Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

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Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country Austria
National selection
Selection processWer singt für Österreich?
Selection date(s)Shows:
20 February 2015
27 February 2015
6 March 2015
Final:
13 March 2015
Selected entrantThe Makemakes
Selected song"I Am Yours"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Jimmy Harry
  • Dominic Muhrer
  • Paul Estrela
  • Florian Meindl
  • Markus Christ
Finals performance
Final result26th, 0 points
Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015 • 2016►

Austria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "I Am Yours", written by Jimmy Harry and The Makemakes. The song was performed by the band The Makemakes. In addition to participating in the contest, the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) was also the host of the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2014 with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" performed by Conchita Wurst. ORF organised the national final Wer singt für Österreich? in order to select the Austrian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna. An initial sixteen artists competed over four shows. In the final show of the competition, "I Am Yours" performed by The Makemakes was selected as the winner after gaining 78% of the votes from a public televote.

As the host of the contest, Austria competed directly in the final on 23 May 2015, and did not have to qualify from one of two semi-finals held on 19 May and 21 May. However, Austria was required to vote in the first semi-final. In Austria's forty-eighth Eurovision appearance on 23 May "I Am Yours" finished in twenty-sixth place out of 27 competing songs with zero points. This was the fourth time the nation received nul points at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Background[]

Prior to the 2015 contest, Austria had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-seven times since its first entry in 1957.[1] The nation had won the contest on two occasions: in 1966 with the song "Merci, Chérie" performed by Udo Jürgens and in 2014 with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" performed by Conchita Wurst.[2][3] Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Austria had featured in only three finals. Austria's least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on eight occasions, most recently in 2012.[4] Austria has also received nul points on three occasions; in 1962, 1988 and 1991.[5]

The Austrian national broadcaster, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), broadcasts the event within Austria and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. From 2011 to 2013, ORF had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Austria, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. For the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, ORF held an internal selection to choose the artist and song to represent Austria at the contest. In 2015, the broadcaster returned to selecting the Austrian entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision[]

Wer singt für Österreich?[]

Wer singt für Österreich? (Who sings for Austria?) was the national final that selected Austria's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition consisted of four shows that aired between 20 February 2015 and 13 March 2015. All shows took place at the ORF Center in Vienna, hosted by Mirjam Weichselbraun and broadcast on ORF eins as well as streamed online at orf.at.[6]

Format[]

Three pre-recorded shows were aired on 20 February, 27 February and 6 March 2015. Sixteen artists competed in the first show and an expert jury panel selected six of the artists to advance in the competition. The six selected artists performed in the second non-competitive showcase show where they showcased their vocal skills and talent. The six artists each performed two candidate Eurovision songs contributed by Austrian and international producers in the third show where an expert jury panel selected one song per artist to advance to the final on 13 March 2015. The six selected songs competed in the final where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, public voting and ten international juries consisting of five members each selected the top two entries to advance to the second round. Each jury group assigned a score from 5 (lowest) to 12 (highest) and the sum of all the jury scores created an overall ranking from which points from 5 to 12 were distributed. Viewers were able to vote via telephone or SMS and the overall ranking of the entries was also assigned scores from 5 to 12. After the combination of the jury and public votes, the top two entries proceeded to the second round where the winner was selected exclusively by public voting.[7][8]

Competing entries[]

Sixteen artists were nominated by a team of music professionals which included singer-songwriter Anna F. and manager and musician Alex Deutsch.[8] The sixteen artists selected to compete in the national final were revealed on 2 December 2014.[9] After the six finalists were selected in the first show, the artists participated in a week-long songwriting camp held at the Schloss Wasserburg in St. Pölten where they worked with coaches and an international songwriting team to prepare their two candidate Eurovision songs.[10] Among the members of the songwriting team were Julie Frost (composer of the winning 2010 German entry "Satellite"), Jimmy Harry (producer of hits for Bruno Mars, Pink and Madonna) and Austrian producers including Lukas Hillebrand and Wolfgang Schlögel (I-Wolf das Projekt).[9]

Show 1[]

The first show aired on 20 February 2015. The sixteen artists each performed an original song or a cover version of a hit international song where six were selected by a jury panel to proceed to the second show. The six finalists were Celina Ann, Dawa, Folkshilfe, Johann Sebastian Bass, The Makemakes and Zoë. The members of the expert panel included Dietmar Lienbacher, Diana Lueger, Andi Knoll, Eberhard Forcher, Dunja Stachl and others.[11]

Show 1 – 20 February 2015
Draw Artist Song (Original artists) Result
1 The Makemakes "Million Euro Smile" Advanced
2 Clara Blume "Love & Starve" Eliminated
3 Royal Kombo "Ram Pam Pam" Eliminated
4 Dawa "On the Run" Advanced
5 Zoë "Adieu" Advanced
6 Renato Unterberg "Love" Eliminated
7 The Su'sis "This and That" Eliminated
8 Lemo "So leicht" Eliminated
9 Mizgebonez "Murmeltier" / "Fitnesstraining" Eliminated
10 Kathi Kallauch "Das Leben ist zu kurz" Eliminated
11 Folkshilfe "Seit a poa Tog" Advanced
12 Kommando Elefant "Mein Design fürs Leben" Eliminated
13 Tandem "Zeig ihn mir" Eliminated
14 Celina Ann "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" (Aretha Franklin) Advanced
15 wo/Men "Happy" (Pharrell Williams) Eliminated
16 Johann Sebastian Bass "Heart of Stone" Advanced

Show 2[]

The second show aired on 27 February 2015. The six finalists each performed two original songs or cover versions of hit international songs. An jury panel provided commentary and feedback to the artists and the members of the panel were Anna F. (singer-songwriter), Nazar (rapper), Alec Völkel (member of the German band The BossHoss) and Sascha Vollmer (member of the German band The BossHoss).[12] An audience vote also took place during the show and the top three were announced. The top three were Celina Ann, Folkshilfe and The Makemakes.

Show 2 – 27 February 2015
Draw Artist Song (original artists)
1 The Makemakes "I Shot the Sheriff" (Bob Marley)
2 Celina Ann "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" (Alicia Keys)
3 Dawa "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (The Verve)
4 Folkshilfe "Schranz 5 (mashup)" (various artists)1
5 Zoë "Something" (The Beatles)
6 Johann Sebastian Bass "Stronger" (Kanye West)
7 Celina Ann "Roxanne" (The Police)
8 Folkshilfe "Loss da helfn"
9 Dawa "Saloon"
10 Johann Sebastian Bass "Marmalade Skies"
11 Zoë "On My Own" (Samantha Barks)
12 The Makemakes "Blauschkopf"
1.^ "Just the Way You Are" (Bruno Mars) / "Let's Get Loud" (Jennifer Lopez) / "Hangover" (Taio Cruz feat. Flo Rida) / "Danza Kuduro" (Don Omar feat. Lucenzo) / "Monsta" (Culcha Candela) / "Sexy and I Know It" (LMFAO) / "Firework" (Katy Perry)

Show 3[]

The third show aired on 6 March 2015. The six finalists performed their two candidate Eurovision songs where one song per artist was selected by a jury panel to proceed to the final. The members of the panel were Anna F. (singer-songwriter), Nazar (rapper), Alec Völkel (member of the German band The BossHoss) and Sascha Vollmer (member of the German band The BossHoss).[13]

Show 3 – 6 March 2015
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Result
1 The Makemakes "Big Bang" Jimmy Harry, Breana Kennedy, Danielle Brisebois, Tony Kanal Eliminated
2 Celina Ann "When I Fall" Ian Dench, Sharon Vaughn, Celina Ann Seilinger Eliminated
3 Dawa "If You Return" John Dawa, Laura Pudelek, Oama Richson, Barbara Wiesinger Eliminated
4 Folkshilfe "Ned au" Florian Ritt, Mathias Kaineder, Gabriel Haider Eliminated
5 Johann Sebastian Bass "Monsters" Johann Domenicus Bass, Johann Martinus Bass, Johann Davidus Bass, Wolfgang Schlögl Eliminated
6 Zoë "My Heart Still Beats" Zoë Straub, Christof Straub Eliminated
7 Dawa "Feel Alive" John Dawa, Barbara Wiesinger, Laura Pudelek, Oama Richson, Jimmy Harry, Patrick Pulsinger Advanced
8 Johann Sebastian Bass "Absolutio" Johann Domenicus Bass, Johann Martinus Bass, Johann Davidus Bass, Wolfgang Schlögl Advanced
9 Celina Ann "Utopia" Ian Dench, Sharon Vaughn, Celina Ann Seilinger Advanced
10 The Makemakes "I Am Yours" Jimmy Harry, Dominic Muhrer, Paul Estrela, Florian Meindl, Markus Christ Advanced
11 Zoë "Quel filou" Zoë Straub, Christof Straub Advanced
12 Folkshilfe "Who You Are" Julie Frost, Vlado Dzihan, Florian Ritt, Mathias Kaineder, Gabriel Haider Advanced

Final[]

The televised final took place on 13 March 2015. Six songs competed in the first round where the top two were selected by the combination of votes from ten international juries and a public vote to proceed to the second round. In the second round, public televoting selected "I Am Yours" performed by The Makemakes as the winner.[14] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Conchita Wurst performed her new single "Unstoppable".[15]

Final – First Round – 13 March 2015
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Percentage Points
1 Folkshilfe "Who You Are" 67 7 11.31% 7 14 4
2 Zoë "Quel filou" 103 10 11.32% 8 18 3
3 Dawa "Feel Alive" 79 8 14.35% 10 18 2
4 Celina Ann "Utopia" 60 5 2.94% 5 10 6
5 Johann Sebastian Bass "Absolutio" 64 6 8.92% 6 12 5
6 The Makemakes "I Am Yours" 107 12 51.15% 12 24 1
Final – Second Round – 13 March 2015
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Dawa "Feel Alive" 22% 2
2 The Makemakes "I Am Yours" 78% 1

At Eurovision[]

The Makemakes during the Eurovision Song Contest opening ceremony

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.[16] As the host nation, Austria automatically qualified to compete in the final on 23 May 2015. In addition to their participation in the final, Austria was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 26 January 2015, Austria was assigned to broadcast and vote in the first semi-final on 19 May 2015.[17]

All three shows were broadcast in Austria on ORF eins with commentary by Andi Knoll.[18] The Austrian spokesperson, who announced the Austrian votes during the final, was Kati Bellowitsch.[19]

Final[]

The Makemakes at a dress rehearsal for the final

The Makemakes took part in technical rehearsals on 17 and 20 May,[20][21] followed by dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.[22] As the host nation, Austria's running order position in the final was decided through a random draw that took place during the Heads of Delegation meeting in Vienna on 16 March 2015. Austria was drawn to perform in position 14.[23] Following the conclusion of each semi-final, a press conference was held where each qualifying nation took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. The "Big 5" countries and special guest Australia took part in a similar draw during a press conference held on 20 May.[24] Following the second semi-final, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. While Austria had already been drawn to perform in position 14, it was determined that Austria would perform following Belgium and before the entry from Greece.[25]

The stage show featured the members of the Makemakes in a band set-up: Dominic Muhrer, the lead vocalist, seated at a piano, guitarist Markus Christ and drummer Florian Meindl. The band was dressed in black and white outfits, while the stage atmosphere was dark for the majority of the performance with bronze lighting. One of the features of the performance was the piano being set on fire during the final chorus of the song. While the three members of the Makemakes were the only performers visible on stage, three off-stage backing vocalists were also part of the performance: Chris Coras, Harald Baumgartner and Regina Mallinger.[20][21][26]

At the conclusion of the voting, Austria finished in twenty-sixth place, failing to score any points.[27][28] The nation initially tied with Germany as both countries finished with zero points, however, due to a tiebreaker rule that favours the song performed earliest in the running order, Austria was placed twenty-sixth, while Germany, which performed in position 17 during the final, placed twenty-seventh.[29] This marked the fourth time that Austria received nul points at the contest.[5]

Voting[]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.[30]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Austria had placed twenty-seventh (last) with the public televote and thirteenth with the jury vote. In the public vote, Austria scored 0 points and in the jury vote the nation scored 40 points.[31]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Austria and awarded by Austria in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Austria[]

Austria did not receive any points at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.[32]

Points awarded by Austria[]

Detailed voting results[]

The following members comprised the Austrian jury:[30]

Detailed voting results from Austria (Semi-final 1)[34]
Draw Country G. Lux M. Ortega C. Deix Como F. Trost Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Points
01  Moldova 10 15 9 12 9 12 12 14
02  Armenia 13 10 12 16 14 15 6 12
03  Belgium 5 6 5 1 3 4 8 5 6
04  Netherlands 2 7 3 2 7 5 15 11
05  Finland 16 16 16 13 16 16 9 15
06  Greece 3 5 4 4 4 3 11 7 4
07  Estonia 4 3 1 6 1 1 7 2 10
08  Macedonia 11 4 14 14 13 13 13 16
09  Serbia 12 12 6 15 8 10 1 4 7
10  Hungary 14 11 15 8 6 11 3 6 5
11  Belarus 9 2 8 10 10 7 16 13
12  Russia 1 1 7 5 2 2 5 1 12
13  Denmark 6 14 2 3 5 6 14 10 1
14  Albania 15 8 10 11 15 14 4 8 3
15  Romania 8 9 13 7 12 8 2 3 8
16  Georgia 7 13 11 9 11 9 10 9 2
Detailed voting results from Austria (Final)[35]
Draw Country G. Lux M. Ortega C. Deix Como F. Trost Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Points
01  Slovenia 11 11 11 20 7 11 14 11
02  France 12 20 23 19 16 19 25 25
03  Israel 13 6 18 24 12 13 9 9 2
04  Estonia 6 4 6 9 3 4 10 5 6
05  United Kingdom 17 22 21 25 20 24 23 26
06  Armenia 25 23 25 23 25 25 17 23
07  Lithuania 22 8 10 12 15 12 24 20
08  Serbia 24 10 20 21 17 20 2 8 3
09  Norway 5 7 5 7 4 5 12 7 4
10  Sweden 3 2 1 4 2 2 6 4 7
11  Cyprus 9 14 4 11 9 9 16 12
12  Australia 1 1 2 2 1 1 3 1 12
13  Belgium 8 21 8 1 6 8 8 6 5
14  Austria
15  Greece 4 12 12 13 14 10 26 21
16  Montenegro 18 15 17 22 24 22 22 24
17  Germany 15 25 14 10 21 16 18 17
18  Poland 21 24 16 14 19 21 13 16
19  Latvia 7 9 9 6 10 7 15 10 1
20  Romania 19 17 24 18 22 23 7 14
21  Spain 14 13 15 15 18 14 21 18
22  Hungary 23 19 19 5 11 15 11 13
23  Georgia 16 18 13 16 23 17 19 19
24  Azerbaijan 20 16 22 17 13 18 20 22
25  Russia 2 3 7 3 5 3 4 3 8
26  Albania 26 26 26 26 26 26 5 15
27  Italy 10 5 3 8 8 6 1 2 10

References[]

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