Vincent Bueno was due to represent Austria at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with his song “Alive”.
As in previous years, Austrian broadcaster ORF chose Vincent internally. This selection method brought them big success with Conchita Wurst’s victory in 2014 and Cesár Sampson’s third place in 2018. Last year, however, Austria stayed in the semi-final with Paenda.
We have compiled a list of 10 facts you need to know about Vincent Bueno. Let’s do this.
Austria at Eurovision 2020: Facts about Vincent Bueno
1. He’s been involved with music for a long time
He’s only 34, but Vincent already has a long music career behind him. He set the path for his musical life early on. He was only 16 when he started an education at the Musik & Kunst Privat University in Vienna. He graduated at 22 with a degree in Musical Theatre. Some notable alumni from the university include violinist Lidia Bach, who won Eurovision Young Musicians in 1998, and Elisabeth Engstler, who was one half of the duo Mess which represented Austria at Eurovision 1982.
2. He participated in Austria’s national final in 2016
After Vienna hosted Eurovision in 2015, ORF went big with its search for a 2016 representative. It held a ten-act national final called Wer singt für Österreich?. One of the participants was Vincent with “All We Need Is That Love”. He was the first performer of the night and arrived on stage riding a hoverboard. Alas, he didn’t make it to the superfinal. But this wouldn’t be the last time he came in contact with the contest.
3. He had been in negotiations with ORF before
Some years after his first attempt to represent Austria, Vincent sent another song to the broadcaster. However, ORF didn’t go for it. The song he applied with is called “Only Thing”. It shows a different musical style. In an interview with OE24, he revealed that this song is among his favourites. Eberhard Forcher, Austria’s talent scout, was involved in the decision-making process. Vincent is thankful he played the song during his radio show and chose him for 2020.
4. He endured tough times
Vincent is married to his wife Charity Grace. They have two daughters. Kezzy is four years old and Krista Faith was born in November 2018. But the couple had to go through tough times. In 2015, their daughter Samantha was born. Sadly, she was diagnosed with a severe brain illness called anencephaly. The couple received the shocking news during the pregnancy and decided to give her a short but beautiful time on this planet. Samantha lived for around 90 minutes. Vincent processed this traumatic experience by writing songs.
5. He has already won a TV talent show
Vincent is a part of Austrian TV-industry for over a decade. His first big appearance took place during the casting programme Musical! Die Show. In 2007, ORF was looking for the biggest musical talent in all of Austria. Vincent made it through several rounds and was eventually announced as the winner. During this show, he performed numbers from some of the most famous musicals, from Mary Poppins to Grease to The Phanom of the Opera. If there’s someone who knows how to perform a song, it’s definitely Vincent!
6. He’s been to Eurovision before
Thanks to his close connection with ORF over the years, he was chosen to support Nathan Trent in Kyiv at Eurovision 2017. He was one of Nathan’s backing singers and helped him get through to the final. Towards the end of the performance of “Running On Air”, Vincent joined him on stage. Vincent supported Nathan on various events during their stay in Kyiv, usually with a guitar to sing an acoustic version of the Austrian entry. He knows what’s expected of him at Eurovision.
7. He hosted a comedy talk show
In 2018, Vincent released his third studio album Invincible. And he had a very unusual kind of release party. He hosted a show called Realtalk mit Kuya Vince. It was a comedy talk show with various guests. The show focussed on the cultural differences between Austria and the Phillippines. He joked about various stereotypes Austrians have about people from the Philippines. By bringing in his personal knowledge about the differences between both cultures, he is a role model for people struggling to find their place. He also explains certain Filipino problems, which raised awareness among the Austrian viewers.
8. He has a special bond with Nathan Trent
It is safe to say that both artists have a very tight connection. During Vincent’s talkshow, he face-timed Nathan, who now lives in the United Kingdom. Nathan had only nice words to say about him and described Vincent as being one of the most loyal and talented people he knows. According to Nathan, Vincent is “an entertainer, singer, dancer, actor, producer and songwriter. He can do anything!” Looking at all the projects and things Vincent has done in the past, he is indeed hardworking and multi-talented. Nathan described him as one of his closest friends.
9. He set the record straight
Shortly after he was announced as Austrian representative, claims surfaced that Vincent is homophobic. These allegations occurred due to a now-deleted interview with the newspaper Heute. He found clear words addressing these false claims. “To clear things off, honestly guys, I am not a homophobe. For all the people who think that or all the people who believe the [newspaper], oh my gosh, guys. It’s really poor if you believe what’s been written about me or in that article.”
10. He charted in the Philipines
Apparently, one continent isn’t enough for Vincent. After he finished a successful musical tour through Austria and Germany in 2011, he relocated to the country of his roots — the Philippines. He signed with the Universal Music Ph and released the song “Party Hard”. The track quickly became popular within the Filipino entertainment industry. It was used as the theme song to a teen drama series called Growing Up. The party anthem even charted in the MYV Philippines charts.
Eurovision 2021 update
ORF has already revealed its plans for next year and Vincent is included. He will represent Austria in 2021 and will find a new song together with the broadcaster. He stated his goal clearly: Write an even better song and use the time to give Austria the best possible result!
What do you think? Can Vincent Bueno write an even better song? Tell us in the comments below.
He was the first to do the hooverboard dance routine at Austria’s 2015 NF before Mans at ESC 2015 and Kpop’s NCT debut stage.
9) Wait, so he never wished his children not to be gay? He never defended some other person who made similar statements?
I remember him denying he was a homophobe, but not the initial comments.
I think it’s just one of those things (re: About his kids) where a quote of what he said gets taken out of context and becomes a whole different meaning than what was actually said in the interview the moment it gets viral. It doesn’t help that the original article is in German so non-German speakers curious on what the fuss is about will have to rely on secondary sources to understand this. From my point of view, it seems more of a worrying sentiment coming from a parent wanting to protecting their children more than anything else especially as… Read more »
I don’t think any parents (even LGBTQ+ community’s people) would expect their child(s) to be gay/lesbian/bisexual in the first place.
That might be true, but I think it’s a generous interpretation. At no point in his clarification did he retract his comments – the way to protect gay people is not to wish them out of existence. He never actually cited that as his reason anyway. I would be inclined to think it is because of his religious beliefs.
Correction on #10: It’s MYX, not MYV. 🙂
Many of the intolerant gays are gonna make him appear like he’s their worst enemy again. He ain’t even one of the worst and extreme homophobes y’all know and hate.
What is the level of homophobia that you deem tolerable?
Is not preferring your kids to be gay deemed as homophobic in the first place?
11. Straight kids only