ORF the national broadcaster of Austria have confirmed that over 400 songs have been received for the upcoming national final Vienna Calling – Wer singt für Österreich?. As well as this, the broadcaster has revealed further updates on the selection that will choose the host entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
🇦🇹 Over 400 songs for Vienna Calling – Wer singt für Österreich?
The race is on to represent the host nation Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. Already the submission window has broken records for entries received. After the window closed, Eberhard Forcher confirmed that ORF had received over 400 songs. This amounts to almost the total combined number of entries received in the last decade of internal selections.
Almost two thirds of the songs received are in the native German language or a dialect. Among the submissions are well-known acts bidding to be the host representative in Vienna, Austria next May.
Over the coming weeks, a panel of experts will assess and listen to the submitted songs. Among this panel is former Eurovision 2018 representative Cesar Sampson. Next month, 24 acts will be invited for further assessment and private auditions with a jury. On February 20 twelve acts will participate in the live final of Vienna Calling – Wer singt für Österreich?. Leading the coverage is Alice Tumler. Many will remember Alice as one of the hosting trio from Vienna’s last Eurovision hosting in 2015. The winner will be selected through a combination of jury and public voting.
Ten years of internal selections are no more
During an interview the day after JJ’s victory, ORF’s Program Director, Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz confirmed on the channel that the host broadcaster of Eurovision 2026 would use an internal selection method. However, this plan soon changed with the announcement of the live broadcast of selection show, Wer singt für Österreich?. Since 2017 Austria have used a combination of internal judging panels and live auditions to choose its Eurovision representatives. Over the ten years, Austria have found increased success with this process. It has resulted in three top 15 results, including a third place in 2018 for Cesar Sampson and of course, victory in 2025 for JJ.
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