ORF, the Austrian national broadcaster, has confirmed that Alice Tumler and Cesar Sampson will have the grand honour of hosting the 2026 Austrian national final- ‘Vienna Calling- Who Will Sing for Austria?’
Ausria and ORF are working round the clock in their quest to host the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next year. Austria will be selecting its Eurovision hopeful via a televised national final for the first time since 2016.
ORF has announced that Alice Tumler and Cesar Sampson will host the 2026 Austrian national final.
Alice Tumler co-hosted the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna with Conchita Wurst, Arabella Kiesbauer and Mirjam Weichselbraun. She will have the grand honour of co- hosting the 2026 Austrian national final- ‘Vienna Calling’ along with Cesar Sampson ( Austria 2018), scheduled to be held in Vienna on Friday 20th February and broadcast on ORF 1.
Cesar Sampson represented Austria at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest achieving an honorable 3rd placing in the Grand Final.
Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz (ORF Program Director) says:
Another big step towards the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest has been taken. I am delighted by the large number and diversity of song submissions. Now it’s about finding the perfect selection for ‘Vienna Calling’. This will be the first big Eurovision moment for many of the participants. With Alice Tumler and Cesár Sampson, we have two seasoned Eurovision professionals on hand to support the Austrian acts and the public during this major emotional challenge.
Alice Tumler says:
For me, hosting ‘Vienna Calling’ means a lot. I’m delighted to be back on the team eleven years after the most exciting event of my life, the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. I’m looking forward to Vienna, the Eurovision buzz, the viewers – and of course, I’m very curious to see who will represent Austria at the home contest in 2026.
Cesar Sampson says:
As a scout, I’ve already had the opportunity to hear all the acts. And as the presenter of ‘Vienna Calling – Who will sing for Austria?’ I’m really looking forward to sharing all of this with the audience so everyone can get a clear picture of which acts we have ready to go. ‘Vienna Calling,’ the decision show that will determine our Eurovision representative, is simply not to be missed – let the Eurovision fever begin!
ORF has received more than 500 applications for Vienna Calling- Who Will Sing For Austria?, now an expert committee will listen to all the submitted songs and whittle them down. A total of 12 acts will battle for the golden ticket to Eurovision 2026 at the Austrian 2026 national final.
ORF’s press release reads:
In the coming weeks, the ORF editorial team will be holding numerous listening sessions – all submitted songs will be listened to and evaluated. Together with the scouts (Cesár Sampson, Peter Schreiber, and Eberhard Forcher), they will compile a shortlist of the 30 best songs. Once the shortlist is finalized, these songs will receive the eagerly awaited news – an invitation to the internal live castings at the end of November at ORF. There, they will face their first test, performing live. The search is on for twelve acts who can impress the jury and the audience with outstanding stage presence and impressive voices. For the first time since 2016, there will be a national preliminary round, where viewers can help decide who will represent Austria.
Austria wil be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest for the third time in the history of the competition. The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 12, 14 and 16 May at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.
