Austria’s National Selection begins February 20th

Austria’s search for its Eurovision 2015 contestant launches on February 20th and will last till March 13th.

20 acts will sing in the first show, before a professional jury reduces the number to six for the next two.

In a “bootcamp” stage, the acts will be put through their paces in a creative workshop. An all-star jury will be helping them get on their A-game for the final. Julie Frost (composer of the 2010 winning song “Satellite“), Jimmy Harry (American Golden Globe winning songwriter and producer who worked with Madonna, Bruno Mars and P!nk), Lukas Hillebrand (Austrian producer) and I-Wolf (Austrian musician) will be on hand to make sure the singers nail their songs in the live final on 13 March. In a similar model to the German 2014 selection each act will sing two songs, with the winner being decided by a 50/50 split between jury and televoters.

Mirjam Weichselbraun will host the shows and noted singer Anna F. and her manager Alex Deutsch will pick the initial 20 acts hoping to sing for Austria.

Conchita won Eurovision for Austria back in May with her song ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’ and a grand total of 290 points. She’s gonna be a tough act to follow!