“The disappointment is of course great, after all, we haven’t made it to the final for the third time in a row. We simply have to analyze how it is possible that a song that has been extremely successful on YouTube, Spotify and Co is still not good enough votes to advance to the final,” says delegation leader Stefan Zechner, who has been responsible for the ESC project on ORF, the APA, since 2011.
Why is it then that other countries practically have a fixed final ticket, while Austria keeps struggling?
Stefan Zechner:
“Countries like Sweden, which usually make it to the final very solidly, have a different musical culture. And in Italy, the country’s best-known artists register to take part in the ESC. With us, on the other hand, the song contest is still held smiled at a bit, even if the musical quality has improved significantly”.
Think about new approaches.
He cannot say how things will continue in concrete terms, “especially since we have a new program director in Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz. We will consider together how to approach the subject of the song contest. I think that the question will be asked must, what needs to be changed, what new approaches there are”.
When asked if he thought it would make sense to connect the ESC candidates with a format like “Starmania”, Zechner says:
“That’s one of the many options. But it’s possible that someone wins “Starmania” who doesn’t actually would be good for the song contest. If you make your own preliminary decision, on the other hand, you have the problem that you have to find artists who are willing to face competition. And many established musicians don’t want that.” A rough decision on how to proceed should be made in June, “because if a new system is to be implemented, we have to prepare for it over the summer.”
an oikotimes original text
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