Five out of the twelve artists competing in this year’s Austrian pre-selection have now been made public, two of them competitors from the 2026 selection who nearly won it all.
ORF, the Austrian television network responsible for its country’s Eurovision participation, continued its preparations for Eurovision 2027 with live auditions held last week. There were 12 artists that appeared in these auditions who are hoping to reach the big stage in Burgas, five of whom were recently unveiled in the Austrian media that include two singers who were actually in the Austrian pre-qualifier last year and ended up near the very top of the table.
Among the candidates: reality TV alumni and familiar faces from the world of stage
As published by the Austrian newspaper “Kleine Zeitung”, one of these competitors is singer Jo Nara, who was on “The Voice Germany” in 2014. It’s not too much of a surprise to see his name on this list, as he’s already been linked to the pre-selection due to a video he posted on social media earlier this month showing him making his way to the ORF studios.
An additional singer that’s been revealed is COSMUS, another artist that took part in a reality tv show. He was on “Starmania” in 2021, a season of the show that featured some familiar names including Eurovision 2025 winner JJ, one of Austria’s 2023 representatives named Teya, and participant in Austria’s pre-Eurovision qualifier for 2026 Philip Piller. COSMUS himself reached the final of “Starmania” that year.
Austrian rapper LELLA is on this list as well. According to reports, there is a rap track among the twelve that was performed at this year’s auditions, and it’s very likely that this song is by LELLA.
Back to the drawing board: the previous artists will try again
These three artists are joined by two more recently familiar names who attempted to represent Austria via their pre-selection last year, and ended up in the top three. One is Lena Schaur, who finished as runner up with “Painted Reality”. The bronze medal went to Bamlak Werner, who competed with “We Are Not Just One Thing”.
While we know for sure that these five artists will be participating, there are still seven whose identities are unknown to the public as of yet. As per previous reports, at least one previous Eurovision artist will be a competitor in the Austrian pre-selection, but their name has not yet been officially unveiled.
The performances of these 12 artists are now being examined by local and international judging panels, which will assist ORF in selecting their representative for the Eurovision 2027. As mentioned, the decision will be made via an internal committee of the network unlike last year, in which the public and jury both had a split vote in a national pre-selection after 10 years of internal selections. The official announcement on the ultimate choice for representative is expected between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027, bringing us just one step closer to the contest in Burgas, Bulgaria.
Tanzschein
AustriaCOSMÓ represented Austria at Eurovision 2026 with “Tanzschein”. The entry finished 24th in the grand final with 6 points.
Austria competed at Eurovision 58 times between 1957 and 2026. The country has won three times, most recently in 2025 with JJ’s “Wasted Love”. In 2026, COSMÓ represented Austria with “Tanzschein”, finishing 24th in the grand final with 6 points.
