Get ready, ravers! Today we’re going to be talking about Austria’s queen of choreo, Kaleen. She was announced after an internally selection by Austrian broadcaster ORF back in January, and the Eurofans have been obsessed ever since.
Her song “We Will Rave” is nothing short of a total banger. Of course with a name like that, there are heavy 90s rave influences throughout the 3 minutes. We’re sure to get an inredible show in Malmö too, with Kaleen being an acomplished dancer, more on that below!
Let’s dive into 10 Facts about Kaleen, so we can be ready to fully geek out about the redhead icon come May.
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10 Facts about Kaleen
1. Kaleen’s hometown
Kaleen is from Ried im Traunkreis in Upper Austria…try saying that name ten times fast. The very small picturesque town is nestled on the edge of the Alps mountains region. Ried im Traunkreis is approximately 200km directly west of Vienna (with the reference point in the capital being the 2015 Eurovision venue Wiener Stadthalle, naturlich).
2. She has her own record label
Kaleen owns her own record label, called Wifi Records, which she founded in 2021. She releases her own music through this including her 2023 album “Stripping Feelings”.
3. A life-long love of dance
It’s not a secret that Kaleen knows how to move. When she was announed in January, ORF said “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”.
4. Kaleen can bring the ‘Fuego’ to Eurovision
Kaleen has attended Eurovision competitions in various roles before. Notably, she was a stand-in for technical rehearsals in Lisbon in 2018. One of the songs she rehearsed for was the iconic “Fuego” staging – where of course an excellent dancer was needed. Enter, Kaleen. She was also one of the choreographers and dancers for the interval acts in the 2018 edition – she was busy!
5. Kaleen: Stage Director extraordinaire
2018 wasn’t the only involvement Kaleen had with the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2021, she dipped her toe into the pool of stage direction with the Junior contest. She worked with the Spanish delegation on Levi Díaz’s performance of “Reír”, and the Bulgarian team with their song “Voice of Love” by Denislava & Martin. She then joined the Spanish crew again in Junior Eurovision 2022, before helping Austria, Armenia, Georgia and Germany craft their staging for Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool.
6. She works on Starmania
Kaleen has worked with Austrian broadcaster ORF on more than just Eurovision, having taken on a role as choreographer and stage coach on reality show Starmania for the past four years. The programme aims to find the next popstar in Austria, similar to an Idol or X Factor format. Eurovision royalty Conchita Wurst was discovered thorugh the show, as Tom Neuwirth.
7. She is married to staging legend Marvin Dietmann
Kaleen’s husband Marvin Dietmann has been involved with Eurovision for many years including being the stage director for Austria’s hosting in 2015. He then took on the role in 2017 in Kyiv, and 2018 in Lisbon, and was part of the production team in 2019 also. He has worked on many individual performances too, including the iconic staging for Conchita Wurst, and also joined the Austrian delegation in 2018 for Cesar Sampson. Kaleen can be sure to have all the support she needs going into making sure her staging is perfect in Malmö, with her husband by her side.
8. “We Will Rave” is her Eurovision dream song
Speaking to ORF on song release, Kaleen said “”‘We Will Rave‘ is my perfect Eurovision Song. It allows me to combine everything I love, and to get carried away with the audience. The song is adaptable for everyone. ‘We Will Rave’ can become We Will Dance, We Will Sing, We Will Live, We Will Party…. It is powerful and positive, even though you might be fighting through something at the moment”. You can see the love she has when performing the song; her energy really shines through!
9. Kaleen’s musical influences
Speaking to Austria’s FM4, Kaleen said her musical inspirations include Beyoncé, Little Mix, Dua Lipa, Zara Larsson and Ariana Grande. Clearly she loves a banger or two from fierce women!
10. She was a finalist of Got To Dance Germany
Kaleen took all the afore-mentioned prowess of all things dance to Got To Dance in the German version of the show. She made it all the way to the final of the series, with her dance partner. Sadly she was pipped to the post, but this is an incredible feat nonetheless!
Stay tuned to Wiwibloggs for more on Kaleen, and to find out 10 Fact about more of your favourite artists from Eurovision 2024!
Fun fact : the we will rave video was a collab with germanys next topmodel
Nothing Dancing Queen in it! Just generic and dated 90’s beat performed by medicore singer not to be excite about.
11. Pre-recorded backing vocals arr heard more than her voice
She is a great dancer, and the song is fun. The only problem is she is only an OK singer.
I dunno, she’s kinda nailing all her pre-party performances, even with wardrobe situations!
13. She never feels cold and has to remove even more clothing when the temperature rises.
12 – She can choreograph and execute a “wardrobe malfunction” on stage very well.
I was working backstage at LEP and she was laughing so hard when she came off after her performance! She took the situation like a queen.
11. She’s a member of the Austrian royal house of Habsburg
hehe
I’m loving these extra facts haha!