The History of Austria at Eurovision, Part 1 (1957 - 1991)

Steven Perkins: 00:00:00

In this week's episode, get ready for ponies, pastiches and protests as we explore the first half of the story of Austria at Eurovision. I'm Stephen Perkins and this is Douzpoix. Hello London, we are ready for your vote.

It is Monday, 6th of October and we're back with a brand new episode. Thank you very much for joining us.

Apologies if I'm a little bit croaky right now, but Erica Vickman did a gig in London this weekend and I was in the audience screaming my head off. Now let's start today's episode as we usually do, with a look at the latest headlines.

Obviously, the biggest story of the last fortnight is that the EBU has confirmed that it will hold a vote next month on the participation of Israel in next year's Eurovision Song Contest. 68 member countries will be invited to vote and a simple majority of 50% is required to block Israel from competing.

The pool of voters does include many countries who don't currently take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, such as Turkey and Egypt, and the vote is likely to prove divisive whatever the outcome, with Slovenia, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain having already said that they will not take part in Eurovision if Israel is involved, while Danish Broadcasting doctor has stated that they will not vote for any EBU member to be expelled from the competition as long as they comply with rules and regulations elsewhere.

rmany, Ein bischen Frieden in: 1982

There's not been any official confirmation yet on how Germany will be choosing their entry for next year, but it's believed that broadcaster SWR is in charge of choosing the song and will likely do so via a national vinyl. So if Ralph does have the song up his sleeve, he's going to need to earn his ticket to Vienna.

ntial return to Eurovision in: 2026

decided whether to enter the: 2026

Ok, so as I've mentioned on the podcast previously, we quite like to start a new season with a look at the history of the host country for the next contest. This was originally planned to be our actual opening episode, but little things like pog crawls and some major breaking news got in the way.

Now, at last, it's time to do a deep dive into the history of Austria at Eurovision.

As you've probably noticed from the title, I'm not going to be able to do this properly in the space of one episode, so I'm splitting this one into two parts.

ing us all the way through to: 1991

he Eurovision song contest in: 1957

Since then, Austria has competed in the contest 57 times, winning it on three occasions, finishing last on eight of them and scoring zero points in four of those.

nation of the two, except for: 2004

And unfortunately, Austria had the dubious honour of being the first country to finish at the bottom of the leaderboard. Their entry that year was Bob Martin with Wohen Kleiner's Pony. And first of all, how can anyone not love a song called Where Little Pony?

To be fair, I can see why this one was not to everyone's taste, but it was a proper earworm of a song and I loved the way he performed it.

I suspect the real problem here was Austria not quite having the measure of the contest at this stage and sending something that was a little bit too childish and simplistic for a competition that fancied itself as rather sophisticated.

The good news is that they seemed to learn from their mistakes, and the following year they sent Lian Augustin with Die Ganze Welt wer aucht Lieber or the Whole World Needs Love. This one feels much more like what Eurovision was about in this era.

A stirring, rousing track that makes good use of the orchestra in the way that Wohen Kleiner's Pony didn't really. It feels like it should be played over the opening credits of a classic Hollywood movie, and I think it's aged pretty well as Eurovision entries go.

They got joint fifth place this year, admittedly out of only 10 countries, but still a big step up from the previous year. As is often the case.

sion is not a linear path and: 1959

That year they were represented by Harry Winter with Du hat mich sor FAS niet or you Fascinated Me so Much, which just feels quite generic and unremarkable and finished in seventh place. It's a sweet song and he does do a good job with it, but it was quite hard to imagine anyone getting overly excited about it.

That said, two of its six points that year did come from the uk, so clearly we saw something in it. Unfortunately, seventh place would feel like a victory compared to what was in store for Austria over the next few years.

e bottom of the scoreboard in: 1961

It actually took me longer to find on YouTube than any of the others because apparently there's a Rammstein song with the same name.

nths in last place when their: 1962

There used to be a bit of received wisdom that opera doesn't work at Eurovision, something which arguably has been been debunked by the two most recent winning entries. But I can't help wondering if this is where that idea all kicked off.

, a gradual comeback began in: 1963

Or to give it its much less elegant English translation, perhaps a miracle will happen. Maybe it's self referential, given Austria's track record at Eurovision at this point, but it does the trick regardless.

It's a big, old fashioned sweeping number and she is an incredibly charismatic and passionate performer. Plus there's a switch to English in the lyrics towards the end, which does come as a bit of a fun surprise.

oard for the first time since: 1957

1964 saw the arrival of Udo Jurgens very much the Valentina Mineta of his day, representing his country three years in a row and four finally pulling off the seemingly impossible on the third attempt. But I'm getting slightly ahead of myself.

enough to come back again in: 1965

o surviving recordings of the: 1964

But this one did get him all the way up to fourth place.

ed up on his third attempt in: 1966

This is actually probably my least favourite of his three entries, which is not to say that it's bad, I just don't think it feels as immediate or as heartfelt as the other two. He remains, however, one of the best to do it.

eir belts, Austria hosted the: 1967

Back to back victories were not on the cards, however, as their entry that year, Warum Est Hunderthausen Stirnegept or why there are 100,000 stars by Peter Horton, didn't seem to charm the juries and finished joint 14th out of 17 countries with just two points for my money I think he just didn't have as much presence as Udo did.

vate it to that higher level.: 1968

This one fared similarly poorly, ending up in joint 13th place with just two points, an outcome which kind of surprised me because it feels like quite a timeless entry that could have been entered in pretty much any decade of Eurovision and potentially done quite well. This might just have been unlucky timing for Austria, given that it is a big sweeping ballad and the sort of songs that scored highly that year.

La la la. And congratulations suggest the juries were in the mood for something lighter and brighter.

1969 was the first year since their debut that Austria declined to take part in the contest, ostensibly because broadcaster ORF had not found a suitable artist that year. But rumour has it that they were not willing to participate in a contest staged in Franco ruled Spain.

They didn't come back in: 1970

n were apparently resolved by: 1971

Thankfully, better things were in store all round the following year in Edinburgh with the Milestones and Walter im Wind or Butterflies in the Wind.

The song is very 70s, although that feels like a good thing to me because it's evidence of Austria moving with the times and trying to send some proper contemporary pop to the contest. Unlike most of Austria's entries to this point, it's guitar led rather than being orchestral and it's all quite low key and charming.

And they were rewarded by the juries with fifth place for that year.

't return to Eurovision until: 1976

I have a lot of love for this entry, and not just because the commentator on the version I watched on YouTube kept calling them Waterloo and Robinson.

It's the first entry for Austria at Eurovision, performed entirely in English, and yes, it is so cheesy you could make fondue with it, but there's something so incredibly charming about the whole performance. It's an incredibly catchy song.

So if you're planning to check out any of these tracks after the podcast, I warn you now, there is a strong chance this one will be stuck in your head all day. The jury seem to warm to it anyway, because they finished in fifth place again.

1977 saw Austria attempting something a bit satirical when they sent the group Schmetterlinger with the trang boom boom boomerang.

The composers of this track were not so subtly making fun of all the Eurovision winning songs with titles that were just a bunch of noises like La la la boom bag a bang, ding a dong and so on. I'm not saying this criticism wasn't valid, but I think it may have come several decades too early.

This was still an era where Eurovision didn't necessarily have a sense of humour about itself, and as a result, this one finished in 17th place.

1978 was another year in which Austria's entry didn't make much of an impact, with Springtime's Mrs. Caroline Robinson, a pleasant but fairly forgettable ditty, only making it to 15th place.

t of a change of tack for the: 1979

em, following Israel's win in: 1978

It was quite a cool, bluesy track and she did sing it well, but the voters were distinctly unmoved and it finished in joint last place with just five points.

So: 1980

One of the members of Blue Danube, Marty Brehm, then returned as a solo artist the following year with Ven du D' Abist or When you are There, a sweet and sincere song which has some of the most peculiar staging I've seen at Eurovision 4 this era. He's surrounded by four female backing singers, dancers who are executing some slow mo choreography that isn't quite in sync.

And they're in very strange costumes. One of them is wearing a leotard and an American football helmet. Clearly the juries were a bit baffled too, as this one only finished 17th.

The: 1982

It's a really jolly performance with colourful outfits and choreography, although the vocals are oddly quiet in the sound mix. It's a delightful entry that would be top tier for me, even by itself.

But what truly elevates it to legendary status is that not only did it win that year's Austrian national final by a landslide, but the fact that the two performers in the group, Fritz and Lizzie Engler, had also entered the national final as soloists that same year, meaning that between them, they made up a full quarter of the entrance. Absolutely iconic behaviour. I can't believe they only finished 9th at Eurovision. Absolute robbery.

1983's entry is also interesting for being the birth of a bit of an Austrian Eurovision legend. This year. The entry was West End with Hurricane, which I'm sure you'll agree is the best song with that title ever to enter the contest.

They're a very chirpy kids from Fame vibes group with a nice staging gimmick in that they have a female dancer in a big swishy skirt who does a lot of twirls while wind noise plays in the track. In and of itself, this isn't anything hugely remarkable.

It finished ninth again, but one of the members is Gary Lux, who would go on to represent Austria at Eurovision five more times in various capacities, twice as a soloist and three more times as a backing singer. Indeed, he was involved in the next two Eurovision entries for Austria.

In: 1984

His hair was a lot more bouffant y by this point, and I kind of preferred it the way it was before. But the song itself is a decent effort.

It feels very 80s Eurovision in that it is a wholesome track about creating a better future for the kids and it finished in eighth place.

Gary took a year off in: 1986

Then in: 1987

Unfortunately, the song is a bit of a snooze and he has a vocal crack near the end when he goes for one of the higher notes. This one, sadly, only made 20th place in the final tally.

1988 saw Austria's second null pwante with Wilfried's Lisa Mona Lisa, a bit of a strange performance that feels like it should be a huge rock palette, but just comes across as strangely half hearted and underpowered. It feels like an odd fit for Wilfried as a singer, which is particularly strange given that he wrote it himself.

Really, the most impressive thing about this is the height of the shoulder pads on his backing singer.

In: 1989

en the continuity sting for a: 1980

Again, this feels classically: 1990

ing Tomas Forchner to Rome in: 1991

Although sadly this time he'd done a kind of reverse Samson by growing his ha into a more distinct mullet, which slightly diminished his powers of hotness and he was once again burdened with a ridiculous outfit, a midnight blue ensemble with a sequin bolero jacket.

Sadly, Thomas would probably have been better off leaving his Eurovision stint as a one and done, because his entry this time, Benedikt im Regen or Venice in the Rain, did not appeal to the juries and it got zero points for Austria for the third time.

I don't think it particularly deserved that result because it's quite a nice song and he's a pretty charming performer, but sometimes the juries at Eurovision just respond in very unpredictable ways, and that's where I'm going to stop for now, ending on a note of tragedy rather than triumph. But don't fret.

Next time we're going to do the second half of Austria's Eurovision story, including two more wins, one more nulpoix that by a quirk of tiebreaking rules manages not to be a last place finish and some absolute bangers from the last 10 years. So I hope you're going to join me for that one.

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