As we all know , Austria won the 2025 edition of the Eurovision Song contest in Basel, with JJ and “Wasted Love”. and 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 12 of our series, we will look at the years 1995,1996,1997

1995-Stella Jones -“Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt”

Stella Jones represented Austria at the 1995 contest in Dublin, Ireland. Her musical styles varied from jazz to soul, funk and gospel. She began her career by performing in Austrian jazz clubs and then in the 1980’s became a recording artist , gaining many hits and performing with more established singers such as Chaka Khan and Gloria Gaynor .At the contest in Dublin, Stella achieved 13th place .

1996 -George Nussbaumer “Weil’s dr guat got”

George Nussbaumer ,an Austrian singer. pianist and composer in the 1990’s, represented the nation at the 1996 Eurovision song contest in Oslo , Norway. He came 11th with 68 points and was still performing up to the early 2020’s

1997 -Bettina Soriat “One Step”

Bettina Soriat is an Austrian singer, dancer , actress and choreographer .She was originally part of a three girl group called “Three Girl Madhouse “.She has also appeared in several musicals in Vienna. Bettina represented Austria at the 1997 contest in Dublin with the catchy song “One Step”. She had the previous year been a backing singer for the 1996 Austrian performer, George Nussbaumer. Unfortunately for Bettina, she didn’t fare as well as George, finishing in 21st place behind the winners that year, Katrina and the Waves from the UK , with “Love shine a Light “.

And that concludes our look back at 1992, 1993 and 1994.

In part 13 of our series on past Austrian participants, we will focus on the years 1999,2000 and 2002

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, 1964,1965HERE .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 .Part 7 covering 1980, 1981 and 1982 HERE Part 8 covering 1983, 1984 and 1985 HERE Part 9 covering 1986 , 1987 and 1988 HERE Part 10 1989.1990.1991 HERE Part 11 1992.1993,1994 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 & Visual Sources : ORF, You Tube