A few minutes ago the Austrian national final finished. The public decided to send Nadine Beiler to Düsseldorf. She will represent the country with the song The secret is love.
The show started on 20:15 CET and was hosted by Robert Kratky, Mirjam Weichselbraun und Andi Knol. The crowd is nearly going wild, when they enter the stage. The Austrians seem to have missed the Eurovision Song Contest and are happy to be in it again.
At the beginning the hosts explain voting procedure: The public will vote via televoting or sms. At first three songs will be chosen by the viewers to a so called super
final where they will perform their song again.
The songs:
1 Band WG – 10 Sekunden Glück (Ten seconds of luck)
The first song of tonight is a popsong in German with some rock elements. The female lead singer gives a good vocal performance to this catchy and very fresh song. The band is dressed in punk style. It is a good opener and the crowd is really enthousiastic. Due to technical problems which made the song appear a capella at the beginning, the band is allowed to perform again after song 10.
2 Leo Aberer & Patricia Kaiser – There will never be another you
This song is tonight’s first ballad with romantic verses. Leo and Patricia sit on the floor facing each other. The first verse and the chorus are sung in English, while the second verse is sung in German. The voices harmonize well, although Leo’s voice sounds a little bit insecure in the verses. At the end they share a flaming rose where Patricia’s hair gets slightly burned.
3 Oliver Wimmer – Let love kick in
The next song is funky retro style, uptempo and could have been written by Stefan Raab. Young Oliver is accompanied by two backing vocalists and dancers who wear very extraordinary costumes. Oliver is dressed in a light grey suit. He walks around the stage during the song and gives a very confident performance.
4 Alkbottle – Wir san do net zum Spaß
The next act on stage is Alkbottle. They won the semifinal online voting so they belong to the favourites to win. Alkbottle perform a hard rock song in Viennan dialect. During the second verse the lead singer walks towards the audience. Overall one can say that the song is not melodic at all, but hard rock fans might like it. At the end of the song the lead singer pulls down his jeans and shows his bottom, dressed in an Austrian-flag-underwear, to the camera.
5 Eva K. Anderson – I will be here
Eva K. Anderson performs a ballad. The song starts quiet with guitar accompaniment, played by her husband. Beside her there are only musicians, but no backing vocalists on stage. The song builds slightly in the chorus and is very melodic, a little bit like a fairy. Eva wears a dress with a red top and a very coloured skirt. She receives the biggest applause so far.
6. Trackshittaz – Oida Taunz
Oida Taunz is already no. 1 in the Austrian single charts. The band members already receive a huge applause when they enter the stage on a tractor. The song is an uptempo rap song, completely performed in dialect and probably good to dance. One band member is dressed in punk style, while the other wears traditional leather trousers. They have four dancers on stage who are also dressed in leather trousers. The audience goes wild. Is this the entry for Düsseldorf?
7. Charlee – Good to be bad
Newcomer Charlee performs a very catchy uptempo song with some rock elements. It could be a candidate for the victory tonight. Charlee’s voice reminds a bit of Cyndi Lauper. She wears a very short black dress and is accompanied by two male dancers on stage.
8 Klimmstein ft. Joe Sumner – Paris, Paris
The band Klimmstein comes from the Styria and performs with Sting’s son Joe Sumner. Their song Paris, Paris is an uptempo song with ska elements and lyrics in German, English and French. According to the reaction of the audience this seems to be a favourite, too.
9 Nadine Beiler – The secret is love
The song starts quiet and a capella, but builds up with the first chorus to a very strong ballad. Nadine is accompanied by five backing vocalists. They harmonize very well and Nadine gives an excellent vocal performance. According to the host Mirjam Weichselbraun Nadine Beiler is the bookmaker’s favourite for tonight.
10 Richard Klein – Bigger better best
Finally we see the Austrian Rodolfo Chikilicuatre. This is tonight’s comedy entry. Richard wears a red suit and sings a laudation about himself: "I am the winner, I am bigger, I am the best". The song itself is catchy and uptempo with jazz elements.
After a reprise of all ten songs the lines are opened and we see a commercial break.
The three acts for the super final are:
Nadine Beiler
Klimmstein ft. Joe Sumner
Trackshittaz
All three super finalists perform their songs again. After that the same film is shown which we already could watch during the German final – Stefan Raab and Lena in Düsseldorf.
The results:
Nadine Beiler received most of the votes and will represent Austria in Düsseldorf. Trackshittaz came second and Klimmstein ft. Joe Sumner finished third. Austria will participate in the second semifinal on May 12th.
