Austria selects 'Alive' for its 2020 Eurovision artist Vincent Bueno

Almost three months after broadcaster ORF announced that 34-year-old Vincent Bueno would take to the Eurovision stage in Rotterdam flying the Austrian flag, and having more recently teased fans with the title, ‘Alive’, and references to “heroes”, the song has just premiered on the national Hitradio Ö3 “wake-up” show.

‘Alive’ is an uptempo song with slick pop stylings and a catchy beat, drawing immediate comparisons with Bruno Mars from the breakfast show team, not least because they acknowledge that Vincent can move well without this affecting his powerful vocals as he’s demonstrated in earlier live performances. The song definitely provides scope for audience interaction and the energy it packs is palpable.

In the song, Vincent sings about the person who lights a spark in him (thus bringing him back to life), and subsequently explained in a brief post-song interview that the track is also about the sense of ego we all have, how it can restrict us, and how shedding it can result in one discovering the hero inside and feeling ‘Alive’. He also stated that the original song went through some 15-20 incarnations before taking its current form.

The interview ended with comments by the radio presenter, Robert Kratky, about the “danger” posed by Iceland’s ‘Think About Things’, one of Austria’s fellow second semi-final competitors with an upbeat song. Whilst expressing admiration for Dadi’s entry, Vincent maintained that ‘Alive’ stood up well against it.