We previously reported that the broadcaster responsible for the Austrian participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, ORF has begun scouting and shortlisting the acts to represent the two time champions.
This shortlisting narrowed it down to for acts of unknown identities. Now according to German Eurovision outlet “ESC Kompact” we have the potential identities of these four acts.
Who are these four potential acts?
In an interview with Merci, Chérie – Der Eurovision Podcast, ORF’s Eberhard Forcher has teased details of the Austrian internal selection for Eurovision 2022. He states that a large number of artists were approached by ORF, with around twenty submitting demos.
At this stage, just four acts remain. In a seperate interview with Wiwibloggs, he gave the following hints. Now as previously stated, according to local reports we now seem to have the identities of the acts from the hints!
- Act #1: A Vienna-based “electronic duo with origins in southern Tyrol” with a “very distinctive sound.”
This turns out to be the act called “Anger”. Consisting of Julian Angerer and Nora Pider come from Brixen in South Tyrol but live in Vienna. Their sound has been described as “Musically, Anger combines autotune with electric guitars and techno beats.” Anger are not only active in Austria, but also performed in festivals in Germany and Spain to name a few. The band already has a number 1 on the FM4 radio charts and was awarded the FM4 award at the prestigious Amadeus Austrian Music Award.
- Act #2: “A combination between electro-swing and EDM” with a “charismatic female singer”.
It transpires that the act this clue was talking about is a band called DelaDap. The band is no stranger to Eurovision, in 2012 they competed with the song “Don’t Turn Around” in the Austrian national final, “Austria rocks the song contest”. DelaDap have been going for 20 years since forming in 2002 and has since consisted of different lineups.
- Act #3: A “very cool pop act, but not in the usual average radio-pop idiom” from Styria, who are “very funky, but not too aggressive.”
This actually is another group called Candlelight Fictus. They are from the Styrian city, Graz. Candlelight Fictus consists of the members Niki Waltersdorfer, Tobi Wohofsky, Simon Brugner and Fridolin Krenn.
- Act #4: “The most successful Austrian DJ act ever” with like 80 million Spotify followers and videos with 180 million YouTube clicks, with a young female singer.
The DJ Lum!x was the act that was spoken about here. LUM!X has been in the German single charts between August 2019 and April 2021, with 80 weeks in total in the charts. One of the songs that has been able to last the longest in the German charts with his hits “Monsters” with who collaborated with the Italian Gabry Ponte (formerly of Eiffel 65). Currently, the two are represented in the German charts together with Prezioso” and the song “Thunder”.
Austria at Eurovision 2021
In 2019, ORF announced that Vincent Bueno would represent Austria in the 2020 contest in Rotterdam with “Alive”. Despite the cancellation, ORF later announced that he had been internally-selected once again to represent Austria at the 2021 contest.
Vincent finally got his shot on the Eurovision stage back in May with “Amen”. Performing 5th in semi-final two, “Amen” ultimately placed 12th with a total of 66 points. This marked Austria’s second consecutive non-qualification.
Which potential artist are you most excited about? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 national final season!
