Yes, the Queen of Austria aka Conchita Wurst will be gracing the 2015 Austrian Eurovision national final- Wer singt für Österreich?-on Friday 13 May in Vienna!

ORF, the Austrian national broadcaster has confirmed to ESCToday com that the 2014 Austrian Eurovision winner  Conchita Wurst will be attending the 2015 Austrian Eurovision national final and will treat the audience and her fans with her performance.

Conchita Wurst won the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhangen with her entry Rise like a Phoenix bringing the grand prix back to Austria for the 2nd time in Eurovision history, thus giving Vienna the chance to host the event in 2015.

Conchita will also be attending the Eurovision national finals in Germany (Unser Song Fur Osterreich) on 5 March and in Sweden (Melodifestivalen 2015) on 14 March.

The 2015 Austrian Eurovision National Selection Format

A total of 6 acts will compete in the 2015 Austrian national final- Wer singt für Österreich? scheduled to be held in Vienna on 13 March. The Austrian national selection kicked off on 20 February with a total of 16 acts battling to compete in the grand final. 16 acts have now been shortlisted to 6 acts. The 6 candidates will present a total of 12 songs (2 songs each) during the Austrian national selections’s 3rd show on 6 March, hereafter the coaches will select 1/2 songs for each song. Hence each candidate will compete in the grand final with 1 song each.

ORF Eins Klubconzert on 7 March

The special concert ORF Eins Klubconzert will be held at Chaya Fuera at 19:00 CET in Vienna on Saturday 7 March, where the 6 Austrian hopefuls are set to perform their entries: Zoe, The MakeMakes, DAWA,  Celina Ann, Johann Sebastian Bass, Folkshilfe. The show will be hosted by Andi Knoll.

Wer singt für Österreich?

Austrian rapper Nazar , German band The BossHoss and Ana Fare the coaches who have scouted the 16 potential Austrian candidates in the 2015 Austrian Eurovision natikonal selection.

The 2015 Austrian national selection consists of 4 shows (3 pre-recorded shows and 1 live show) aired on ORF 1 at 20:15 CET. The 2015 Austrian entry will be selected via a 50/50 jury-public televoting deliberation.

A total of 16 acts entered the competion on 20 February during the audition show and only 6 have proceeded to the next phase after the delibereation of the coaches.  On 27 February the lucky acts will have to showcase their talent and vocal skills. On 6 March the 6 acts will perform a total of 2 new songs each (contributed from Austrian and international producers), a total of 12 songs will be premiered. Only 6 songs will proceed to the grand final. On 13 March the 6 acts will perform their respective entry and one of them will be selected to represent Austria at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. The first 3 shows of the national selection will be pre-recorded whilst the grand final will be a live televised show.

The 2015 Austrian national selection dates

• 20/02  Show 1 ( 16 acts- 6 will proceed to next phase)
• 27/02  Show 2 ( 6 acts will showcase their talent)
• 06/03 Show 3 ( 6 acts will perform 2 songs each- 12 songs will be premiered)
• 13/03 Grand final ( live show with 6 acts and 6 songs)

Mirjam Weichselbraun will have the honour of hosting the 2015 Austrian national selection. She will also host the 2015 Eurovsion Song Contest along with Arabella, Alice and Conchita.

ORF  confirmed to ESCToday last September that in 2015 Austria will be opting for a national selection in order to select its Eurovision act and entry.

In 2014 ORF selected both its Eurovision entry and representative via an internal selection. Conchita Wurst was selected via an internal selection with her entry Rise like a phoenix to fly the Austrian flag in Copenhagen.

It will be very interesting to see who will follow into Conchita’s footsteps and defend the Austrian colours on home soil in Vienna next May. The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna on 19, 21 and 23 May.

Austria debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 with Bob Martin and has won the event twice in 1966 with Udo Jurgens’ Merci Cheri and in 2014 with Conchita Wurst’s Rise like a phoenix.

Stay tuned to ESCToday.com for the latest news on Conchita Wurst, Austria and the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.