Introduction

• Participant(s): Vincent Bueno
  
• Song: Alive
  
• Writer(s): Vincent Bueno
  
• Composer(s): Vincent Bueno, David "Davey" Yang, Felix van Göns & Artur Aigner
  
• Broadcaster: ORF
  
• Social media:       
• Team review: 

Since 2016 the Austrian broadcaster ORF has made an internal selection in finding the Eurovision entry. This year is with no exception. And the choice felt to Vincent Bueno, who is no stranger in the Austrian Eurovision world. He has attempted to represent Austria in 2016 with the song "All We Need Is That Love" , but Zoe made the race in that year. In 2017 he supported Nathan Trent in Kiev as a backing singer. So Vincent has quite good ESC experience. Due to the Corona pandemic the 2020 ESC has been cancelled, but Vincent has been elected already for 2021 with a new song.

Vincent Bueno was born in Vienna in 1985 as a son of Philippine parents. As a child he loved to dance and sing. His father has been a musician in the 1970’s. Vincent studied acting, dancing and singing and attended the Vienna Conservatory in Musical Entertainment and specialized in musicals. During this time he appeared in musicals like “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Casting”. In 2008 he participated in the TV show “Musical! The Show” and won it. Since this moment he became well known in Austria and appeared in several music and theatre shows. Vincent also was present in the Philippine television. By now he has released three albums, one EP and several singles.

This year’s song “Alive” is an ultra-modern pop tune with a touch of soul. With this entry Vincent could demonstrate both his singing and dancing abilities at its best. This is an easy listening track which could be played on the radio stations around the globe, a very international approach. Due to the cancelled ESC this year, we can be excited what’s coming next year.

History

• Debut: 1957
• Participations: 53
• Victories: 2
• Finals: 47 (7 since 2004)
• Top 10: 22
• Chances for Top 10: 42%
• Chances for Final: 54%

For Austria it would have been the 53rd time in the Eurovision Song Contest this year, but due to the Corona pandemic the ESC has been cancelled.
Thanks to Conchita Wurst, Austria could win the ESC for a second time. Vienna has been a wonderful host city in 2015. The Vienna ESC 2015 was truly magical and showed the city and the country in the best possible light.

In the very beginning in 1957, the Austrian debut song “Wohin, Kleines Pony” by Bob Martin made the last place in Frankfurt. This should not be taken as bad omen, as there were quite a lot of successes over the years. 47 times the Grand Final could be reached and at least Austria could get a Top10 position for 22 times.

The biggest moments for Austria were of course Udo Jürgens’ entry “Merci Chérie” in 1966. Regrettably, Udo Jürgens passed away in 2015. He started a very successful career, not only in Austria and Germany, even beyond. He composed more than 1000 songs and released 50 albums and sold more than 105 million albums. Luckily he was able to witness the second Austrian victory “Rise Like A Phoenix” by Conchita Wurst in Copenhagen 2015. This was a truly revival of the “Sleeping Beauty Austria”. Firstly criticised in its own country, later celebrated as hero - Conchita has shown what tolerance and freedom really means to the entire world. Conchita also become a kind of icon for the LGBT community and stands for equal rights. After her victory she travelled around the world, has been invited to TV shows in Australia and performed in the UN headquarters in Vienna.

Austria has mainly participated on a regular basis, but in recent years they even had to pause due to unsuccessful entries in the early 2000’s. But the Austrians came back with more enthusiasm and new energy. Nadine Beiler sang “The secret is love”, she has qualified for the grand final in Düsseldorf and made the 18th rank with a stunning performance, the host country Germany awarded this with 12 points! The old twist between Germany and Austria regarding the voting has smoothened, in former years both countries have not been generous with their points to each other. Last year PAENDA could not get into the Grand Final in Tel Aviv with her song “Limits”.

Biggest successes

• 2x 1st place
  “Merci Chérie” |Udo Jürgens (Luxembourg 1966)
  “Rise Like a Phoenix” |Conchita Wurst (Copenhagen 2014)
• 1x 3rd place
  “Nobody But You” |Cesár Sampson (Lisbon 2018)
• 1x 4th place
  “Sag Ihr, Ich Lass' Sie Grüßen” | Udo Jürgens (Naples 1965)
• 4x 5th place
  “Die Ganze Welt Braucht Liebe“| Liane Augustin (Hilversum 1958)
  “Falter Im Wind” |The Milestones (Edinburgh 1972)
  “My Little World” |Waterloo and Robinson (The Hague 1976)
  “Nur Ein Lied” |Thomas Forstner (Lausanne 1989)

Video Nostalgia

• “Tausend Fenster”| Karel Gott
  Rank 13, London 1968
  
  
• “Du Bist Musik”| Blue Danube
  Rank 8, The Hague 1980
  
  
• “Maria Magdalena” | Tony Wegas
  Rank 14, Millstreet 1993