In a new and confusing Instagram story, Austria’s representative for Eurovision 2024, Kaleen, shares that she wants to distance herself from the Eurovision community. In the post, she shares her new song and talks about her excitement for the new journey she is embarking on. The question arises, what is the reason for this surprising declaration?

Kaleen, who represented Austria at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö, is strongly associated with the competition. In previous years, she worked as part of the Eurovision team in various capacities. For example, at Eurovision 2018, she worked as a stand-in singer for the “Fuego” rehearsal. Additionally, she participated in directing and creating choreography for songs from Austria, Armenia, Georgia, and Germany at Eurovision 2023. Beyond Eurovision itself, she also worked behind the scenes of Junior Eurovision between 2021-2022. Kaleen is known as a big Eurovision fan who greatly appreciates the production and publicity of the competition. Therefore, the question arises why, in a new post on Instagram, the singer declares that she wants to “distance” herself from Eurovision?

Post-Eurovision Pressures and New Directions

The last Eurovision season brings us new sides to the behind-the-scenes work in the competition, and it seems that the pressure has also reached Kaleen. Many artists from 2024 talked about the dramas and feelings they had during the last Eurovision, including Kaleen who shared about the malfunction she experienced in the final during her song performance on stage.

Now the singer has posted a story to her fans saying she wants to open a new page separate from Eurovision. Kaleen writes in a new story she posted on Instagram today: “Continuing after Eurovision is not the easiest thing to do.. and believe me, when I got into it I had a plan, but plans change. When eyes are on you, expectations from outside and from yourself. So ‘Evil Kaleen’ on my shoulder says ‘You had 60,000 plays with ‘We Will Rave’ in just 8 hours’. If I say I want to distance myself from Eurovision it’s not because I don’t love the production and everything it did for me. It’s more about building a community that cares about me and my values. Since this is just the beginning, I’m very excited to get there on my terms and I’m grateful to each and every one of you who joins me on this journey. Thank you for believing in me.”

Balancing Eurovision Fame with Personal Artistry

In the story, she attached her new song “It Feels So Good” in the background, which was released ten days ago. The song is a renewal of Sonique’s classic hit, with a dance music twist that continues the musical line of her Eurovision song ‘We Will Rave‘, refreshing the song.

From Kaleen’s words, it seems that the singer wants to perform a certain disconnection and distance from Eurovision, in order to build her own fan community that will stand by her values. In a past interview, she said that she did not approach the competition with a manager and team prepared in advance and that everything was built for her over time, so perhaps she is hinting that it’s time for her to open a more organized career, with emphasis on her fan base, which will be separate from the Eurovision fan community.

Kaleen mentions in her words the success she received thanks to Eurovision when the song she sent to the competition received 60 thousand plays during the first 8 hours it was released. She also adds and emphasizes that the reason she wants to distance herself from Eurovision is not related to the production of the competition, but a desire to create her own image for her listeners. This is not the first time that artists who participated in Eurovision talk about the intensity associated with being part of the competition, during or after it, and the desire to redefine themselves after such a busy experience. It seems that this year the load is even heavier due to the scandals that the 2024 season brought with it.

Austria in Eurovision 2024

Austria was represented by Kaleen with the song “We Will Rave”. She performed in the second semi-final, qualifying to the grand final, where she closed the show and finished in 24th place with 24 points.

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