Your guide to Austria’s national final

Austria has a host entry to select

HOW TO WATCH: Vienna Calling – Who Will Sing for Austria? will be starting at 20:15 CET on Friday 20 February. Viewers in Austria can watch it via broadcaster ORF, while international audiences can stream the show live on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.

Austria is all set to decide on the song that gets to represent the nation on home turf, ahead of the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest coming to us from the country’s capital on 12, 14 and 16 May.

Vienna Calling – Who Will Sing for Austria? is the contest that will be used to select the Austrian song for Vienna 2026. The show will be hosted by Alice Tumler and the artist who gave Austria a bronze-medal finish at Lisbon 2018, Cesár Sampson.

The winner on the night will be determined by both a public televote and a jury (made up of 43 music experts) vote, with a 50% weighting given to each.

Ahead of the competition, you can listen to all 12 competing entries over on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.

These are the host-entry hopefuls in the order that they’ll be performing on on Friday night:

Anna-Sophie – Superhuman

“I wrote the song because I often feel very insecure. I like to listen to songs that motivate me and give me strength again. And that’s exactly what the song is meant to do: show that there’s a superhuman inside everyone. The Eurovision Song Contest is actually one huge party where there’s no right or wrong. No matter how you express yourself musically or creatively – it’s celebrated. And that’s why I think it’s so cool.”

Sidrit Vokshi – Wenn Ich Rauche

“The song is about a man who is in great emotional pain because he misses her. Every night he goes from one bar to the next to distract himself. When I smoke and have a moment to myself, all the seams I mended in the bar rip open again. The Eurovision Song Contest is an amazing event where countries come together and unite the great common denominator of our cultures – music. After many years, I feel that now is the right time to give something back to Austria – after receiving so much here.”

Kayla Krystin – I Brenn

“The song is about my journey from shadows and self-doubt to getting back up and finding inner strength. I sing in dialect because I want to touch and reach people. It has always been a dream of mine to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. You have the opportunity to reach and touch so many people – that is extremely important to me.”

Reverend Stomp – Mescalero Ranger

“The song is about a new world and saying goodbye. It’s about coming to terms with things I carry within me from the past during a personal transformation and being ready to embark on a new path. The big Eurovision stage would be a real challenge for us, one we would gladly take on. It would be something completely new for us.”

Bamlak Werner – We Are Not Just One Thing

“My song is about being more than just one thing. It’s meant to give people the feeling that they can truly be who they want to be. That’s incredibly important in our time. A lot of love and honest work went into the song, and I want to show that on a huge stage – and the Eurovision Song Contest is such an incredible opportunity for that.”

Philip Piller – Das Leben ist Kunst

“My musical career is connected to the discrepancy that often arises when reflecting on oneself. It’s about carrying both within you – the suffering and the beauty. And about how important that is for growth. ‘Life is art’ sounds so universally true and is a good motto for me. I find the Eurovision Song Contest so great because you have a certain freedom and courage often pays off. And on top of that, it’s one of the biggest stages in the world.”

Nikotin – Unsterblich

“My song is about the duality of heaven and hell and about never wanting to die. You could say it’s a modern Frankenstein story or the search for eternity. The Eurovision Song Contest is the biggest music event in the world, where countries come together to spend time in peace and harmony and exchange art.”

David Kurt – Pockets Full of Snow

“My song is about love and the feeling you get when you think about significant moments in your life and realize you can’t go back to the past. The Eurovision Song Contest is such a huge show, yet some performers still manage to create genuine emotions. I’m not much of a showman, but I want the audience to feel something and for there to be real honesty in the room – that’s what I want to achieve with my song.”

Julia Steen – Julia

“My song is a tribute to showing empowerment and strength in life. I want to encourage people to believe that the path they are taking is the right one, and to give them the strength to achieve anything they truly want. I want to go to Eurovision because I believe that music and this feeling connect people across language barriers and national borders. That is the top priority at Eurovision.”

Frevd – Riddle

“We artistically explore the world of thought of Sigmund Freud. Our music lies between reality and dream and aims to encourage people to reflect on themselves. The song is about a person confronted with difficult decisions and a lack of direction, seeking help to find their way out of this labyrinth. For us, the Eurovision Song Contest is the biggest stage in the world, where different cultures and people come together and enjoy the highs and lows of life.”

Lena Schaur – Painted Reality

“My song is about striving for perfectionism and wanting or needing to pretend to be someone else for others. It’s a theme that has long preoccupied me and is especially prevalent today with social media. I’d love to go to Eurovision because I’m fascinated by it. I don’t see it as a competition; I want to stand on that stage and celebrate unity and diversity.”

Cosmó – Tanzschein

“I had an experience in a club where I was so excited to finally go – and suddenly nobody was dancing. And the song is about clubs being about dancing again, and you only getting in with a ‘dance pass’. The Eurovision Song Contest is a big dream of mine. As a child, I watched Conchita Wurst win on TV – and then last year, JJ won. Those were moments full of adrenaline and pure joy for me.”

As for the special guest performer for the evening, it doesn’t get any more special than the singer responsible for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Vienna – JJ! The reigning champion will perform a mashup of his winning song Wasted Love and his latest single Shapeshifter.

ORF has also lined up three experts — Elton from Germany, Luca Hänni from Switzerland and Caroline Athanasiadis from Austria — to comment on each of the 12 performances.

It will be the first time that Austria has put together a pre-selection to choose its Eurovision song in ten years.

Back then, ZOË triumphed at the national final, going on to take Austria into the Grand Final of Stockholm 2016 with Loin d’ici, finishing in 13th place. 

Since then, it has been a decade of internal artist and song selections for broadcaster ORF; the most recent of which was of course the reason why we’re heading to Vienna in the first place – JJ, who took Austria to victory at Basel 2025 with Wasted Love.