzle: 5 points
Lia Weller – Runaway: 4 points
AzRaH – The One: 3 points
Céline Roscheck & Farina Miss – Sky Is The Limit: 2 points
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10. ZOE – Loin d’ici
Zoe already took part in last year’s Austrian national final with her French chanson “Quel filou”. This year she hopes to be luckier and become the chosen one to wave the Austrian flag in Stockholm. It seems that she wants to hear “‘L’Autriche, douze points” at the Eurovision Song Contest as she is competing with a French chanson again. Can you imagine Austria competing with a French entry after “Merci Chérie”? Is this thinking out of the box? “Loin d’ici” is a happy tune and tells about a journey to an imaginary paradise where everybody is happy and dancing. For this reason the LED screens show colourful and fairytalish backgrounds of flowers, fields, forests and skies. She wears a white dress, her hands are painted in white and she also uses a treadmill on stage. It looks rather kitsch to me.
The jury members agree that too much is happening throughout her performance. However, they love ZOE’s positive attitude and personality.
combined jury votes: 28/40 points
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9. Bella Wagner – Weapons Down
Bella Wagner is the next act to perform tonight. She already played as a support act for Lenny Kravitz. I simply love her deep and smoky voice. “Weapons Down” combines electronic sounds with orchestral and jazz elements and gives rise to a rather dark song, which is interesting but not really something that has never been heard before. Just like the message of the song: it’s another song pleading for peace – in times when peace seems kind of utopian these days…Will she conquer the hearts of the Austrians tonight? Bella wears a black silk coat and a bandage-style dress underneath with bandages on her arm and feet showing a lot of skin. Her whole appearance on stage looks very weird and bold, for me she looks very spooky: her styling, her face, her whole act.
Madita is not sure if Austria is brave enough to send an act like this but she praises it as sophisticated and very artistic.
combined jury votes: 36/40 points
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8. Sankil Jones – One More Sound
An intriguing song and what an interesting soul voice Sankil has! One either adores or hates his voice. For me it is absolutely great! He already sang as a support act for Boy George, at the famous “Life Ball” and was about to enter the Armenian preselection in 2012 with his track “Fire” before Armenia decided not to participate in the Eurovision edition in Baku. Sankil, who wears pants that are cut in some sort of dress in the back, opens his performance on a pyramide and is accompanied by 2 male and 2 female dancers. A lot of fire is used throughout his performance.
Madita enjoyed the oriental influences in the song, Conchita loves Sankil’s voice and Julie Webster praises his special and intriguing personality.
combined jury votes: 28/40 points
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7. AzRaH – The One
AzRah won the wildcard for the Austrian national final as she gained the most Facebook likes. “The One” is a pop/rock song that would not have any chances at the Eurovision Song Contest. Compared to the other contestants tonight her composition is very repetitive and sounds rather lame and amateurish quality-wise. AzRaH, who was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, wears a red and black dress and is accompanied by a band: one of the members is a trumpeter who is of short stature.
Julie Webster expresses that she had problems in following AzRaH’s lyrics and message.
combined jury votes: 16/40 votes
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6. Céline Roschek & Farina Miss – Sky Is The Limit
Girl power next up with a song influenced by R’n’B, Jazz, soul and lounge-music. It is very disco and funky and for me definitely the worst entry so far! Céline, who won the “Miss Austria” competition back in 2002, plays her glass violin with various light effects as she flies over the stage. Farina Miss performs on the main stage. She wears a black and white onesie depicting eyes. The final pose looks rather weird as both girls stand next to each other: Céline with her 1,80 metres and Farina Miss with her 1,50 metres.
The press jury members criticise that both ladies don’t harmonise together. Conchita adds that she didn’t like anything: neither the song nor the performance.
combined jury votes: 10/40 votes
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5. Lia Weller – Runaway
Lia Weller is known for her participation at the Austrian talent show “Starmania”. Her ballad “Runaway” combines soul and funk and has a nice melody. Lia is an experienced singer but her whole act is a total and lame copy of Polina Gagarina’s performance in Vienna: she wears a long white dress on which basically the same patterns and projections are used as in Polina’s Eurovision performance. For the song’s finale Lia rises up on a lift that is hidden under her dress – another copy…this time of Moldova’s performance back in 2013.
Conchita Wurst, Julie Frost and Madita agree that it lacks something special and some edginess.
combined jury votes: 18/40 votes
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4. Elly V – I’ll Be Around (Bounce)
Elly V, who was born in Armenia and was also a contestant at “The Voice of Germany”, is the youngest artist for tonight. She wears a long white coat and a shadow play is used in the background. Four male dancers accompany her after the first chorus and remove her long coat giving way to her white dress. The song´itself with various dubstep elements is modern, powerful and dark. Her voice is very unique and intriguing. Elly V is definitely a strong contender tonight.
Conchita Wurst is in love with Elly V but not with her dress and hairstyle. Elly V is Julie Frost’s favourite so far.
combinbed jury votes: 37/40 votes
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3. Orry Jackson – Pieces In A Puzzle
Next on stage: Orry Jackson from Germany who started his career as a member of the boyband “Part Six” and took part in “The Voice of Germany”. His song sounds very modern, international and fresh. Also his performance is very noteworthy and visual: he stands in front of a glass wall on which different projections can be seen as he is interacting with the lights/projections that portray the universe and our earth. But let’s face it…the whole thing is somehow reminiscent of Mans Zelmerlöw’s performance.
The press jury member criticises the boybandish sound of the song and his obvious inspiration by Mans. Madita agrees by noting that Orry Jackson has not really found himself as an artist yet but just takes different “pieces of a puzzle”.
combined jury votes: 19/40 votes
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2. LiZZA – Psycho
LiZZA (Lisa Klammer) is an Austrian newcomer who has her first big performance in tonight’s national final. Her song “Psycho” sounds very modern and like something that could be played on international radios. Her voice is very powerful and on point. However, I fear the song lacks something. Just like her performance: LiZZA plays her white acoustic guitar and is accompanied by a band…the LED screens show a forest and a moon. All in all, it is a very simple but also forgettable performance.
Conchita Wurst says that she is a fan of LiZZA and that she loves the song. Julie Frost expresses her doubts and reveals that LiZZA should work on her pronunciation.
combined jury votes: 32/40 points
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1. Vincent Bueno – All We Need Is That Love
The first one to hit the stage is musical artist Vincent Bueno who had already hits in the Philippines (“Party Hard”). His song for tonight is also a positive club-song with a lot of “ohlalalas” that get stuck in your head. However, I am not sure if I mean it in a good or negative way. His song is nothing special at all and I fear it would remain rather unnoticed if it made it to the Eurovision Song Contest! Vincent is accompanied by two female and two male dancers and starts his performance backstage and enters the stage on a hoverboard, which is more remarkable than his song itself.
After his performance Vincent tells Andi Knoll that he had to practice two weeks to be able to ride the hoverboard.
The jury members do not agree as Madita fears that Vincent’s song is not strong enough for the Eurovision Song Contest while Julie Frost thinks that Vincent’s song and performance are strong enough.
combined jury votes: 25/40 points
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