Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Country Austria
National selection
Selection processSong.Null.Vier
Selection date(s)5 March 2004
Selected entrantTie Break
Selected song"Du bist"
Selected songwriter(s)Peter Zimmermann
Finals performance
Final result21st, 9 points
Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2003 • 2004 • 2005►

Austria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Du bist" written by Peter Zimmermann. The song was performed by the group Tie Break. The Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) organised the national final Song.Null.Vier in order to select the Austrian entry for the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey. Ten songs competed in a televised show where a public vote exclusively selected "Du bist" performed by Tie Break as the winner.

As one of ten highest placed finishers in the 2003 contest, Austria directly qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 15 May 2004. Performing in position 2, Austria placed twenty-first out of the 24 participating countries with 9 points.

Background

Prior to the 2004 contest, Austria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty times since its first entry in 1957.[1] The nation has won the contest on one occasion: in 1966 with the song "Merci, Chérie" performed by Udo Jürgens.[2][3] Austria's least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on seven occasions, most recently in 1991.[4] Austria has also received nul points on three occasions; in 1962, 1988 and 1991.[5]

The Austrian national broadcaster, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), broadcasts the event within Austria and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. ORF confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest on 7 October 2003.[6] From 1995 to 2000, ORF has held an internal selection to choose the artist and song to represent Austria at the contest, while the broadcaster had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Austria in 2002 and 2003. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster also announced that the Austrian entry for the 2004 contest would be selected through a national final.

Before Eurovision

Song.Null.Vier

Song.Null.Vier (Song.Zero.Four) was the national final that selected Austria's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. The competition took place on 5 March 2004 at the ORF Center in Vienna, hosted by Boris Uran and Oliver Auspitz and broadcast on ORF eins.[7] The first part of the national final was watched by 614,000 viewers in Austria, while the second part was watched by 600,000 viewers in Austria.[8]

Competing entries

Nine artists were nominated by record companies, while a tenth act was chosen through a wildcard selection. For the wildcard selection, ORF invited all interested artists to submit their songs to the broadcaster between 10 December 2003 and 2 February 2004, with the received submissions being reviewed by a team of music professionals.[9] The nine nominated artists and songs were revealed on 9 February 2004, while the song "Sexuality" performed by André Leherb was revealed on 19 February 2004 as the winner of the wildcard selection.[10] Among the competing artists was former Austrian Eurovision representative Waterloo and Robinson who represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976.[11]

Final

The televised final took place on 5 March 2004. Ten songs competed and public televoting exclusively selected "Du bist" performed by Tie Break as the winner.[12]

Final – 5 March 2004
DrawArtistSongSongwriter(s)TelevotePlace
1Daniel Djuric"Millionaire" Aleksandar Perišić, Ina Wolf20,3946
2Zabine"Shine On" Alfred Jaklitsch13,8407
3Mizan"My Istanbul" Can Isik, Andreas Jud, Thomas Bürgin2,77610
4Rob Davis"Good to See You!" Thomas Krampl, Rob Davis22,3895
55 in Love"Rich White Man" Paul Kreshka26,4904
6Waterloo and Robinson"You Can Change the World" Peter Janda54,9012
7André Leherb"Sexuality" Falco, Ronnie Rocket5,1199
8Elnaz"Hold Me" Georg Peter, Elnaz8,9748
9Ide"Link Love" Ide Hintze26,9173
10Tie Break"Du bist" Peter Zimmermann82,2031

Controversy

Following the national final, runners-up Waterloo and Robinson filed a lawsuit against Tie Break claiming that "Du bist" exceeded three minutes in length and had plagiarised the song "Für dich" by German singer Yvonne Catterfield.[13] The lawsuit was subsequently rejected on formal legal grounds, while ORF issued a statement in response that "The minimal exceedance of the time limit [...] is no reason for disqualification" and that the song would be reduced to three minutes at the Eurovision Song Contest.[14][15]

At Eurovision

Tie Break during a rehearsal before the final

It was announced that the competition's format would be expanded to include a semi-final in 2004. According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2003 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final.[16] As Austria finished sixth in the 2003 contest, the nation automatically qualified to compete in the final on 15 May 2004. On 23 March 2004, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Austria was set to perform in position 2 in the final, following the entry from Spain and before the entry from Norway.[17] Austria placed twenty-first in the final, scoring 9 points.[18]

The semi-final and the final were broadcast in Austria on ORF eins with commentary by Andi Knoll.[19] The Austrian spokesperson, who announced the Austrian votes during the final, was Dodo Roscic.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Austria and awarded by Austria in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Serbia and Montenegro in the semi-final and the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Austria

Points awarded to Austria (Final)[20]
Score Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points  Greece
4 points  France
3 points
2 points
1 point

Points awarded by Austria

References

  1. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1957". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1966". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Austria wins Eurovision Song Contest". bbc.co.uk/news. BBC. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Semi-Final (1)". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "History by Country – Austria". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Rau, Oliver (7 October 2003). "Austria: song.null.vier in March". Esctoday. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  7. ↑ ""song.null.vier" im ORF: Tie-Break fahren nach Istanbul". ORF (in German). 6 March 2004. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "ORF-Fernsehen im März 2004: 47,4 Prozent KaSat-Marktanteil". ots.at (in German). 2 April 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "Countdown für den Song Contest 2004: "Wild Card" für ein Nachwuchstalent". ORF (in German). 10 December 2003. Archived from the original on 13 December 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  10. ↑ Rau, Oliver (10 December 2003). "Chance for a newcomer in Austria". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 2014-11-12. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  11. ↑ Rau, Oliver (9 February 2004). "Austria: Waterloo & Robinson to participate". Esctoday.
  12. ↑ "AUSTRIAN NATIONAL FINAL 2004".
  13. ↑ Rau, Oliver (4 May 2004). "Troubles in the Austrian camp?". Esctoday. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  14. ↑ Rau, Oliver (1 May 2004). "Lawsuit against Tie-Break". Esctoday. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  15. ↑ "Antrag auf einstweilige Verfügung von Waterloo und Robinson gegen die Gruppe Tie Break on Vorarlberger Gericht aus formalrechtlichen Gründen abgelehnt". ots.at (in German). 5 May 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  16. ↑ "Semi-Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  17. ↑ Bakker, Sietse (23 March 2004). "Eurovision 2004: this is the running order!". Esctoday. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  18. ↑ "Grand Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  19. ↑ ""Eurovision Song Contest 2004" am 15. Mai live in ORF 1: Spannung vor Tie-Breaks Auftritt". ots.at (in German). 14 May 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  20. 1 2 "Results of the Grand Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  21. ↑ "Results of the Semi-Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
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