The next stop on our preview trip takes us to the land of waltzing, the Sound of Music and one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2024. It’s Austria!
History
Austria first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 and will make their 56th appearance in the contest this year. Their first victory came in 1966, with Udo Jürgens singing “Merci, Chérie”. Almost 50 years later, Conchita Wurst gave the country its second victory in 2014 with “Rise Like a Phoenix”. At the 2023 contest, Teya and Salena brought Austria back to the final for the first time since 2018 with “Who the Hell is Edgar?”. They finished 15th in the final.
Selection
The Austrian broadcaster, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), internally selected their 2024 entrant. After an open call for songs, 14 artists were shortlisted and invited to perform for a 25-member jury and six Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs at an audition round. Kaleen was internally selected to represent Austria in Malmö.
Artist
Marie-Sophie Kreissl, better known as Kaleen, was born on November 12 1994 in Wels in Upper Austria. As a child Kaleen started doing ballet, winning her first Austrian championship title at the age of five.
In 2014, Kaleen took part in the ProSieben casting show Got to Dance and reached the final with her dance partner Paulo Albert. Since 2020, she has worked as a choreographer and stage director for ORF, including for the music competition Starmania. In 2021, she founded her own record label, Wifi Records. Her first album, “Stripping Feelings”, was released in September 2023.
Kaleen has been involved in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2018. In 2018, she was a stand-in lead artist for the rehearsals of several countries and a dancer and choreographer for the interval acts.. In 2021, she was the creative director for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for Spain and Bulgaria, as well as the creative director for Spain and stage director for the entire production in 2022. Last year, she supported Austria, Armenia, Germany, and Georgia with their stage performances at the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool.
The song that Kaleen will perform in Malmö is called “We Will Rave”. It was written and composed by Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy Thörnfeldt, Julie Aagaard, and Thomas Stengaard. Anderz and Jimmy have written several other Eurovision entries. Anderz wrote “Fuego” (Cyprus 2018), “Too Late for Love” (Sweden 2019) and “Voices” (Sweden 2021). Jimmy wrote “Adrenalina” (San Marino 2021), “Break a Broken Heart” (Cyprus 2023) and the winning entry of Eurovision 2023 “Tattoo”. He is also one of the writers of “Unforgettable”, the Swedish entry for Eurovision 2024.
Song Review
First of all, I would like to thank the director of the music video for deciding that the answer to “How many six packs do we need?” was “Yes”.
I wasn’t too sure of how this song would do when it first came out. However, I saw it performed live and I changed my mind. This song is pure 90’s Eurodance, which I love. You can feel the bass vibrate through you as you are compelled to dance. In other words, you will rave.
What elevates it even more is Kaleen herself. She sells the song completely. Every move has purpose and she is a solid vocalist. She is also coming into the competition with backstage knowledge of Eurovision that very few artists have, even those who are returning to the contest. I feel like we have only seen the tip of the iceberg with her and something big is coming in May. Austria is sailing through the final.
The One That Got Away
Ten years on from Conchita Wurst’s victory, Austria have been showing off some of its best talent on the Eurovision stage. Josh. should be a name to add to that list.
Johannes Sumpich, better known as Josh., released his debut single in 2014. It wasn’t until 2018 that he got a breakout hit with “Cordula Grün”, which was certified triple platinum and won “Song of the Year” at the 2019 Amadeus Awards. His success has continued ever since, resulting in a number 1 album last year.
With his storytelling songwriting style, it’s to see why Josh. has captivated listeners around Austria. Maybe he could take the same charm to the Eurovision stage?
Viel Glück Österreich!
Are you raving with Kaleen or sitting down? Leave your comments below. Stay tuned tomorrow for another Eurovision preview!
(Sources: eurovision.tv, ORF, YouTube)
Thinking About It 