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 14 of our series, we will look at the years 2003,2004,2005

2003-Alf Poier -Weil Der Mensch Zählt

A few eyebrows were raised when Alf Poier, an Austrian performer and comedian was chosen to represent Austria in 2003 at the contest in Riga, Latvia.The song and his stage act included references to animals , with a somewhat unconventional staging , on paper Alf wasn’t forecast to do well, but he surprised on the night by coming 6th with 101 points . This despite being second in the running order , but it was clearly memorable enough to resonate with televoters that night!

2004 -Tie Break -Du bist

After the antics of Alf the previous year, it was back down to earth at the contest in Istanbul in 2004. Austria sent Tie Break, an all male trio , with the song “Du bist”.Unfortunately , despite Austria again being placed second in the running order, Tie Break didn’t fare as well as Alf , they came 21st in the Grand Final, with just 9 points.

2005-Global. Kryner -Y -asi

Global .Kryner had the honour of representing their country at the 2005 contest in Kyiv ,Ukraine with a song sung partly in English and Spanish “Y-asi”, which also included some Austrian cultural elements in the form of yodelling! With the introduction of the Semi Final in 2004 and Austria’s poor result in the 2004 contest, they had to compete in the 2005 semi final .Unfortunately, they finished in 21st place in the semi final , which meant they did not qualify for the Grand Final and led to the Austrian broadcaster ORF withdrawing from the 2006 contest .

And that concludes our look back at 2003, 2004 and 2005

In part 15 of our series on past Austrian participants, we will focus on the years 2007,2011 and 2012

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 Part 12 1995.1996, 1997 HERE Part 13 1999, 2000,2002 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

ORF, You Tube