ORF, the Austrian national broadcaster, has announced that Teya and Salena will represent Austria at the forthcoming 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool.

Austria has gone internal in order to select its ESC entry and act for Eurovision  as has been the case in recent years. Female duo Teya & Salena will have the grand honour of flying the Austrian colours at the upcoming Eurovsion Song Contest in Liverpool.

The 2023 Austrian Eurovision entry will be released on 8th March (International Women’s Day).

The ORF press release reads:

TEYA & SALENA, a power duo that has no equal! They are the first-ever female duo to compete for Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest, and they will be putting their talent to work in Liverpool in May. Twenty-two year old Viennese TEYA and twenty-four year old SALENA from Styria met each other two years ago, when they participated in the ORF casting show “Starmania 21”.

The two whole-hearted musicians have been friends ever since, sharing the same childhood dream of performing on stage in the world’s greatest music competition. This dream is now becoming a reality and, without giving too much away, TEYA & SALENA will be competing for Austria with an uptempo pop song they wrote themselves. The name and the sound of the song will be revealed on March 8, on International Women’s Day.

About Teya

 TEYA discovered her passion for music at the age of twelve. Adele and Amy Winehouse are two of her greatest idols. She taught herself how to sing, performed in musicals, and – in addition to dancing and acting – had her first experiences on stage as a saxophone player in a jazz orchestra. At 17 she began writing songs, and just a year later she was already taking part in song writing camps all over Europe, especially in the Eurovision camps in Switzerland, Belgium and Sweden. Meanwhile, she has made a name for herself as a songwriter.

In 2020, she participated in both competitions for Austria’s and Serbia’s ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest. This time TEYA made it, and she still finds it difficult to believe:

Already as a child, I wanted to go to the Eurovision Song Contest because it embodied the idea that even big dreams can come true, no matter who you are and where you come from. I can hardly wait to get on that stage! Only then the seven-year-old me will believe that all this is real.

About Salena

SALENA began singing at the age of seven, and she also taught herself to play the guitar. Later she performed at school events, confirmations, weddings and christenings, both with a band and as a solo artist. In 2017, she made it to the third round of “The Voice of Germany”, already in 2019 she tried to get into the Song Contest as an Austrian act, and, since 2020, she has been the “Station Voice” in Hitradio Ö3 and can be heard in numerous advertising spots.

SALENA can’t even describe what it means for her to be part of the Song Contest:

My biggest childhood dream is just becoming true. Back then I watched Conchita on stage and told my parents that this is exactly what I want – an enormous stage and people who feel the same way about music as I do. From there on, I worked even harder on myself and my singing. For me, the ESC stands for diversity and is a place for people with visions and dreams like the ones us two have. The moment we both stand on the stage, sing the first lines and realise that an audience of millions is watching is probably the moment I am most looking forward to – it’s when the dream becomes reality.

Source: ORF
Photo credit: ORF