Austria’s act for Eurovision 2023 will be revealed “within the next week”. Eberhard Forcher, who was in charge of the selection confirmed in a Facebook post that ORF will share the artist representing them soon, noting that “everything is going to be very, very exciting IRL.” In the same post, Forcher revealed that the artist representing Austria is female.
Internal castings from ORF
According to Austrian online website Kleine Zeitung, ORF invited 15 artists to audition for the opportunity. These artists have been scouted by the likes of Forcher and producer Lukas Hillebrand.
Each artist performed at a casting and a tape of each performance has be used to determine an act for the Contest. The tapes have been ranked by a jury made up of Eurovision fans from both Austria and across Europe. As well as this, Eurovision experts from across the continent, as well as fan clubs such as OGAE, have had input into the selection process.
No specific dates have been set for Austria’s artist or song reveal for Eurovision 2023. Traditionally, ORF tends to release their entry to the Contest in March. For example, Vincent Bueno was announced in December 2019, with this song released in March 2020. Similarly, LUM!X and Pia Maria’s selection was made public in February 2022, one month ahead of the song release.
Austria’s Eurovision journey
In 1957, Austria made their debut into the Eurovision Song Contest. There, Bob Martin represented the landlocked nation with the song “Wohin, kleines Pony?”. At the close of voting, it manages to place 10th overall. Since their debut, Austria has participated 54 times (being in the final 47 times), and have won the competition on two occasions (1966 and 2014 respectively).
In 2021, Austria was represented by duo LUM!X and Pia Maria with the song “Halo”, where they managed to placed 15th in the semi-final; receiving 42 points from the professional juries and televoters.
Are you excited to find out who Austria’s artist will be? Who should represent them in Liverpool? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok as we prepare to cover Eurovision 2023!
News Source: ORF
Photo Credit: EBU / Nathan Reinds