Eleven years later, she’s back! Eurovision 2015 co-host Alice Tumler returns to the Eurovision sphere for Austria’s national selection for 2026. She will join Cesár Sampson, who represented Austria in 2018 and came in third place with his song “Nobody but You”.
Who will sing for Austria?
The 2026 season sees Austria return to a national final format for the first time since 2016. Alice Tumler also co-hosted the 2016 edition alongside longtime Austrian Eurovision commentator Andi Knoll.
Tumler co-hosted the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest alongside Mirjam Weichselbraun and Arabella Kiesbauer.
This year’s edition of Wer singt für Österreich? will consist of one show, broadcast on February 20th, 2026, at 8:15pm local time. Tumler’s cohost Sampson, a former Austrian Eurovision representative, was announced to be involved as part of the creative team earlier this month.
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 56 times (49 times in the Grand Final), and – before 2025 – had won the competition on two occasions, in 1966 and 2014.
In 2025, Austria selected JJ internally to represent the nation in Basel with “Wasted Love”. Austria successfully qualified for the final and went on to win the Contest with a total of 436 points. This gave Austria its third win in the Contest, eleven years after their previous victory.
Who will be JJ’s successor? Are you looking forward to the live show? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2026!
News source: ORF
Photo credit: DR
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