Song Contest: start number 13 again

Superstitious people are already wondering whether this is a good omen: Austria has again chosen the unlucky number 13 as a starting place for the second semi-final at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest on May 11 in Liverpool – like LUM!X and Pia Maria last year. And they failed in the first round.

Teya & Salena should rather take an example from Cesar Sampson, who also competed with the supposed unlucky number in his semifinals in 2018 – and finally finished third in the overall ranking.

The allocation to the semi-finals at the ESC traditionally takes place by drawing lots. The concrete starting order within the preliminary rounds will then be determined by the organizer EBU according to dramaturgical criteria. And there was the Austrian women’s duo with their emancipatory electronic number “Who the hell is Edgar?” now just awarded the badly infamous number 13.

It’s the audience’s turn

From the two preliminary rounds on May 9th and 11th, ten countries each advance to the Grand Final, which is scheduled for May 13th at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena. A new feature this year is that in the semi-finals there is no longer a jury to decide on the final tickets, but only the audience has a say.

As always, the five major donor countries Germany, France, Spain, Great Britain and Italy are already set for the final. Added to this is the Ukraine as last year’s winners. Finally, in Turin 2022, the band Kalush Orchestra sat down with the title “Stefania” against the competition. Due to the Russian war against the Ukraine, the competition will not take place this year in the actual winning country, but in Great Britain, which as the second-placed nation stood in for the attacked colleagues. Liverpool has it this year “United By Music” chosen as the motto of the competition.

You can listen to Austria’s contribution here.