All songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 have been selected. During the weeks between the national final season and the actual Eurovision Song Contest, we will introduce all 43 entries in random order. Part fifteen of the series is dedicated to the Austrian entry.

Basic information

Performer:	Nadine Beiler
Song:	The secret is love
Language:	English
Music:	Thomas Rabitsch
Lyrics:	Nadine Beiler
Draw:	2nd in the second semi final

The song

The secret is love is a pop ballad. Through the lyrics the listeners are told that love is the answer to all the problems in the world:

Soldiers let the light shine through
So we can realize the wonder of life

We all are dreamers on our way
In a world where we are not meant to stay
We won't meant to stay
Together we can make it all

The performer

Nadine Beiler became famous when she competed in the third season of the Austrian talent search Starmania in 2006/2007. After making it to the finals, she was declared winner ahead of Thomas Neuwirth and Gernot Pachernigg. Among the contestants in that season was also Eric Papilaya, who was later chosen as Austrian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, and Monika Ivkic, who competed in the Irish national final last year. After her victory, Nadine released her debut single Alles was du willst, which peaked at number two on the Austrian single charts. Her debut album Komm doch mal rüber reached number four on the charts. Afterwards, she returned to school and disappeared from the spotlight.

In 2011, she competed in the Austrian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in Düüsseldorf after qualifying through the online semi final. With The secret is love she was the clear winner getting 46.73% of the televotes. Later, the single reached number nine on the Austrian single charts making it the singer's second top ten hit on homeground.

The songwriters

The secret is love was written by Thomas Rabitsch (music) and Nadine Beiler herself (lyrics). Thomas Rabitsch has been working as a record producer and musician since the 1970s. Acts he has worked with include Peter Cornelius and Dana Gillespie. He was also a member of Falco's live band in the 1980s and 1990s. Furthermore, he served as musical director for the Austrian TV shows Dancing Stars and Starmania.

The national selection

For the first time since 2005, an Austrian national final took place. Ten acts qualified through an online selection and the winner was chosen by televoting alone in the final in two rounds of voting. The first round selected the top three and the eventual Austrian representative for Düsseldorf was chosen in the second round.

Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest

Austria debuted in the second Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 and immediately finished last. Over the years, the country turned out to be among the less successful ones in the competition. The only victory came in 1966 with Udo Jürgens and Merci chérie. Austria never finished second or third but fourth once and fifth four times. After the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 and the second failed attempt to qualify for the final in a row they withdrew from the competition and did not return until this year.

Statistics

This will be Austria's 44th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. It will only be the 13th time and the first time since 1999 that the country is represented by a female solo performer. It will also be the the fifth in eight times since the abolishment of the language rule in 1999 that the Austrian entry is performed entirely in English.

The secret is love is the second song to be performed in the second semi final. It is preceeded by the mid-tempo pop song from Bosnia & Herzegovina and it is followed by the mid-tempo guitar pop song from the Netherlands. For the third time Austria was drawn into the position that is considered the most unlucky one. However, in 2003, they achieved one of their best results. The year after they only finished fourth last in the final. Between 2004 and 2007, no song managed to qualify for the final from number two. This has changed since with four "number two" songs qualifying for the Saturday night since. This means that since the introduction of two semi finals, more songs performed at number two made it to the final than countries that didn't make it. A clear disadvantage might be the fact that the song is performed within a streak of more calm songs at the beginning of the second semi final.

Wir wünschen Österreich und Nadine Beiler viel Glück und eine gute Platzierung in Düsseldorf!

Videos

Performance in the national final/preview video:

Performing Bridge over troubled water in Starmania:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTEf98HS9NM

Alles was du willst:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTe7DfE7YEQ

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Latvian entry.

Previous parts of the series:

1. Estonia
2. Italy
3. Croatia
4. Slovakia
5. Lithuania
6. Finland
7. Switzerland
   
8. Ukraine
9. Norway
10. Moldova
11. Belgium
12. Azerbaijan
13. Ireland
14. Portugal