As we all know , Austria won the 2025 edition of the Eurovision Song contest in Basel, with JJ and “Wasted Love”. It has now been announced that we will be travelling to Austria’s capital city, Vienna , 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 7 of our series, we will look at the years 1980,1981 and 1982.

1980- Blue Danube “Du Bist Musik”

The group Blue Danube represented Austria at the 1980 Eurovision Song contest in The Hague,Netherlands. They came a respectable 8th place with 64 points. The contest that year was won by Johnny Logan with “What’s another Year?”, the second of Ireland’s victories at Eurovision.

1981 Marty Brem “Wenn du da bist “

Austria were represented in the 1981 contest in Dublin, Ireland , with “Wenn du da bist “. He came 17th with just 20 points. The contest that year was won by Bucks Fizz from the UK with ” Making your Mind Up “.

1982-Mess “Sonntag”

The duo Mess , represented Austria at the 1982 Eurovision contest in Harrogate ,UK . The duo consisted of Elisabeth Engstler and Michael Scheikel( Fritz) .They were selected via a National Final organised by the Austrian broadcaster ORF. Mess came a respectable 9th place with 57 points .The contest was won that year by Germany with Nicole and “Ein bisschen Frieden”.

In part eight of our series on past Austrian participants, we will focus on the years 1983,1984 and 1985 .You can see Part 1, covering the years 1957,1958 and 1959 HERE , Part 2 covering the years 1960.1961 and 1962 HERE ,Part 3 covering the years 1963, 1964,1965 HERE .Part 4 , covering the years 1966, 1967 and 1968 HERE .Part 5 covering 1971,1972 and 1976,HERE . Part 6 covering the years 1977,1978 and 1979 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 : Eurovoix WikiFandom

Visual sources , Eurovision Gold, You Tube