As we all know , Austria won the 2025 edition of the Eurovision Song contest in Basel, with JJ and “Wasted Love”. Which means that next year, we will be travelling to somewhere in Austria for the 2026 edition of our beloved contest. JJ’s victory in Basel was the third victory for Austria at the contest , with previous wins being in 1966, with Udo Jurgens and “Mercie Cherie “and again in 2014 when Conchita Wurst took victory for the nation with “Rise like a Phoenix ” in Copenhagen, Denmark.

With this in mind, we at Eurovision Ireland, decided it would be interesting to create a series , looking back over the years at previous Austrian acts and how they fared in the contest , in the years that Austria have taken part . Today, in Part 3 of our series, we will look at the years 1963 ,1964 and 1965.

1963 : Carmela Corren “Vielleicht geschiet ein Wunder”

Carmela Corren represented Austria at the 1963 contest in London, UK . She was born in Tel Aviv , Israel and initially wanted to be a dancer but due to an injury, she couldn’t take this any further.In 1963, she was selected by the Austrian broadcaster ORF , to represent the nation at the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest in London with the song “Vielleicht geschiet ein Wunder”. It was the first song at Eurovision to be partially performed in English , from a non English speaking country. She finished 7th on the night of the Eurovision final.The winner was Denmark with “Dansevise ” by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann . After the contest she became an established act in Austria, Switzerland and Germany before moving to the USA . She sadly passed away in 2022.

In part Four of our series on past Austrian participants, we will focus on the years 1966, 1967 and 1968.You can see Part One, covering the years 1957,1958 and 1959 HERE and Part 2 covering the years 1960,1961 and 1962 HERE In the meantime , let us know what you think about Austria at Eurovision by either leaving us a comment in the comments box , or you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and X .

1964:Udo Jurgens “Warum nur Warúm”

Udo Jurgens was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music who had a 50 year career. He was born in Klagenfurt, Austria . He was selected to sing for Austria at the 1964 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark with “Warum, nur Warum”. He finished 6th , with the winner coming from Italy with “Non ho l’eta “by Gigliola Cinquetti Udo was to appear again at the contest in 1965 and again in 1966 , where he finally took victory with “Mercie Cherie “.Udo Jurgens passed away on 21st December 2014 . He was still performing right up until the time of his death, having completed the first part of his 25th concert tour in Zurich,

1965 :Udo Jurgens “Sag ihr, ich lass sie grussen”

Udo Jurgens got a second chance to win the Eurovision crown in 1965, when he was selected to perform at the 1965 Eurovision Song contest in Naples, Italy. This time he came 4th , an improvement of two places from his previous attempt the year before .The contest was won by the late France Gall with “Poupée de cire, Poupée de son .

In part four of our series on past Austrian participants, we will focus on the years 1966, 1967and 1968.You can see Part One, covering the years 1957,1958 and 1959 HERE .and Part 2 covering the years 1960.1961 and 1962 HERE In the meantime , let us know what you think about Austria at Eurovision by either leaving us a comment in the comments box , or you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and X .

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source: Eurovision Ireland, ORF , Wikipedia

Visual Source : YouTube.