Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026
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Austria was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Tanzschein", written by Benjamin Gedeon, Elias Stejskal and Ella Stern, and performed by Gedeon under his stage name Cosmó. The Austrian participating broadcaster, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), organised the national final Vienna Calling – Wer singt für Österreich? to select its entry for the contest. In addition, ORF was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, after winning the previous edition with the song "Wasted Love" by JJ.
Austria| Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) | |||
| Country | Austria | |||
| Selection process | Vienna Calling – Wer singt für Österreich? | |||
| Selection date | 20 February 2026 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Tanzschein" | |||
| Artist | Cosmó | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Placement | ||||
| Final result | 24th, 6 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
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Background
Prior to the 2026 contest, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Austria fifty-seven times since its first entry in 1957.[1] It had won the contest on three occasions: in 1966 with the song "Merci, Chérie" performed by Udo Jürgens, in 2014 with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" performed by Conchita Wurst, and in 2025 with the song "Wasted Love" performed by JJ.[1] Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Austria had featured in only ten finals. Its least successful result had been last place, which it had achieved on eight occasions, most recently in 2012.[1] It had also received nul points on four occasions; in 1962, 1988, 1991, and 2015.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, ORF organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. ORF confirmed its intentions to participate and host the 2026 contest immediately after the 2025 final on 18 May 2025.[2] From 2011 to 2013 as well as in 2015 and 2016, ORF set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Austria, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. In 2014 and since 2017, ORF has held an internal selection to choose the artist and song. On 2 August 2025, the broadcaster announced that its entry for the 2026 contest would be selected through a national final.[3]
Before Eurovision
Vienna Calling – Wer singt für Österreich?
Vienna Calling – Wer singt für Österreich? ("Vienna Calling – Who sings for Austria?") was the national final organised by ORF to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The event took place on 20 February 2026 at the ORF Center in Vienna, hosted by Alice Tumler and 2018 Austrian representative Cesár Sampson, and broadcast on ORF 1 as well as streamed online via the broadcaster's streaming platform ORF ON and the Eurovision Song Contest's official YouTube channel with commentary in English by Emily Busvine.[4][5][6] The first part of the national final was watched by 457,000 viewers in Austria with a market share of 25%, while the second part was watched by 470,000 viewers in Austria with a market share of 30%.[7]
Format
Twelve songs competed in the competition where the winner was selected by public voting and a 43-member expert jury panel.[8] The jury results created an overall ranking from which points from 1–8, 10 and 12 were distributed to the top ten entries. Viewers were able to vote via telephone or SMS and the overall ranking of the entries was also assigned scores from 1–8, 10 and 12. After the combination of the jury and public votes, the entry with the highest number of points was selected as the winner.[9][10]
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Competing entries
ORF invited all interested artists to submit their songs to the broadcaster between 4 August 2025 and 15 October 2025.[11][12] Music experts Eberhard Forcher and Peter Schreiber (who have both been working together on the selection of the Austrian entries since 2024) also nominated an additional 60 to 70 artists to submit songs and organised a songwriting camp in June 2025 where 18 songs were created for the selection.[13][14] The broadcaster received over 500 submissions at the closing of the deadline, which were reviewed by a team of ORF editors and music professionals consisting of Forcher, Schreiber and Cesár Sampson.[15][16] 30 entries were shortlisted for a live casting round on 22 and 23 November 2025, and the twelve artists and songs selected to compete in the national final were revealed on 15 December 2025.[15][17] On 18 December 2025, Tamara Flores withdrew and was replaced by Sidrit Vokshi.[18]
Key: Entry withdrawn Replacement entry
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Anna-Sophie | "Superhuman" |
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| Bamlak Werner | "We Are Not Just One Thing" |
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| Cosmó | "Tanzschein" |
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| David Kurt | "Pockets Full of Snow" |
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| Frevd | "Riddle" |
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| Julia Steen | "Julia" |
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| Kayla Krystin | "I brenn" |
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| Lena Schaur | "Painted Reality" |
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| Nikotin | "Unsterblich" |
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| Philip Piller | "Das Leben ist Kunst" |
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| Reverend Stomp | "Mescalero Ranger" |
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| Sidrit Vokshi | "Wenn ich rauche" |
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Final
The final took place on 20 February 2026. Twelve songs competed where the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote selected "Tanzschein" performed by Cosmó as the winner.[19] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, a panel consisting of Caroline Athanasiadis, 2007 Austrian representative Eric Papilaya and 2025 Eurovision winner JJ provided commentary on the songs; JJ also performed his winning song "Wasted Love" and his new single "Shapeshifter".[20]
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Anna-Sophie | "Superhuman" | 2 | 5,284 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| 2 | Sidrit Vokshi | "Wenn ich rauche" | 0 | 3,875 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 3 | Kayla Krystin | "I brenn" | 8 | 4,072 | 6 | 14 | 4 |
| 4 | Reverend Stomp | "Mescalero Ranger" | 3 | 1,370 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | Bamlak Werner | "We Are Not Just One Thing" | 4 | 8,892 | 10 | 14 | 3 |
| 6 | Philip Piller | "Das Leben ist Kunst" | 1 | 1,506 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| 7 | Nikotin | "Unsterblich" | 7 | 3,363 | 4 | 11 | 5 |
| 8 | David Kurt | "Pockets Full of Snow" | 0 | 1,253 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 9 | Julia Steen | "Julia" | 6 | 2,625 | 2 | 8 | 8 |
| 10 | Frevd | "Riddle" | 5 | 2,725 | 3 | 8 | 7 |
| 11 | Lena Schaur | "Painted Reality" | 12 | 8,667 | 8 | 20 | 2 |
| 12 | Cosmó | "Tanzschein" | 10 | 10,664 | 12 | 22 | 1 |
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 took place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progresses to the final. As the host country, Austria automatically qualified to compete in the final on 16 May 2026, but was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. This was decided via a draw held during the semi-final allocation draw on 12 January 2026, when it was announced that Austria would be voting in the second semi-final. Despite being an automatic qualifier for the final, the Austrian entry was also performed during the semi-final.[22] On 17 March 2026, during the Heads of Delegation meeting, Austria was drawn to close the final in position 25.[23]
Voting
Points awarded to Austria
| Score | Televote | Jury |
|---|---|---|
| 12 points | ||
| 10 points | ||
| 8 points | ||
| 7 points | ||
| 6 points | ||
| 5 points |  Germany |
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| 4 points | ||
| 3 points | ||
| 2 points | ||
| 1 point |  Luxembourg |
Points awarded by Austria
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Detailed voting results
Each participating broadcaster assembles a seven-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent and two of which have to be between 18 and 25 years old. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.[25] The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
The following members comprised the Austrian jury:[24]
- Jakob Stiedl
- Lukas Perman
- Michael Bencsics
- Ilia Hollweg
- Lena Schaur
- Nastja Zahour
- Tina Ruprechter
| R/O | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juror A | Juror B | Juror C | Juror D | Juror E | Juror F | Juror G | Rank | Points | Rank | Points | ||
| 01 |  Bulgaria | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| 02 |  Azerbaijan | 14 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | ||
| 03 |  Romania | 2 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 04 | Luxembourg | 15 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 7 | |
| 05 |  Czechia | 7 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 12 | |
| 06 |  Armenia | 6 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 14 | ||
| 07 |  Switzerland | 8 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| 08 |  Cyprus | 12 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 11 | ||
| 09 |  Latvia | 13 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 13 | ||
| 10 |  Denmark | 3 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 1 |
| 11 |  Australia | 1 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 8 |
| 12 |  Ukraine | 10 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| 13 |  Albania | 9 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| 14 |  Malta | 11 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| 15 |  Norway | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 6 |
| R/O | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juror A | Juror B | Juror C | Juror D | Juror E | Juror F | Juror G | Rank | Points | Rank | Points | ||
| 01 | Denmark | 17 | 1 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 16 | |
| 02 | Germany | 20 | 14 | 19 | 21 | 14 | 6 | 21 | 20 | 13 | ||
| 03 |  Israel | 3 | 17 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 7 |
| 04 |  Belgium | 15 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 10 | 20 | 7 | 17 | 24 | ||
| 05 | Albania | 12 | 18 | 23 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 23 | 19 | 15 | ||
| 06 |  Greece | 16 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 17 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| 07 | Ukraine | 21 | 22 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 19 | 13 | 7 | 4 | |
| 08 | Australia | 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 09 |  Serbia | 22 | 24 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 12 | ||
| 10 | Malta | 2 | 23 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 10 | 20 | 12 | 17 | ||
| 11 | Czechia | 1 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 21 | |
| 12 | Bulgaria | 13 | 9 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 12 | |
| 13 |  Croatia | 18 | 21 | 22 | 7 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 3 | 8 | |
| 14 |  United Kingdom | 24 | 13 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 23 | 22 | ||
| 15 |  France | 5 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 11 | |
| 16 |  Moldova | 4 | 19 | 13 | 8 | 22 | 21 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 5 | |
| 17 |  Finland | 14 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| 18 |  Poland | 6 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 14 | |
| 19 |  Lithuania | 23 | 8 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 23 | ||
| 20 |  Sweden | 19 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 19 | ||
| 21 | Cyprus | 11 | 12 | 20 | 11 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 20 | ||
| 22 |  Italy | 8 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 23 | Norway | 7 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 18 | |
| 24 | Romania | 10 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 3 | |
| 25 | Austria | |||||||||||