| Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Austria | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Selection date(s) |
| |||
| Selected entrant | Kaleen | |||
| Selected song | "We Will Rave" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Austria is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, with "We Will Rave" performed by Kaleen. The Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) internally selected the country's representative.
Background
Prior to the 2024 contest, Austria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-five times since its first entry in 1957.[1] The nation has won the contest on two occasions: in 1966 with the song "Merci, Chérie" performed by Udo Jürgens and in 2014 with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" performed by Conchita Wurst.[1] Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Austria has featured in only eight finals. Austria's least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on eight occasions, most recently in 2012.[1] Austria has also received nul points on four occasions; in 1962, 1988, 1991 and 2015.
The Austrian national broadcaster, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), broadcasts the event within Austria and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. In 2014 and since 2017, ORF has held an internal selection to choose the artist and song to represent Austria at the contest. On 14 June 2023, ORF's program director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz confirmed the broadcaster's intentions to participate at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest and to continue to internally select their representative.[2]
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
In July 2023, ORF scouts Peter Schreiber and Eberhard Forcher (who had worked on the selection of Austrian entries since 2016) started making open calls for interested artists to contact them by 30 September 2023,[3][4] receiving more than sixty entries by that date.[5] An expert committee, headed by Forcher, shortlisted fourteen artists, who were invited to the ORF headquarters in Vienna in order to shoot videoclips for their songs[6][7][8] and were ultimately assessed by a 25-member jury and six Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs at an audition round.[8] In early September 2023, ORF's head of entertainment Martin Gastinger had commented on the possibility of holding a national final or a public online vote among the shortlisted finalists rather than a fully internal selection;[4][9] however, this was later reconsidered for "legal reasons", with the selected performer planned to be announced in December 2023;[7] this was ultimately not the case and the announcement was scheduled for 16 January 2024,[8] during the Ö3-Wecker show on Hitradio Ö3.[5] The selected artist was revealed to be Kaleen; she has previous experience in the contest, having worked as a stand-in singer, dancer, creative director and choreographer for various countries since 2018. Her competing entry, "We Will Rave", was released on 1 March;[10] written by Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy Thörnfeldt, Julie Aagaard and Thomas Stengaard, it had been anticipated that it would be a "techno-inspired pop track".[11][12][13]
Promotion
As part of the promotion of her participation in the contest, Kaleen attended the PrePartyES in Madrid on 30 March 2024, the London Eurovision Party on 7 April 2024, the Eurovision in Concert event in Amsterdam on 13 April 2024 and the Nordic Eurovision Party in Stockholm on 14 April 2024.[14][15][16] She will also perform at a special "farewell party" in Vienna on 22 April 2024, which will be organised and streamed online by ORF and Eurovision fansite Wiwibloggs.[17]
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will take place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final will progress to the final. On 30 January 2024, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[18] Austria was scheduled for the first half of the second semi-final.[19]
In Austria, all the shows will be aired on ORF 1[20] and the final on FM4, where commentary will be provided by Jan Böhmermann and Olli Schulz.[21][22] In a joint meeting held in Munich in September 2023, ORF and German-language broadcasters ARD for Germany and SRF for Switzerland renewed their plans to cooperate on the broadcast of Eurovision-themed programmes ESC – Der Countdown and ESC – Die Aftershow in 2024, as they did for the 2023 contest;[23][24] the shows will be hosted by Barbara Schöneberger.[25]
Kaleen's performance of "We Will Rave" at the contest will be directed by Dan Shipton and choreographed by the performer alongside Lukas McFarlane.[26][27]
References
- ^ a b c "Austria". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ^ Ude, Christian (14 June 2023). "ORF plant auch 2024 keinen ESC-Vorentscheid" [ORF is not planning an ESC preselection in 2024 either]. Kleine Zeitung (in Austrian German). Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (25 July 2023). "Austria: Search for Eurovision 2024 Commences With Conchita Among Interested Acts?". Eurovoix. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ a b Koronakis, Spyros (5 September 2023). "Austria: Is the country organizing a National Final for Eurovision 2024?". Eurovisionfun. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
- ^ a b Bogiannos, Apostolos (15 January 2023). "Austria: A female singer will fly to Malmo!". Eurovisionfun. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ Koronakis, Spyros (2 September 2023). "Austria: Conchita Wurst will not submit a song for Eurovision 2024!". Eurovisionfun. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ a b Stephenson, James (3 October 2023). "Austria: ORF Will Reveal 2024 Artist No Later than December". Eurovoix. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
- ^ a b c Stephenson, James (8 January 2024). "Austria: Eurovision 2024 Artist Reveal on January 16". Eurovoix. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ King, Dave (2 September 2023). "New ORF Boss Wants Austrian Audience To Help Choose 2024 Entry". ESCBubble. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- ^ Van Dijk, Sem Anne (17 February 2024). "Austria: Kaleen's 'We Will Rave' Will Be Released 1 March". Eurovoix. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ "Kaleen will head to Malmö for Austria". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ Stadlbauer, Clemens (16 January 2024). "Kaleen tanzt für Österreich in Malmö an" [Kaleen dances for Austria in Malmö]. Hitradio Ö3 (in Austrian German). ORF. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ "Eurovision 2024 Austria: Kaleen - 'We Will Rave'". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ Farren, Neil (13 March 2024). "More Countries Announce Eurovision Pre-Party Appearances". Eurovoix. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ Percy, Lucy (17 March 2024). "Austria's Kaleen will bring the rave to London Eurovision Party". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ @nordiceurovision (25 March 2024). "More confirmations! @kaleen from Austria joins the Nordic Eurovision Party pre-event on 14 April in Stockholm. She will perform 'We Will Rave' in front of the Eurofan audience". Retrieved 25 March 2024 – via Instagram.
- ^ Van Waarden, Franciska (12 April 2024). "Austria: Farewell Party for Kaleen on April 22". Eurovoix. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ^ Van Dijk, Sem Anne (13 December 2023). "Eurovision 2024: Semi-Final Allocation Draw on January 30". Eurovoix. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- ^ "Eurovision 2024: Semi-Final Draw results". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2024: Unser Song für Malmö – Kaleen tritt mit 'We Will Rave' an" [Eurovision Song Contest 2024: Our song for Malmö – Kaleen competes with "We Will Rave"] (in Austrian German). ORF. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (9 April 2024). "Austria: Jan Böhmermann & Olli Schulz to Host FM4's Eurovision 2024 Coverage". Eurovoix. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
- ^ "Der Eurovision Song Contest: Nur mit Böhmermann und Schulz!" [The Eurovision Song Contest: Only with Böhmermann und Schulz!]. FM4 (in Austrian German). ORF. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- ^ Van Waarden, Franciska (12 September 2023). "Eurovision 2024: ARD, ORF and SRF Are Collaborating On Programming". Eurovoix. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
- ^ "ARD, ORF und SRF erneut mit gemeinsamen Shows beim ESC" [ARD, ORF and SRF again with joint shows at the ESC]. Eurovision.de (in German). ARD. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (3 April 2023). "ESC 2024 – The Countdown Live in Austria, Germany & Switzerland". Eurovoix. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Cafarelli, Donato (21 March 2024). "Eurovision 2024, l'intervista a Kaleen (Austria): 'Sono orgogliosa di riportare l'eurodance sul palco dell'Eurovision'" [Eurovision 2024, the interview with Kaleen (Austria): "I'm proud to bring Eurodance back to the Eurovision stage"]. Eurofestival News (in Italian). Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (6 April 2024). "Dan Shipton Creative Director for Austria, Germany and Cyprus for Eurovision 2024". Eurovoix. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
This page was last edited on 14 April 2024, at 20:29