While Austria is yet to confirm their participation in Eurovision 2019, suddenly we’ve had a big clue as to one of the artists under consideration. London-based Austrian singer-songwriter Joe Traxler has revealed that he could be picked for Eurovision 2019.
Joe broke the news to his fans that he is being considered as a potential artist for Austria at Eurovision 2019. He wrote that he was “Stoked to announce that I’m being considered to represent Austria for @eurovision 2019 in Israel!” He also revealed that the “Final decision will be made in December!”
Austria’s 2017 act Nathan Trent liked the post, suggesting Joe’s claim is legitimate.
While it is not known exactly how ORF will choose their act for 2019, Joe’s announcement suggests they are sticking with the same system they have used in recent years.
Since 2017, ORF has internally selected a singer-songwriter. The artist has been announced first and given time to finetune their Eurovision entry.
The internal selection method took Nathan Trent to 16th place in the grand final in Kyiv, while Cesár Sampson won the jury vote and placed third overall in Lisbon.
Who is Joe Traxler?
Joe Traxler is a 25-year-old singer-songwriter, originally Linz, Austria. In 2014, he won the Austrian Newcomer Award. In the same year, he competed in Die Große Chance, the talent show that gave Thomas “Conchita Wurst” Neuwirth his big break three years prior.
Now based in London, Joe works on his music, described as “heartfelt”. He is inspired by singer-songwriters such as Jeff Buckley and John Mayer.
In 2016, Joe released the EP “Forty Four”, and earlier this year he followed up with the single “Asymmetrical Life”.
“Asymmetrical Life” takes its inspiration from Joe experiencing Bell’s Palsy in 2017. The condition causes sudden paralysis to one half of the face but can improve over time.
Joe explained on Facebook, “Today one year ago I woke up with half of my face paralysed. 😕 I processed the difficulties of this chronic condition in my brand new single “Asymmetrical Life”.
Joe’s honest songwriting style suggests that ORF may be looking to the Lisbon success of Germany’s Michael Schulte. Michael placed fourth with “You Let Me Walk Alone”, a moving song about the death of his father.
Should ORF select Joe Traxler for Eurovision 2019? What sort of song should he sing? Leave a comment below!
I hope that orf sends sara de blue. In my opinion she would be the best choice for eurovision #saradeblueforaustria2019
Look out for “Luke Andrews – Coming Home”
https://youtu.be/oJ-hfQH_eys
https://youtu.be/FYckVr4iH5k
NO. Sara de Blue deserves it more than anyone. AUSTRIA HAS TO PICK SARA DE BLUE!
In my opinion Sara de Blue would be the prime pick of ORF. I think her talent, plans and zeal for Eurovision make Sara the most reliable choice. Austria can stride ahead confidently with her for ESC2019.
I kinda like this style, so could be a good option for Austria!
to make things clear : joe traxler is one of up to 12 conestants that will compete for the internal ORF pitch this year. as is sara de blue … and many more great talents. in september there will be 3-5 artists/ songs chosen, who will enter the final pitch. the official decision , who will represent austria in israel will be made in december. so folks … it doesn`t make much sense to speculate with certain names at this point. orf will do his best and will choose the best all-in-all option
Is this a confirmation of Austria definitely participating next year in Israel? Excellent!
So this kinda confirms that ORF will be back for Eurovision next May in Israel and since they’re on fire now, there’s no reason why next year will be different.
As for now, I believe that either Joe or Sara with a good and solid entry could get Austria another respectable result in the contest and why not another Top 10. But Sara’s current cult following among the eurofans could sway ORF to choose her, as Austria has somewhat been struggling on get good televoting results (apart from Zoë, obviously).
Sara de Blue has to be the representative of Austria in Jerusalem!!
I find it quite funny that pretty much everyone in the comment section is talking about Sara De Blue despite the article containing zero mentions of her. BTW, Out of the Twilight is super overrated and over-hyped purely because it was associated with San Marino, a country with a terrible track record at Eurovision.
While it’s true that San Marino got a lot of hype because of 1in360, I don’t think that is all that made Sara de Blue the current “star” she is among the Eurofan community. “Out of the Twilight” was the front-runner to win the NF after SMRTV decided to throw away Jessika and IROL’s amazing first version of “Who We Are” (how could they honestly?!) and since she lost she has gained a lot of momentum and cult following in such a short time, that’s why many people want see her to fly the Austrian flag in 2019.
As long as the article is related to “Austria at Eurovision 2019”, it’s very well connected, relevant and obvious if you name “Sara de Blue” or any other preferred artist in the comment. Anyone can’t ban the name of Jesus in a seminar solely on Christianity. So please feel free to write as we have the fundamental right to the freedom of expression in Austria (as per Constitutional Law Art. 13 StGG; Art. 10 ECHR).
Moreover over-rate and over-hype could be the terms as per your personal opinion which should be respected.. But in my opinion “Out of the twilight” is a great song and should have been sent to Lisbon..
In 3 words? Sara de Blue.
I don’t know him, he might be great, but I need Sara in Eurovision!
Sounds John-Mayerish.
Voice of Sara de Blue is unique and perfectly musical. She is an excellent lyricist and always comes up with amazing songs. Every musical note sung by her becomes notable and touchable to heart. That’s why her fan base is huge and multi-national. I am sure that her entry into Eurovision 2019 would be the best bid by Austria !
I would prefer Sara de Blue to represent Austria in ESC2019 because she deserves it based on her vocal quality, standard of songs and perfection to perform. I hope ORF would concentrate only on selecting the right representative of musical art rather than the past trends or personal stories.
Oh no! Copying a successful act from the previous year always backfires. Start trends instead of chasing them!
I still hope Sara De Blue will represent Austria in Israel
Still don’t understand why Austria won the jury vote this year but I digress.
I still think ORF should use a national selection because it makes a country seem less interested when they pick a relatively unknown artist internally each year.
I get your point and I would enjoy selecting our artist in an nf again, but I think the internal selection is the best thing for my country. Just look at the results (1, 3 and 16). The Public on the other hand selected a song that scored zero points plus 2 semi fails.
They seem very interested in the contest, I think.
About the jury vote, I don’t think it’s a surprise. People were underestimating the entry, and he only got out of the televoting top 10 because of the running order (he did fine in the semi-final).
he might have blown his chances by telling that he’s considered.
#saradeblueforaustria2019
Love her voice, her style, her impressive appearance
Sara de blue would be the best choice :-)))
He is soooooooo good. His Voice is perfekt and he is a nice Person
I think music is the best way to handle diseases like this. I would love to see him in Israel next year!
Oh, this sudden disease sounds bad 🙁 But he is such a beautiful boy! I don’t care about the Eurovision topic now! Joe, I only wish you the best for your life <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Now there is a good choice! Austria is actually my favourite ESC country, being my no.1 in 2003 and 2018 to name 2 🙂