The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2023. Next we review Austria, who have chosen Teya & Salena with “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”.
Were we possessed with positive thoughts? Read on to find out!
Teya & Salena – “Who the Hell Is Edgar?” (Austria Eurovision 2023)
Review: Teya & Salena – “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”
Oliver: Macabre gothic horror meets funky dance-pop. On paper “Who the hell Is Edgar?” is a recipe for disaster, but Teya & Salena make it work. A memorable hook, a ghostly chant, and a witty set of lyrics are all the Austrian duo need for a stellar piece of entertainment. Three minutes fly by as the song takes unpredictable and unabashed twists and turns. Visually, Teya in black gothic fashion and Salena in angelic white mirroring the dichotomy of the music adds an extra sprinkle of goofiness, and it’s as much a delight to watch as it is to hear. Austria, welcome back to the final.
Score: 9.5
Dayana: Teya & Salena are channelling their inner poet and I’m here for it. I love the references in the lyrics that make the entry much more than a song with a catchy chorus. We definitely need more songs that you can analyse, find a deeper meaning in, and, of course, sing along to.
Score: 7.5
Pablo: Chainsmokers meet Icona Pop at the classic American literature section. Who could have thought the overarching meme and running joke of the beginning of Eurovision season could have had this banging of a culmination? You have clever verses accompanied by this addictive guitar lick, an out-of-the-box chant moment that suddenly smacks you in the face, a unique bridge that ties the story together, and of course, the addictive chorus poised to become a talking point before, during, and after the contest. If they deliver the creative comedy and wittiness this song deserves on stage, Austria will be dangerous, no doubt.
Score: 10
Tom: I might upset people here because I know many people love “WTHIE”. But at the moment, I just can’t see how this will translate well on stage. I hope they prove me wrong, but I can’t see it yet. I enjoy the verses but I need to see if they can perform well live because this song lives or dies with the quality of their live performance. It has the potential to be brilliant but also has the potential to be terrible. The studio cut for me is a little over produced to be replicated on stage. Plus, with what happened last year in the semi-final with “Halo”, it makes me nervous and I don’t want to see lightning strike twice and it happen again.
Score: 5
Luis: I could write a whole essay on how genius Austria’s entry is. I will not, but “Who the Hell Is Edgar?” reaches new heights for satire at Eurovision. Criticising how the music industry primes catchy music via an absolute earworm? Using the name of a classic author as a way to point out how female songwriters are taken less seriously by producers? Turning a reference of how little streaming platforms pay artists into an infectious bridge? This is absolutely everything. Thank you Teya and Salena. Thank you Austria. Thank you Edgar, whoever you may be.
Score: 9
Austria Eurovision 2023 ranking
In the Eurovision 2023 Wiwi Jury, we have 20 jurors but only have room for five reviews. The remaining scores are below:
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Antranig: 10 Cinan: 10 Deban: 5 Diego: 9.5 Forrest: 8.5 Jonathan: 8 Kristín: 7 Lucy: 8.5 |
Renske: 9 Rick: 9.5 Ron: 2 Ruxandra: 9.5 Samuel: 9.5 Simon: 8 William: 9 |
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 2 and a high of 10.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 8.44/10
What do you think of Austria’s Eurovision 2023 entry? Share your own score and review for Teya & Salena’s “Who the Hell Is Edgar?” below!
My top 3
1st France
2nd Slovenia
3rd Austria
ENJOY:) love ya
btw teya and Selena plsss respond I love u to so much your amazing:)
WhO
When I first heard the snippet, I thought it was going to be a mess, but I’m glad that that wasn’t the case, I love this song so much!
Hello everyone, Wiwi Tom here, I have now seen Teya and Salena sing live.
Wow. This is not Halo 2.0, I am seriously impressed with these incredible women.
Congratulations Austria. A top 10 is coming your way.
Austria: 8
(The wiwi average score will not be changed)
X
Btw the 2 Austrian girls are not the first in Esc who make reference to Edgar Allen Poe.
In 1990 Joelle Ursulle sings at the beginning of the song ” I feel like in a tale of Edgar Allen Poe”.
One thing I can say. The Austrian girl duo is the only one that challenges my ranking top spot: Sweden.
I love the concept, the sound, and the voices; everything is so fresh, energising, and meaningful.
That’s the kind of song that does well in Eurovision. And people love it.
It is different, authentic, and well-presented. I also love the girl’s laid-back approach.
Eurovision is fun and nothing to get dead serious about.
Austria you get my votes this year! Good luck!
PS: Loreen you got some competition here!
The best pop of this year for sure 11/37
The light that Loreen sees at the end of the tunnel is a train heading straight for her. She will still be one of my top 10 (because style is her strongest point), but Teya and Salena are not the only ones coming at her fast. If Austria stages it right, I expect plenty of 8-, 10- and (especially) 12-point scores for them.
Maybe it’s the Arlanda Express
Seeing as how this is about appreciation of an artist’s work, I feel I should send a shoutout to the other two songwriters on this. They also produced this song. Pele Loriano has been involved with other Eurovision songs, including as a songwriter on Lithuania 2019 and producer on the alternate UK “Bigger Than Us” the same year. Rony Janecek is a wonderful guitarist, you can see him play Beethoven on YouTube. He appeared in the final of Slovakia’s Got Talent when he was just 12 years old.
I see you!
Oh mio padre there’s a ghost in my bodyyy!
Oh my God, this is such a smart entry! Do you want an effective pop song with lots of catchy moments? You have it here. But do you agree with me that pop songs can also be meaningful and involve intelligent songwriting? They also have something here for you then. It’s like a funny TV sketch with surprisingly good music. The critics on mass consumption culture, how poorly streaming services pay artists and how songwriting has constantly been buried under marketing strategies and Tik Tok nonsense are tongue in cheek but never preachy. My only concern here is that staging it… Read more »
Slay of magnificent proportion
This, as Finland, might fall as a novelty act to some inexperienced or non-fan eyes but there’s a whole meaning behind the song. You’ve got wise and catchy lyrics here and charismatic singers. They just need the performance to wrap up the package and shoot up Austria to a top 5-10 finish. The song is very catchy and I see Austria easily placing inside the top 5 with the televote. The jury will either make it or brake it. Austria enters my top 10: 6. Germany (7.5) 7. Austria (7.5) 8. San Marino (7.25) 9. Azerbaijan (7) 10. Ireland (7) 11.… Read more »
Slot #5 for me. I absolutely love this song. People love to talk smack about funny songs, but a well made, actually funny and catchy song is as good as an ultra-polished pop number.
If it wins, I’ll be happy AF, and planning a trip to Vienna the next day. It’s also my favourite TV show’s OG city, so, two very good reasons to visit the city.
Austria 9/12
This score is so amazing , for once everyone had good opinions omg
Whoever gave it 2 and 5 tho…
Shade
I’m not a fan of the song and I am scared this could flop live. Regardless of that, they are gorgeous and I wish them all the best.
My #1 – unless it’s a disaster live, I’m voting for this. Bursting with positive energy!
THIS IS HOW YOU EXECUTE POP INFUSION WITH ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIIIC!! A geniously portrayed criticism against how the music industry treats modern artists in our days, by using the famous example of the classic American poet writter, Edgar Allan Poe, whose basic source of income was his writting and made a living mostly throughout of it. Modern music industries do not really care about how the songs are written, as long as they profit the most out of the artists’ songs they’ll never bother fighting against “fast-food music”. They squeeze any money made out from the artists efforts, MOSTLY THE… Read more »
just winner of second semi- final , but just top 10
Love this song. I do not doubt it will qualify for GF but I do have a bit of doubt how this will be performed on stage. Video is fun, but that’s impossible to replicate on stage
Without a doubt- THE social media darling entry of this year. It’s weird, it’s quirky, it’s got an ear worm and all of this put together elevates it to a true ESC fan favourite. It’s a sure bet to qualify in its semi- let’s see what the jury makes of it in the final….. 2023’s answer to Netta from a few years back!
I was in hospital yesterday and I’m recovering today, so I won’t be writing much. I’m still here though. I love Austria this year; it is one of my top 5. It is the biggest surprise of the year for me: A song that is really funny and makes a very good point about songwriting-for-pay all at the same time. Also, it’s far from being a French & Saunders sketch (anyone know them?), because Teya and Salena have excellent vocals that also blend perfectly with each other. Also, thanks to the songwriters for remembering the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe;… Read more »
Hope for a swift recovery for you! GWS 🙂
Get well soon Purple Mask!
Take care. I wish you a speedy recovery!
Ps. Glad you like Poe Poe Poe song. 🙂
Let music help you through this! Get well soon.
Sending hugs and best wishes for a speedy recovery, Purple!
Distract yourself with Eurovision and Picard.
Wishing you a speedy recovery! Take care
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
The day this song was released, I was able to listen to it twice in the early morning, and that was it. That was enough for it to take up residence in my brain for the whole day. This is a song with immediate impact, in addition to crazy depth if you want to go there (h/t to Skiwalko, who handled this brilliantly). It’s breathlessly efficient, with not a second wasted. And almost every single lyric is quotable in its own right. This is the dark horse of the year– a song by relatively unheralded performers who could very well… Read more »
Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely one of the better sons this year, but how is good the best one rated thus far?
I don’t remember any of them being rated higher. Anyway it would be nice if the ranking were available at all times.
Super-happy with the Wiwi Jury score! Well-deserved!
Eccept for Deban – so negative! I like him but he is mostly negative
I feel like Ron is the only one with a negative opinion on this song. I tend to read 5/10 as either indifferent or conflicted.
I think the 5 is the most wrong, because it’s not based on anything but worries for the staging. Which might not even be necessary, it could be great. I think at this point only the song itself should be judged, I thought that was what the jury is for.
Tom’s 5, I mean.
5) Austria – This is absolutely fantastic. The theme is very clever, Teya and Salena are full of personality and charisma, the MV is really great, and this is a song that instantly gets in your head from the very first listen. I do imagine what staging would be like in my head, and hopefully what they’ll do will be close (though usually it’s not even close hahaha) and I think it’ll do really well this year. Great job, Austria! 9.5/10
Every year I hope for a Eurovision song I will fall in love with. I had already accepted it might not happen this year and then – along comes Austria. On the first listen, I was confident this would end up being my favourite song of the season and it has stayed in my first place. For me, WTHIE rivals Conchita for the most competitive Austrian entry ever, and although it’s slightly wishful thinking, I would love for it to win the whole contest. I won’t go on about all the ways in which it is brilliant, others have said… Read more »
So overrated. The May will show the bubble of the hype.
One of my absolute favourites this year, 3rd place overall. My winner of SF2. <3
I like this song but I cant think of a good staging for It in Liverpool. If they focus on the message and tone of the song and go for a more “theatrical/funny” performance It might get a bit messy but if they go for a more “musical” performance just the singers and dancers and an easy choreo It might be too conventional.
Yeh I agree, I do worry how they are going to pull it off on stage, won’t be easy to convey the same energy as the music video. Have everything crossed though, if they pull it off they will be placing very high on the leader board.
Check out the London pre-party performance. I think there were some clues there and it looks really promising.
AUSTRIA – This is perhaps the most creative thing Austria has ever done, and it’s certainly one of the best satirical entries ever put to ESC stage. On the surface, it already draws you in with its super-catchy hook (seriously, try not humming ”Poe Poe Poe” once you hear it), colorful setting, and inviting performers. If you take it as a lighthearted humorous entry, it works perfectly. If you dig deeper, it’s even better. There are so many clever references in this song. It talks about the carelessness in adapting someone’s work, about unaccredited ghostwriting, about the treatment of female… Read more »
Really nice review for a worthy entry from your personal top 5 Colin. I also like it a lot personally. I am looking forward to seeing what the staging of this entry will be.
Thank you, Thanos. I love this song so much! It’s really on a level of Rachel Bloom type of clever satire that feels over-the-top, and even childish, until you start following the narrative and realize just how layered it is. It’s effective to the max, and I feel like it might get a really good result this year. I hope so, anyway! I’m really curious about the staging, as there are many possibilities, and it feels like one of the entries where the presentation will count the most, result-wise.
It is a nice song, but the LIVE version… cringe! TBH.. will be in the top 20 if it will Q.
You’re delusional. This will probably win the semi.
Ron : 2. What the hell? Did they kill your cat or something? Also, putting 5 to a song just because “I love it but I’m afraid of the live vocals, look at what happened with Halo last year”… That’s not super objective to me. One country is not forced to repeat its mistake year after year, given how different the artists are. And the preparties proved that this fear had no reason to be: Teya and Salena’s live vocals slay. Anyway, that average score is well deserved!! One of the catchiest tracks of the season. Should do very well… Read more »
I agree. It’s not like Pia Maria is doing the live vocals again. Weird argument.
They lack vocal in this catchy song. It’s gonna fail to deliver on stage.
I think it’s gonna flop. It’s my 3 total, but yeah think it’s top 3 in videos, live, the stage and vocal are gonna kill them i think.
Austria: A very clever entry that appeals to both jurors and televoters. Unfortunately I think a number of us heard the initial snippet or demo which gave this a bad rep before it was released in full. However I was pleasantly surprised with this entry. It has the kitsch, memorable virality factor that is needed to make an impact in the televote but if jurors are looking out for lyrical content, and vocals, this song also provides that. I loved the music video and I do hope they can perhaps use some components of that for their staging in Liverpool.… Read more »
Austria are back in the final and probably going to win semi-final 2. This is a really fun entry and the “poe poe poe” is such a hook. Looking forward to seeing how they stage this. Juries might bring it down a bit but I still reckon this is in for a top 10 finish in the final.
In the historic battle of Cha Cha versus Poe Poe, I’m picking Austria’s side – Who The Hell Is Edgar? is my winner of Eurovision 2023. I cannot remember the last time a Eurovision entry gave b*rth to so many instant catchphrases (“oh my god, you’re such a good writer”, “gas station champagne is on me”, “0.003”, “oh mio padre, there’s a ghost in my body”) – just to top it all off with possibly the most absurd chorus in history. I’d love to talk about the meaning of “Poe Poe Poe”, but it has already been analysed to shreds.… Read more »
If these words really set off the filter, than it’s officially completely random …
Ah that was it? And I was wondering why a recent comment of mine got filtered lately. Guess I’ll be referring to it as Georgia 2016 from now on 🙂
Really? I was briefly filtered for its mention too. Why? No idea.
Wonderful entry, and a wonderful winner to have, Skiwalko. Pretty neat references, and I have no idea why such general concepts or some names are triggering to the filter. Especially when occasionally really revolting comments do sneak through.
The mention of Georgia’s 2016 title gets people filtered because that used to be the nickname of my account on here before it got banned, it’s a very peculiar and random reason but now you know, ahaha.
The best way to deliver a serious message is hiding it under a flamboyant appearance because that’s you really make it reach a lot of people. Austria has sent a banger this year and I wish it wins, or at least a Top 5.
I can see TikTok making this go viral because of the choreography and thus make it become a commercial hit.
Initially, I took this for a joke entry and didn’t pay much attention to it, but I was mistaken, it’s a great song and almost in my top 5. Still, the score is too high considering average wiwi scores.
This is such a clever entry. It has a deeper message most jury members can identify with, it is fun, catchy and danceable. I hope the Austrian delegation has understood that this year they cant skimp on the staging.
The closer the final gets, the more I think Austria actually will win on the big night, despite Sweden being the big favourite. Why? Because I do actually think the juries will love the references to the music industry and think this is quite refreshing and new. I can also imagine the public going nuts about these to young girls and that WTHIE certainly will be the main topic in the living rooms around Europe on the big night. All in all I think we could have our surprise winner of the decade!
Iconic in every way.
I really like Austria’s entry this year, and it’s a big step-up compared to the entries they sent in 2019 – 2022. Vocally this is interesting, the thematic and storytelling is really clever, and even without the message you’ll still see everyone joining in on the ‘Poe Poe Poe’ train. Clever and catchy is two words that when you combine ’em, the result is bound to be excellent, and this entry is no different. I have this in my top 3 for this exact reason. So long as they manage to stage this well, I think Austria could easily reach… Read more »
I love it. Clever and catchy. Great singers. Hope they have dancers to elevate the staging. Top10 possible.
RIP Crystall Ball, you’ll be remembered.
I don’t have much time so I’m just going to say this. The “In Corpore Sano” of 2023. Fun, addictive chorus with a serious message. I really want this to landslide in televoting but I do fear it might not get translated well at stage.
Rating: 9.5/10 (4th)
Almost certainly the biggest surprise of the national season was the just how seemingly competitive and, dare I say it, good, the Austrian entry ended up being? Given Austria’s track record in recent years and accepting the mediocre and the underwhelming choice of artist behind this year’s entry, hopes were pretty much non-existent. But, Austria have managed to do that difficult thing and make a “joke” entry that actually works for 2023. This is fun, lighthearted, but with enough seriousness and even some level of quality, and that’s a package that can do well at Eurovision. The song has this… Read more »
Juries may have made by members who may suffer from 0.0003 thing. Therefore they may be able to make connection with the song.
I feel like the juries, many of them songwriters and singers themselves, will appreciate these lyrics and hooks far more than people expect. I won’t be surprised if Austria finishes on the left side of the scoreboard as soon as the juries are counted. Of course, I expect a good televoting response too, even if that’s also dependent on the staging.
Thanks, Ari. I’d be confused, but very happy if the name Croatia is heard a lot during the jury vote. Fingers crossed. First off, to qualify. Then, to do well in the finals. Both Austria and Croatia doing well would be a good sign for the power of satire.
Amen to that!
This entry is short, sweet and funny in a good way. It relies heavily on production in the backing track, the lead vocals on the other hand don’t seem to be very processed and also not overly challenging, so if they manage to transfer the lighthearted humor well on stage without toppling into silliness, this could work rather well. Melodically, it’s not very sophisticated, but it doesn’t come across as overly simplistic, either, because of the unexpected turns it takes at the end of almost every segment: You go from the indie rock first verse that is dominated by the… Read more »
I agree with you. The changes to the song as it progresses really add charm to the it and, as you mentioned, my biggest fear for it is that it may easily seem silly on stage without the proper staging and presentation. They have to find a way to convey the message through the staging, so that it will be evident enough, what the act is trying to do.
I don’t think the message is key here. The Eurovision bubble knows and talks about it, but no one in front of the screen will google the meaning of “0.003”, if the commentator doesn’t explain it. In my opinion, lyrics are never a deciding factor for Eurovision success, there are countless examples of songs with trite or nonsensical lyrics that did very well in the contest.
That’s true. But still the “trap” of looking seemingly silly on stage needs to be avoided somehow because it may backfire especially with the juries.
Absolutely. Avoiding any resemblance to a joke act will be key.
2024 german schlager music pls pls
approach Ben Zucker from your neighbours, he can also represent austria perfectly i feel with his very edgy raw vocals, very stunning music videos in snowy mountains, chart hit potential almost every song he releases and a very good live
I’ve written a lengthy review about why Austria is my favourite, but, in a truly gothic horror fashion, it’s been mercilessly devoured by the filter. Much love to both singers.