Kaleen doesn’t just move. She dances. And in May she’ll demonstrate that and so much more for Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
ORF, the Austrian broadcaster, has confirmed she’ll represent Austria in Malmö with a “techno-inspired pop track.”
Techno doesn’t have to be all about a DJ, but it definitely requires dance and Kaleen is more than up for it. The 29-year old has won five world championships in dance.
“With Kaleen, we are sending an artist who is versatile – she sings, she dances, she choreographs, and she is an absolute song contest insider,” says ORF Program Director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz. “We are going to put on a big show in Malmö!”
She’s not exaggerating about Kaleen’s insider status. Among other things, she has been creative director for Spain at Junior Eurovision and she was stage director of the entire contest in 2022.
Kaleen is ready to grab the moment.
“I think I haven’t fully grasped the fact yet, that I’ll be standing on that stage as an artist myself. I am in love with this world of lights and cameras and believe it’s a privilege to take the audience on a journey. I worked hard for this, and I am extremely proud. I am very looking forward to showing the world what I can do!”
About Kaleen
Kaleen’s bio, provided by ORF
Kaleen is a professionally trained singer and dancer. Performing has been part of Kaleen’s life from an early age: as soon as she could walk, she already danced at home in the living room when music shows were on TV. She then took her first ballet lessons and quickly expanded her repertoire to include commercial, tap, jazz, musical, modern, Latin, and standard. She won her first national championship at the age of seven – the first of more than 100 national and European championships, five world championships, as well as various special awards across all disciplines. Next to her dancing career, she discovered her talent to sing. Since 2020, she also works as a choreographer and stagecoach. She taught herself how to record and produce songs professionally.
Her first self-produced single was released in September 2021 under her own label “Wifi Records”. After three more singles, she took on the challenge of writing and recording a complete album on her own. Her debut album “Stripping Feelings”, was released in September 2023. Since 2018, Kaleen has been involved in the Eurovision Song Contest, initially as a stand-in lead artist for the rehearsals of several countries and as a dancer and choreographer for the interval acts in Lisbon. In 2021, she was the creative director for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for Spain and Bulgaria, as well as the creative director for Spain and stage director for the entire production in 2022. Last year, she supported Austria, Armenia, Germany, and Georgia with their stage performances at the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool.
I LOVE techno/electronic so I’m gassed!
TECHNO?!?!? I’m excited
Really disappointed by the disrespect shown to artists by these constant leaks and people criticising a song before it has even been released.
I like it a lot
the leaked song is a BOP and knowing that she is stage director and she’s a great dancer, it will be a big show. I just hope she knows how to pull the live vocals with help from pre-recorded vocals.
Austria 4/12
If its the leaked song on YT then I’m loving it! It’s a real banger brought back in a time machine from 1994-1995. The keyboard riff that kicks in around the 1:00 mark is SO much like the keyboard riff from Ice MC’s “Think About The Way”.
I grew up with all the Euro-dance bangers and I loved them back then, and this one is probably the closest I’ve heard to anything from that era of music, and I’m LIVING!
If it’s the leaked song on YT and X, I think we’re in for a treat!
I can see that song popping on the charts later in the year, for real!
So Many Fake Bejba I Have To Laugh . No One Is Good As The Original
I know, it’s kinda krejza
It’s kinda krejza
I’ve watched the song already on X ! Why isn’t it here yet?
If it is indeed the leaked song, then it is pretty cool. It’s like Madonna singing Rythm is a dancer during her MDNA era.
She even sings as well as Madonna did at ESC stage haha
I expected a train wreck reading the comments here but it’s not so bad at all. It could even score some succes on the spotify charts.
And im underselling it in this comment. Issa certified bop!
Pity wiwibloggs haven’t yet reacted to the song. I wanted to hear their opinion so bad.
The song is not released yet
Now I know how this won. Besides being an ORF employee for many years and obviously knowing how to work the system, her last name is Kreissl. She’s the granddaughter of a well connected seasoned folk music composer and lyricist. And I think her father might also be a former folk music composer turned esoteric anarchist. Too bad the songwriting gene didn’t really rub off on her. Such a banana republic. Also, her relatives probably could have written a better song than the one they fished out of Jimmy’s dustbin.
ORF being corrupt exposed much? Really sad Otzi does never get taken seriously since he isn’t just a gimmick for anton aus tirol but such a genuine authentic performer, seen him couple times
I secretly miss the crystal ball
Thisis leaking though… last year, now this year. I have to wonder if this leaker thing is Austrian and if it’s actually intentional or if the broadcaster is really just THAT stupid or careless. I hope they get a good price on the song for wasting our taxpayer money like this. But frankly, for free would still be too expensive in this case.
Hm, I will wait until we get song confirmation before listening.
Expect nothing and still be underwhelmed. I promise you.
The fact that “dancer” seems to be her main credential is worrying. Audio should always be the priority!
I didn’t even search for the leak, I just went on Twitter and saw a two minute rehearsal clip of a song called We will rave. That’s gotta be the entry, I doubt anyone would go through the trouble of faking THAT. The song is truly atrocious, the voice is thin and even the dancing is nowhere near Chanel. It’s amazingly bad, I’m telling you.
That is the entry, yes
Voice is very thin indeed, glad i’m not the only one who noticed that
And that’s in the playback. Just how bad will it sound live?
Wat een triest persoon ben jij 🙂
Ga lekker ergens anders negatief zitten doen
I could not find any recordings of her singing live, so it is really worrying
That Azeri Fan Account on Twitter/X is so annoying with all those leaks!
Sorry, No. It’s all creators and broadcaster problem. If they aren’t able to follow even the simplest encryption protocols when they send the song to each other or sharing with producers for editing or anyone else involved, it is not a fan’s account problem. It’s all their problem cause they theirselves don’t respect their song.
You forgot your capital letters schtick.
Because That Isnt Me . Its A Pozer
You Are Also A Pozer
I hope it leaks Joost Klein the Netherlands ESC24 song!!
Cant wait untill march 24.
Another Swedish generic song like Cyprus. Too bad, I had higher expectations for string more original.
Is it the song on YouTube? I really hope so, it’s an absolute banger, takes me right back to waving glow sticks on sticky nightclub floors!
I guess we are heading towards a very dancy/party ESC 24?
So many uptempo songs in the run up sofar!!
Oh mein Gott oh mein Gott!! Ist Austria becoming *Cyprus*?? HILFE!!!!
The funny part is that if someone doesn’t like a song or the song is pop….immediatly it’s a ”Swedish”.
USA, UK or other European countries don’t have general pop songs?? Only Sweden has the privilage of pop culture?
Hey,
The map of Europe is way too big for people to learn all these countries, that’s why for the practical reasons and for everyone’s convenience it is assumed that all the music is generally “Swedish” by default, unless specified otherwise. Hope this helps 🙂
Maybe because it is Swedish? Lol it’s literally a Jimmy Thörnfeldt song
All the songs of Luxembourg have an Isreali exec. producer…So, they are Israli songs? When Kontopoulos was behind Azerbaijan/Moldova’s entries, the song were Greek?
If this is the correct song, because it’s not the official yet, it has American vibes and reminds us American songs
American???? It is pure eurodance
Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt is Swedish.
If it’s the song on YouTube, it most definitely isn’t “Swedish”. It very much reminds me of the insanely popular DJ-led tracks of the late 90s and they were from all over Western Europe – France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, UK, as well as Scandinavia – it is quite a universal Western European sound to me.
The wi k ipedia page of the big event has a table with a new column: songwriters. Finally some recognition.
It is Swedish, since the songwriter is Swedish.
Geographically speaking it is Swedish, but it is most definitely not a “Swedish” song (which is used as a derogatory term). And focusing purely on the geography of where a person is from seems entirely pointless to define the type of song that it is. Which is basically a very good song, I expect it will qualify with ease.
Ok! Not an unknown person in this Eurovision world and she knows the thing very well, I mean she worked behind the Eurovision/Junior Eurovision stage several times. Points from Armenia and Spain assured? 😉 A techno number, ok cool, I feel Austria love to send this kind of music to Eurovision, Hi Lumix and Pia. I wish her good luck and I wish to Austria a great result. Now again a song reveal in March just before the deadline, the countries doing that annoy me a lot as it’s totally useless and it feels misplaced to me to wait the… Read more »
Ok be supportive towards a country and you will get downvotes..
I don’t know why people are being so negative about the song leak. It’s better than most of what we’ve heard this season so far imo.
I wasn’t expecting that Austria would get that low in the festival. A dancer who learnt singing = not a singer and a basic Swedish song? How did that happen? There’s zero charisma and authenticity. This is sad.
snubbing their artists like Nik P ”Mit den Fussen im Meer” ICON (yes that guy is austrian) or eurodance icon DJ Otzi if u wanna go eurodance he is your best singer in that genre tbh
If she can go to ESC then each and every one of us has a chance haha Stiff on the stage, weak vocals, not a singer with success in Austria, so what were her merits to be chosen? Nepotism, same as last year Greece and this year Cyprus. too many nepotism acts disguised within legal frame. All of those involved are bad people!
You do know her CV?
Yes
Heard the leaked track. Its a dance song.
More trance influenced than techno imo.
Good luck Kaleen.
oh this is bad
I listened to the snippet and it gave me NQ vibes.
Cascada vibes all over for me, will do well i think
Because Cascada have done well?
I like it.
It’s so early 2000’s. But If Norway chooses Damdiggida, well…competition!
But it’s so nice for ESC to have also happy, silly songs with nostalgic vibes
And no, it’s not dated.
Beginning of the Demo track is amazing. The chorus is awful and dated so far but they can change that
I like everything about the song only the chorus not ? it’s s giving dated so I hope it’s at least a demo
I don’t get the hate. The song is stunning!
Oh no, another Melodifestivalen reject that was bad for Sweden, but will do for others. When will these countries learn!
Is it really a reject?
Of course not. Lujuan is just hating pop songs.
Don’t speak with my mouth, I like pop songs, just not crappy pop songs.
Yes, it was first offered to Kiana for Melodifestivalen 2023, but she went with “Where Did You Go”.
i’m ready for the kylie/britney serve, no matter the result i’ll be stanning
I don’t know if it’s true, but this is supposedly the song:
https://twitter.com/sfazerbaijan/status/1747183019205529830?t=SEWKAesU-XH3EasiyzeAAw
Here is the video when she was the stand in for Eleni in 2018:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjxFausLnVs
She’s very stuff on the stage, looks like she’s thought to dance and not a “born dancer”. Also, her voice is mediocre at best. Considering she pulled some string to get to ESC, and considering who wrote her song, she crearly deserves a NQ. But we’ll see.
stiff
Based of how the article describe Kaleen’s style, idk whether I will like it. Knowing that Poland qualified last year with a terrible dance break singer who can’t sing, Kaleen will probably be able to qualify no matter the quality. Let’s be optimistic and hope the best for the quality of Austria’s entry.
Not really. Poland has a huge diaspora and Austria has none. Also, Austrians don’t care how their broadcaster’s entry scores at Eurovision.
Blanka had a hot dance break and her vocals had improved a lot at esc compared to at the nf
I remember William saying last year Austria was deciding between Teya & Selena and what was described as a solo female dance bop that is Fuego & SloMo inspired during the Austrian internal selection process. I wonder if this was the song.
It was Kaleen but not this song. Her song last year was “Owe You Pretty”
Reminds me of something Cascada would sing in 2006. I mean this style is coming back, so it’s fine I guess. This one will really depend on the live performance.
I’ve listened to the song, it’s Cheesy Euro Techno at it’s finest.
I’m not sure why people are discounting this as a NQ already. We know she can dance, so the performance is probably going to be super entertaining. It’s not a winner, but Austria has the chance to pull off a really memorable performance with Kaleen.
where/how did you listen to it? Since Jimmy Joker is part of the team – is it cyprus-like?
I don’t want to promote a leaked song, but it’s on Twitter. It’s not Cyprus-like at all, it sounds nothing like we’ve heard at Eurovision in the last two decades. It’s simply a standard Cheesy Euro Techno song from the 00s, nothing groundbreaking and definitely not winner material.
NQ.
@ Wiwibloggs – The song has been out for 2 hours now, are you gonna do a reaction video?
It’s not out. The song is called “We Will Rave” and will be published in march.
Hahahaha
Love that comment
Ok but can she sing?
Cause it looks like one of those ” can dance but not sing ” performers. But for some people that’s good enough.
Still I pass on judging it until I see it
Checked out the leak. It’s garbage deserving of a NQ.
where??
We really are heading for the Eurovision Dance Break Contest 2024.
Nocturne, winner in 1995, was 24 words and the rest was instrumental. A 2024 version of Nocturne would be 24 words, then 2.5 minutes of a dance break.
The song title is “We Will Rave” and is techno oriented… it sounds a little bit like following the Kaarija trend but maybe a bit more serious than some acts from other national finals.
It looks promising though.
Just quickly went to check out how she sounds and I’m afraid there’s nothing special in that voice imo. Very underwhelming.
Never heard of this insider. But I also feel like the idea behind this probably was “let’s try to do a Chanel”.
Noa, Chanel, Eleni and more… tried and failed, it’s time to send something else. It can be a dancing pop song but with something special. Sweden hit a mark in 2023 with “Tattoo”, in terms of the arrangement, the performance and the direction of the performance, everything was professional!
This does not mean that 2nd or 3rd place is not respectable, it is very respectable but if you want to win you have to bring something more interesting and more captivating.
This choice is clearly not about winning, it feels more like running out of options. Obviously, I wanna wait for the song but the song won’t magically give her a good voice.
You are aware that she was the stage director for Chanel? hahha