Austria: Trackshittaz and Conchita Wurst Among 2012 Eurovision Finalists

Trackshittaz—the first Austrian hip-hop group to reach #1 on the charts—and Conchita Wurst—a woman apparently named after a sausage—are among the nine finalists competing to represent Austria at Eurovision 2012.

State broadcaster ORT named the contestants competing in the February 24 final earlier today. The tenth spot will be determined via an open casting call. Interested members of the public have until December 31 to submit their songs to the network.

Here is the complete list of contestants, along with a description and video when Wiwi could figure out who they are.

1. !DelaDap

“DelaDap” means “Give me the beat” in Romani, the language of the Gypsies. So it’s no surprise that ! specializes in Roma music with jazz and pop influences. Its artists hail from the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia and Russia. Will this be a throw back to the Czech Republic in 2009?

2. Blockstars

3. James Cottriall
He’s an English musician currently living in Vienna. Here he is performing “Unbreakable.” It was nominated for “Song of the Year” at the 2010 Austrian Amadeus Music Awards.

4. Krautschädl

5. Papermoon

6. Norbert Schneider

7. Trackshittaz
The hip-hop duo who hit #1 in Austria placed second at last year’s national selection contest.

8. Valerie
This could refer to a lot of people, so we aren’t going to try.

9. Conchita Wurst
She competed on Austrian music show Die Grosse Chance. (UPDATE: Read out interview with Conchita here).