Austrian broadcaster ORF has announced that the duo Teya and Salena will represent Austria at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.
The announcement was made on Austrian radio station Ö3 Wecker on Hitradio Ö3. The act was selected by a jury of Austrian and international Eurovision experts, as well as Eurovision fan clubs in a number of countries. This is not the first time the duo has met - both artists participated in the same season of the Austrian singing competition show 'Starmania' in 2021. Famous alumni of previous seasons of 'Starmania' include Nadine Beiler (Austria 2011), Daniel Kajmakoski (FYR Macedonia 2015), and Tom Neuwirth, who Eurovision fans will recognise as Conchita Wurst, the winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.
Teya, also known as Thea Devy, is a 22-year-old Serbian-Austrian singer who participated in Beovizija 2020 with the entry 'Sudnji dan' ('Judgement Day'). The singer confirmed on Facebook that 'Sudnji dan' was submitted to the Serbian national selection after an ORF internal selection rejected the song's original version. 'Sudnji dan' finished in 10th place in the Beovizija 2020 final.
Salena is the stage name of Selina-Maria Edbauer, a 24-year-old singer from Styria. She is no stranger to singing competition shows: in addition to 'Starmania', she also participated in Season 7 of 'The Voice Germany' in 2017, where she was eliminated in the sing-offs.
Teya and Salena's song will be officially released on March 8. The date intentionally coincides with International Women’s Day.
Austria made their debut at Eurovision back in 1957. They scored two Eurovision wins. The first was in 1966 with Udo Jürgens’ ‘Merci, Chérie’, and then more recently in 2014 with Conchita Wurst’s ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’.
The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Since the Eurovision Song Contest cannot be held in the winning country, Ukraine, the United Kingdom has been chosen to host the Contest in consultation with Ukraine and the EBU.
The semi-finals will take place on Tuesday 9 May and Thursday 11 May and the final will occur on Saturday 13 May 2023.
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