 |
|
|
Support Scooch!
Download 'Flying The Flag (For You)' at iTunes and help get Scooch back into the UK singles chart!
|
|
|
|
|
About Austria...
|
 top of page
|
|
2004 Result
Points in Semi Final: N/A
Position in Semi Final: N/A
Points in Final: 9
Position in Final: 21st
2005 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final
|
top of page
|
|
History (1956 to 2003)
Austria's previous appearances: 40 year(s) out of 48
Years participated: 1957-1968; 1971-1972; 1976-1997; 1999-2000; 2002-
Best result: 1st (1966)
Considering that Austria has taken part in Eurovision almost from the beginning, its record in the contest is below par. In 40 appearances, Austria has won just once, in 1966. Few other countries have to go back as far as the '60s to find their most recent victory - Spain isn't far off, last victorious (jointly) in 1969, though it did manage to win in 1968 as well. Only Finland and Portugal, trying since 1961 and 1964 respectively to secure even their first victories, can claim a longer spell without a win; while Denmark, with a 37 year gap between its wins in 1963 and 2000, currently holds the record for the longest period between successive victories. When the UK complains that it hasn't won since 1997, a little bit of perspective is therefore necessary...
Back to Austria, the country's record since televoting has been mixed. After a string of poor results, Austria missed the 1998 contest due to relegation, managing a reasonable 10th place in 1999 with Bobbie Singer's 'Reflection'. However, 14th place in 2000 saw the country relegated again; on its return in 2002, Austria finished 18th, managing to avoid missing the 2003 contest by just 1 point. The country's 2003 performance was one of the contest's big surprises - the 200-1 outsider to win, Alf Poier's joke song 'Weil der mensch zählt' managed an incredible 6th place and 101 points, giving the country its best result since 1989. Thanks to Alf, Austria finds itself in the fortunate position of being directly qualified for the 2004 Final.
|
top of page
|
|
This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: N/A
Position in Final draw: 2
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"Austria is responsible for this year's only boyband entry, in the form of trio Tie Break, performing the sentimental, lighters aloft anthem 'Du bist'. A terrible early recording of the song did not bode well at all, and is probably why the bookies give it little chance, despite its place in the Final being guaranteed. Thankfully, an improved version has surfaced, with a much better, really quite pleasant arrangement; unfortunately, however, the song is just quite dreary, and the harsh sound of its German lyrics sits uneasily with its gentle melody and sentiment. If there is one entry this year that would benefit from being sung in English, this is almost certainly it. Interestingly, with Germany opting to perform in English, Austria are the sole flagbearers of the German language in this year's contest. This in itself is not a good omen - only two songs performed in German have ever won Eurovision, compared to 19 sung in English and 15 in French. With three victories, even Hebrew has had more success. To find the last German language winner, you have to go back to 1982 and Nicole's 'Ein bisschen frieden'. With the poor record of both language and country, it would seem that singing in German for Austria is an unbeatable combination for anyone wanting to avoid winning Eurovision."
|
top of page
|
|
What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: N/A
My prediction for Final: 22nd to 24th
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"Poor Austria. Most people seem to have written its entry off already - it languishes at the bottom of most fan polls (including the one on Soult.com Eurovision), and the bookies give it no chance of winning at all. Even the draw has conspired against it - performing second at the Final, Tie Break occupy the same position as Alf Poier last year, and a spot from which no country has ever won. Unless something miraculous happens, the curse of performing second will surely remain intact. On a positive note, Austria should be relieved that they have a guaranteed place in the Final. Like Ireland's song, 'Du bist' would really struggle if it had to get through the Semi Final first. I'm sure Tie Break are nice lads, but they will have their work cut out to avoid this song ending up among the bottom few entries - only Ireland is likely to challenge Austria for 24th place."
|
top of page
|
|
What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 36 ()
(Updated 15 May 2004; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, over 5,000 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll.
|
top of page
|
|
What actually happened
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz... The boys looked pretty enough on stage, and gave a competent if unremarkable performance, but nothing was going to rescue the pile of dirge that was 'Du bist' - certainly not seasickness-inducing camera angles, or the dreadful sound quality that plagued so many of the performances in both the Semi Final and Final.
I predicted 22nd to 24th for the Austrian song, but thanks to 4 points from France and 5 from Greece (why???!!), Tie Break managed to sneak into 21st. So very close, but not quite close enough to be right.
|
top of page
|
|
What the bookies thought...
 | Austria to win: | 15/05/04 (prior to Final) | 150-1 |
| | 13/05/04 (after Semi Final) | 100-1 |
| | 11/05/04 | 200-1 |
| | 08/05/04 | 100-1 |
| | 06/05/04 | 100-1 |
| | 04/05/04 | 100-1 |
| | 31/04/04 | 100-1 |
| | 24/04/04 | 100-1 |
| | 17/04/04 | 100-1 |
| | 07/04/04 | 50-1 |
| | 24/03/04 | 50-1 |
|
|
With Portugal out of the way after the Semi Final, Austria reclaimed their position at the bottom of the betting with odds of 150-1. Still, with 9 points, Tie Break did better than many had expected by not quite finishing last.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
|
top of page
|
|
Links
 http://www.tie-break.at/
 http://www.orf.at/
|
top of page
|
|
Notes (see 'History' above)
- The 1956 Contest (where each country had two songs) is counted as a single appearance;
- Countries eliminated in the 1993 preliminary heat (EE, HU, RO, SK) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 1996 preliminary heat (DE, DK, HU, IL, MK, RO, RU) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Semi Finals ARE counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest.
|
top of page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Your comments (15)
From Maria, AUSTRIA
Added 21:6:31 2004-5-12
'Dabei sein ist alles' (Taking part is the important thing)...I think these guys only want to have their fun, and I dont mind, since we would anyway not have won with the other songs which were presented...good luck to tie-break anyway, have fun!!!
From Katherina, AUSTRIA
Added 18:8:50 2004-5-12
The song definately would benefit if sung in english, but I am always glad when a country decides to sing in its own language. Afterall, isnt the whole point of this contest to celebrate the various cultures of Europe? Good luck...I think we might need it.
From Mark, GERMANY
Added 8:54:58 2004-5-12
Scream! You liked Nicole? ; )
though we all were hapy 1982 to win finally the thing, but this girl is nowadays such a mean cow. You can´t imagine how much she diss our 2004 competitor MAx.
From Graham Soult (Webmaster), UNITED KINGDOM
Added 20:24:44 2004-5-11
Hi Leonie! I wasn't meaning to suggest that songs shouldn't be sung in German full stop. I just think that this is a gentle song, and it's one of the few in the Contest that might actually benefit from being sung in English. Perhaps it's the way Tie Break sing it, but I just don't think the sentiment and the sound of the language work well in this particular case :) Nicole's 1982 song, of course, shows that beautiful songs can be sung in German!
From Leonie, AUSTRIA
Added 17:59:13 2004-5-11
I live in Austria, although I am actually British, and I am not exactly fond of this song, but I see no point in making it look so bad. It might not win, but I believe it won't get last. I also think that the author of this review should be ashamed of him/herself for talking like that about the German language. To be honest, English is also not the most 'smoothest' language. Seit ich diesen Artikel gelesen habe, finde ich den Lied noch besser, und ich wünsche Österreich viel glück. P.s. anyone who says that this was the worst possible song for Austria to have chosen, they should have heard the horribly embarrasing performance of the other songs, the worst one being 'Waterloo and Robinson'...Once again, GOOD LUCK TO AUSTRIA
From Christine, GERMANY
Added 12:45:27 2004-5-4
Hi,
I like this song, remember me to Ivonne Catterfeld "Nur für Dich" (only for you)it has feeling. Maybe many do not understand it because of the language, I agree with Michaela do not have to hide it because you can say many romantic things in german too. Let´s wait, we can expect many surprises at the end. Good Luck Austria!
From michaela, AUSTRIA
Added 15:32:2 2004-5-3
I AM FROM AUSTRIA AND I AM PROUD OF OUR PARTICIPANTS TIE-BREAK!
we don`t have to hide with our german language and we have also talented musicians.
and maybe some people will have to wonder themselves after the song contest .
From Mark, GERMANY
Added 12:46:36 2004-4-29
"Howie", i hope your opinion shouldn´t offend german Voters?! hahaha...
From howie, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 12:20:4 2004-4-29
Thank you, Alf Poier, for guaranteeing this a place in the final! It sounds like a commercial for health insurance; only Germany will prevent it from scoring null points. It's not exatly terrible, just very very ordinary - it will get lost in the crowd.
From Jay Butler, IRELAND
Added 23:33:52 2004-4-28
I like this song. I didn't think it was possible after Polands entry last year but a song can sound nice being sung in German.
Osterreich, es ist ein super Lied.
From Mark, GERMANY
Added 23/04/2004 15:21
Sorry, das muss in deutsch gesagt werden.
Dieser Song (?) hört sich einfach an, wie ein Werbespot für Teekanne oder 10 Jahre Storck Schokolade. Um Himmels Willen! Die Wahl deutsch zu singen, ist die einzige Chance für Östereich. Denn Alf Poier, der Guildo Horn im doofsten Auftritt beim ESC so far ablöste, haben die ganzen Ostländer im letzten Jahr auch schon mit Punkten überschüttet. Der Beweis, dass englisch singen doch nicht der Weisheit letzter Schluss ist.
From Ugne, LITHUANIA
Added 23/04/2004 12:07
I don't understand why nobody likes this song. It's so beautiful!
From Sérgio rego, PORTUGAL
Added 06/04/2004 15:33
This song is completely forgettable to me. I think we might see Austria in the semifinal of 2005.
From Merseymike, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 06/04/2004 00:51
I really like this song - although I preferred the original mix. Tend to agree about the German, but its still in my group of favourites
From Steinar, --
Added 04/04/2004 17:49
Austria is lucky to be qualified automatically, as this song would stand no chance, it will get lost in the final, and also have a bad draw.
Musically, nothing new. ordinary German piano ballad. Nice, but nothing special. Again they choose a bad winner. They had great finals in o2 and 03, but never seem to be able to pick good enough songs. They were better in the late 90s.
|
|
top of page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Austria
![Official 2006 Double CD now available to order at Amazon.co.uk [external link in new window]](/eurovision/images/furniture/2006cd_120x215.gif)
![[external link in new window] Valid CSS!](/eurovision/images/w3c/vcss.png)
![[external link in new window] Level A conformance icon, W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0](/eurovision/images/w3c/wcag1A.png){kind=small}
