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EUROVISION

‘Girl power’ for Austria’s Eurovision

The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest - to be hosted by Austria in May - will be presented by three women, with this year’s winner Conchita Wurst in the Green Room.

Published: 19 December 2014 11:48 CET
'Girl power' for Austria's Eurovision
From left to right: Mirjam Weichselbraun, Conchita Wurst, Arabella Kiesbauer and Alice Tumler. Photo: ORF

Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler and Arabella Kiesbauer will guide Europe through the 60th edition of the contest. Conchita Wurst will also perform as part of the show. 

Weichselbraun is a popular presenter in Austria and has presented music events like the the MTV European Music Awards, as well as hosting Dancing With The Stars and the Vienna Opera ball.

Kathrin Zechner, head of TV at national broadcaster ORF, said the Song Contest was a great opportunity to showcase “strong and powerful” women.

An audience of 10,000 is expected to fill the Vienna Stadthalle venue and around 120 million viewers will watch it on TV.

The official fan zone for the Song Contest, dubbed the Eurovision Village, will be at Vienna’s Town Hall Square (Rathausplatz).

Already a meeting place for tourists and locals, the Town Hall Square will host performances by artists, DJs, as well as special events and public viewings.

Eurovision Village will be the hotspot of the contest outside the arena from May 17th until the 23rd.

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EUROVISION

Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Cornelia Jakobs, Sweden's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, burst into tears and jumped onto presenter Mario Acampas, after shooting through to the final on Thursday night.

Published: 13 May 2022 08:09 CEST
Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Jakobs was emotional at the press conference after her victory, telling the story of her progress from an “largely unknown” indie artist to the Eurovision stage. 

“There are a lot of feelings right now in this little body, an extremely large amount of feelings that can’t really fit in, so they’re exploding,” she said, before beginning to cry. “But I’m so happy and overwhelmed by all the support I’ve got from all these fantastic countries.” 

When the time came to pick lots for which half of the final she would appear in, she leapt onto Mario Acampas, the presenter asking questions at the press conference, wrapping her legs around his waist and clasping herself tightly to his torso. 

He then walked her over to the bowl where the lots were lying. 

“I want you to choose the second half,” she said to him. “Imagine that I have a pistol here and on the count of three I’m going to shoot you if you don’t choose.”

He refused to pick for her so she took one herself and got the second half. 

Jakobs, with her song, “Hold me closer”, was the clear favourite to go into the final, and will go through alongside Finland’s The Rasmus, and his song Jezebel, Serbia’s Konstrakta with “In corpore sano”, as well as entries from Belgium, Czechia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Estonia, Australia, and Romania. 

You can see her performance on Thursday in the video below. 

In the final, she will meet the other favourites, which include Ukraine, Italy, and the United Kingdom. 

The final will be shown on Sweden’s state broadcaster SVT at 9pm on Saturday. 

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