Austria’s national broadcaster, ORF, has opened submissions for Eurovision 2024. But one artist will not be sending a song in – Austria’s last winner of the Contest: Conchita Wurst.
Conchita – “Let someone else win”
ORF is currently scouting out potential artists who could advance in the internal selections. Two radio DJs are in charge of the initial search – Peter Schreiber and Eberhard Forcher. The pair are looking for songs and sounds that challenge the norm and hope to follow in the footsteps of Teya and Salena. Forcher explained:
Kein Bedarf besteht an Songs, die nur nett oder beiläufig sind. Wir suchen nur Songs mit Alleinstellungsmerkmal.
There is no need for songs that are just nice or casual. We are only looking for songs with a unique selling point.
Eberhard Forcher, DJ at ORF
As always, some of Austria’s biggest musicians connected to the Contest were contacted in case of a return. One of these was Conchita Wurst, who won Eurovision 2014 with “Rise Like a Phoenix”. However, Conchita admitted she would not be submitting an entry to the selection.
After sending a heart emoji at the call-out for submissions, German media interpreted this as a sign that she would be interested in returning. But Wurst was quick to shoot down any inkling of a return. She explained her reaction:
Ich habe ja Jahre gebraucht, um meinen Sieg vor neun Jahren und alles, was drumherum passiert ist, zu realisieren und bin nun so weit, zu sagen: Jetzt darf wieder jemand anderer für Österreich gewinnen.
It took me years to realize my victory nine years ago and everything that happened around it and I’m now ready to say: Now someone else can win for Austria again.
Conchita Wurst, Eurovision 2014 winner
In any event, the selection process for Austria’s Eurovision 2024 artist continues. Artists who have a suitable song that is unreleased can submit their entry directly to ORF by the 30th of September. Successful applicants will be invited to a live audition stage. The actual decision as to who will represent Austria in Malmö will be made in January.
Austria’s Eurovision journey
In 1957, Austria made their debut into the Eurovision Song Contest, where Bob Martin represented the landlocked nation with the song “Wohin, kleines Pony?”. At the close of voting, it managed to place 10th overall. Since their debut, Austria has participated 55 times (being in the final 48 times), and have won the competition on two occasions in 1966 and 2014.
For 2023, Teya and Salena were internally selected to represent Austria with their song “Who the Hell is Edgar?”. In Liverpool, the duo qualified for the final, where they went on to finish in 15th place with 120 points. Of these, 16 points came from the televote and another 104 came from the juries.
What do you make of Conchita’s admission? Should the Eurovision 2014 winner return to the Contest ten years after her win? Who would you like to see represent Austria in Sweden next year? 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 look ahead to Eurovision 2024!
News Source: Kleine Zeitung
Photo Credit: Booking.com
