The Austrian broadcaster, ORF, has confirmed that Austria will not be taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow next year. After competing in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Austria continues to not take part in the contest, with the exception of 2007.
According to the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung and broadcaster ORF, Austria will not be taking part in Moscow 2009.
The main reason is that the Eurovision Song Contest is not equal for each country, according to Prof. Wolfgang Lorenz, the programme director of ORF. "The quality of the entries is not important, but only which countries sent them" he says.
ORF has also announced that the final show of the Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live on ORF, but both of the semifinals will not be broadcast in Austria.
Austria is one of the least successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest. After failing in the semfinal of the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev with the song Y así by Global Kryner, Austria did not compete in 2006 in Athens. Returning to the contest in 2007 with Eric Papilaya’s Get a Life – Get Alive, Austria also failed to qualify from the semifinal.
Austria has competed 43 times in the Eurovision Song Contest, and their best result was in 1966 when Udo Jürgens wrote and performed the winning song, Merci Cherie. Austria has been placed in the top five six times, but they have also finished last seven times.
