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Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest

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Summary

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FieldValue
NameAustria
ContestESC
Member stationÖsterreichischer Rundfunk (ORF)
ESC apps57 (50 finals)
ESC first
ESC best1st: , ,
Host, , **
Current2025

Austria has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since its debut in . The country has won three times, in , and . The Austrian participating broadcaster in the contest is Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF). Vienna was the host city on both occasions the contest has been held in Austria, in and , and the capital will host the event for a third time in .

Austria has finished last in the contest final seven times (1957, 1961, 1962, 1979, 1984, 1988, and 1991) and finished last in the semi-final in 2012. "Nobody but You" by Cesár Sampson achieved Austria's eighth top five result and third-best result of the 21st century at the contest, finishing third.

Having finished sixth at the contest and fourth in , Udo Jürgens, one of few Eurovision performers to have competed in three consecutive contests, won at his third attempt in 1966 with the song "Merci, Chérie". This was Austria's only top three result of the 20th century, as well as its first win. Austria won for a second time in 2014, with "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst, setting a then-record for longest gap between winning entries at 48 years. The country would go on to win most recently in 2025, with "Wasted Love" by JJ.

History

Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Austria.

ORF finished last at its debut in the contest in 1957, before Liane Augustin gave the country the first of its eight top five results in , with fifth. Having finished sixth in and fourth in , Udo Jürgens won the contest at his third attempt in 1966. This would be Austria's only top three result of 20th century. The country's best result over the next 46 years (1967–2013) would be fifth place, which it achieved with The Milestones in , Waterloo and Robinson in and Thomas Forstner in . Austria has finished last in the final a total of seven times, in 1957, 1961, 1962, 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991. The country also finished last in the semi-final in 2012. Austria's best result of the 1990s was four tenth-place finishes, in , , and . Austria's best result of the 2000s was Alf Poier's sixth-place in , which was Austria's best placement since 1989.

After a three-year absence, ORF announced on 28 July 2010 that Austria would return to the contest in , where the country reached the final for the first time since 2004, finishing 18th.

Austria achieved its second victory in the contest at the contest, with Conchita Wurst winning with 290 points. In a complete reversal of fortunes in 2015, following a tie-break rule Austria was placed 26th and scored nul points along with Germany (27th), they became the first countries since the United Kingdom in 2003 to score nul points at the final. Because of this, Austria became the first host country to receive nul points. Austria qualified for the final for the next three years, finishing 13th in 2016, 16th in 2017 and in 2018, when "Nobody but You" by Cesár Sampson finished third. Three more non-qualifications followed with Paenda (2019), Vincent Bueno (2021) and Lumix feat. Pia Maria (2022). Teya and Salena returned Austria to the final in 2023, finishing 15th, followed by Kaleen finishing 24th in 2024, and JJ achieving Austria's third contest win in 2025.

Absences

Austria has opted out of participation in several contests. The first of these was the 1969 contest, which was staged in Madrid. As Spain was ruled at that time by Francisco Franco, Austria chose to boycott the contest. Contest historian John Kennedy O'Connor points out, however, that Austria had given Spain two points in the previous event and since Spain only won by one point, the political protest was seen as disingenuous.

The following year, Austria was again absent. This was due to the unprecedented result in 1969 in which four songs tied for first place, a result which prompted several other countries to opt out as well.

From 1973 to 1975, Austria stayed away as well. The exact reason for this is unclear, however the scoring system in use at one of these contests, which allowed all entrants a guaranteed number of points, may have been a factor.

The country was ineligible to compete in 1998 and 2001, as it had not achieved sufficiently high placings in the five previous years.

Prior to the 2006 contest, Austria announced that it would not enter a performer in protest at their poor results in previous years, arguing that the musical talent of the performers was no longer the determining factor in success at the event. The country returned for the 2007 contest in Helsinki, but came second to last in the semi-final. National broadcaster ORF cited the 2007 result, as well as declining interest in the contest among Austrian viewers, as the reason Austria would not return to the contest in 2008. ORF programme director Wolfgang Lorenz also hinted that Austria may withdraw from the contest indefinitely, stating "ORF has no desire to send more talent out of Austria to a competition where they have no chances...Should the situation change, we'll be happy to take part again". Despite withdrawing, the final of the 2008 contest was shown on ORF.

In 2008, the EBU introduced two semi-finals to the contest, hoping that spreading countries out by random draw would prevent the kind of bloc voting that had warded Austria off. Additionally, juries were reintroduced to determine 50% of each country's result in 2009 (albeit not in the semi-finals, in which all but one of the qualifiers were decided entirely by televote). However, Edgar Böhm, director of entertainment for ORF, said that the semi-final format "still incorporates a mix of countries who will be politically favoured in the voting process" and "that, unless a clear guideline as to how the semifinals are organised is made by the EBU, Austria will not be taking part in Moscow 2009". ORF decided not to participate in the 2009 contest, but did broadcast the final as in 2008. The EBU announced that they would work harder to bring Austria back to the contest in 2010, along with former participants Monaco and Italy. It was, however, confirmed that Austria would not participate in the 2010 contest in Oslo. In July 2010, the chairman of ORF, Alexander Wrabetz, stated that Austria would return for the 2011 contest, due to it being held in its neighbour Germany. In 2011, Austria reached the final for the first time since 2004.

Participation overview

†Upcoming event
YearArtistSongLanguageFinalPointsSemiPoints
Bob Martin"Wohin, kleines Pony?"German10 ◁3No semi-finals}}
Liane Augustin"Die ganze Welt braucht Liebe"German58
Ferry Graf"Der K. und K. Kalypso aus Wien"German94
Harry Winter"Du hast mich so fasziniert"German76
Jimmy Makulis"Sehnsucht"German15 ◁1
Eleonore Schwarz"Nur in der Wiener Luft"German13 ◁0
Carmela Corren"Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder"German, English716
Udo Jürgens"Warum nur, warum?"German611
Udo Jürgens"Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen"German416
Udo Jürgens"Merci, Chérie"German131
Peter Horten"Warum es hunderttausend Sterne gibt"German142
Karel Gott"Tausend Fenster"German132
Marianne Mendt"Musik"German1666
The Milestones"Falter im Wind"German5100
Waterloo and Robinson"My Little World"English580
Schmetterlinge"Boom Boom Boomerang"German, English1711
Springtime"Mrs. Caroline Robinson"German1514
Christina Simon"Heute in Jerusalem"German18 ◁5
Blue Danube"Du bist Musik"German864
Marty Brem"Wenn du da bist"German1720
Mess"Sonntag"German957
Westend"Hurricane"German953
Anita"Einfach weg"German19 ◁5
Gary Lux"Kinder dieser Welt"German860
Timna Brauer"Die Zeit ist einsam"German1812
Gary Lux"Nur noch Gefühl"German208
Wilfried"Lisa Mona Lisa"German21 ◁0
Thomas Forstner"Nur ein Lied"German597
Simone"Keine Mauern mehr"German1058
Thomas Forstner"Venedig im Regen"German22 ◁0
Tony Wegas"Zusammen geh'n"German1063
Tony Wegas"Maria Magdalena"German1432Kvalifikacija za Millstreet}}
Petra Frey"Für den Frieden der Welt"German1719No semi-finals}}
Stella Jones"Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt"German1367
George Nussbaumer"Weil's dr guat got"German1068680
Bettina Soriat"One Step"German2112No semi-finals}}
Bobbie Singer"Reflection"English1065
The Rounder Girls"All to You"English1434
Manuel Ortega"Say a Word"English1826
Alf Poier"Weil der Mensch zählt"German6101
Tie Break"Du bist"German219Top 11 in 2003 contest}}
Global.Kryner"Y así"English, SpanishFailed to qualify}}2130
Eric Papilaya"Get a Life – Get Alive"English274
Nadine Beiler"The Secret Is Love"English1864769
Trackshittaz"Woki mit deim Popo"GermanFailed to qualify}}18 ◁8
Natália Kelly"Shine"English1427
Conchita Wurst"Rise Like a Phoenix"English12901169
The Makemakes"I Am Yours"English260Host country}}
Zoë"Loin d'ici"French131517170
Nathan Trent"Running on Air"English16937147
Cesár Sampson"Nobody but You"English33424231
Paenda"Limits"EnglishFailed to qualify}}1721
Vincent Bueno"Alive"EnglishContest cancelled}} X
Vincent Bueno"Amen"EnglishFailed to qualify}}1266
Lumix Pia Maria"Halo"English1542
Teya and Salena"Who the Hell Is Edgar?"English151202137
Kaleen"We Will Rave"English2424946
JJ"Wasted Love"English14365104
Confirmed intention to participate †Host country}}

Hostings

YearLocationVenuePresenter
ViennaGroßer Festsaal der Wiener HofburgErica Vaal
Wiener StadthalleArabella Kiesbauer, Alice Tumler, Mirjam Weichselbraun and Conchita Wurst
Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

YearCategorySongPerformer(s)Composer(s)Host cityRef.
Press Award"Rise Like a Phoenix"Conchita WurstCharley Mason, Joey Patulka, Ali Zuckowski, Julian MaasDenmark Copenhagen

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