COSMÓ presents a visual journey through club history with „TANZSCHEIN“
A major milestone for COSMÓ on his journey to the 70th Eurovision Song Contest was achieved yesterday, on Thursday, May 7th, 2026 – COSMÓ completed his first rehearsal on the big ESC stage at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna. The production – a pulsating club experience, featuring striking animal masks and club outfits from various decades of music – takes shape on the ESC stage for the first time. The creative team led by Dan Shipton and Ross Nicholson is behind the concept of the stage show, which narrates a journey through club history. The styling team Adi Lozancic and Timo Reitbauer visualizes this time travel with costumes, working closely with artist Birgit Mörtl, who designed the dancers' artistic animal masks in modern 3D geometry.
COSMÓ: "Bringing this production to the stage now, after three months of intensive work with various concepts and many changes, is truly a great moment for us as a team. Because now we can see: ‚Wow, this is what we have created.’ I am excited to show it to Europe and the whole world next week."
Staging: Club feeling and the freedom of dancing
Behind the production lies a powerful idea: to create a space where people can come together, dance freely, and unleash their inner animal. Inspired by COSMÓ's blue star, the creative team around Dan Shipton and Ross Nicholson brings an energetic club atmosphere to the stage, reviving defining dance eras and uniting them under the blue star of the new age. This also reflects the Eurovision theme „United by Music.“
The outfits make a thoughtful visual statement, reinterpreting the journey through various dance decades with a modern and unified aesthetic. Each costume is limited to black leather, black faux fur, and silver/metallic accents. The silhouettes pay homage to the past, yet the materials create a futuristic look, topped off with the artistic animal masks in modern 3D geometry.
Four dancers – a gorilla, a gazelle, a lion, and a rhinoceros – and guitarist Sandro Humitsch are part of COSMÓ's performance. The choreography invites fans at home and in the Vienna Stadthalle to dance when COSMÓ performs the already proven „TANZSCHEIN“ dance in the chorus.
Every element of the production – lighting, visuals, special effects and choreography – has been carefully interwoven to create a visual journey through the club's history.
Creative team Dan Shipton and Ross Nicholson: “With our production, we harness the raw, instinctive energy that resides within each of us. Using custom-made animal masks and oversized props, COSMÓ and the dancers transform the stage into a wild, immersive celebration – as a metaphor for shedding inhibitions. It's about reconnecting with your primal self through movement, rhythm, and collective joy.”
Costume designers Adi Lozancic and Timo Reitbauer: “We honor the eras of dance floors by assigning each animal an epoch. COSMÓ picks up on the Eurovision motto ‘United by Music’ with the song ‘TANZSCHEIN’ – and invites everyone to dance. We think it’s fantastic that the dance floors are being activated again, and with the costumes, we revel in memories of years when dance floors were packed: the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. The costumes reflect these decades.”
Animal masks by costume designer and artist Birgit Mörtl
The experienced costume designer and artist Birgit Mörtl is responsible for the mask design. She has crafted the dancers' animal masks in modern 3D geometry - gazelle, gorilla, lion, and rhinoceros - with careful and elaborate handwork. Special attention was paid to low weight and high stability while ensuring freedom of movement for the mask wearers.
The stage outfits represent decades of club music
COSMÓ – Modern Global: The look of a modern superstar with strong tech influences and silver embellishments. The central element is a silver corset, specially created for the performance, as the futuristic centerpiece of the show.
Guitarist – Future: The guitarist embodies the bouncer of the night in a sleek, armored outfit. The look combines tactical elements with industrial design, creating a defensive, futuristic silhouette.
Gazelle – 70s Indie Hippie: An homage to the freedom of the 70s – flowing leather fringe and striking flared trousers that dynamically accentuate every move of the dancer.
Rhinoceros – 80s Disco Fever: The electric energy of the 80s on stage, with accentuated shoulder parts, a high collar, and the typical power-glam attitude translated into a black, furry high-voltage outfit.
Lioness – 90s Street Style: A reference to the 90s and thus the golden era of hip-hop through a reinterpretation of the classic tracksuit, accentuated by silver details.
Gorilla – Y2K The New Oversize: In true 2000s style, the outfit plays with extreme proportions and massive volume, dominated by heavy faux fur texture elements.
COSMÓ at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest
COSMÓ's further schedule until the finale of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026:
- Saturday, May 9: Second rehearsal
- Sunday, May 10: Opening Ceremony and official opening of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 – live on ORF 1 (from 4:55 PM)
- Thursday, May 14: Semi-final 2 – live on ORF 1 (from 9:00 PM) – where COSMÓ will present his song “TANZSCHEIN” for the first time out of competition
- Friday, May 15: Dress rehearsal for the final – international juries award their points
- Saturday, May 16: Final – entry number 25 – live on ORF 1 (from 9:00 PM)
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 live and diverse supporting program on ORF 1
The world's biggest TV entertainment event is taking place over three evenings: the first semi-final is on Tuesday, May 12, the second semi-final—where Austria's representative COSMÓ will perform—is on Thursday, May 14, and the final is on Saturday, May 16, live from the Vienna Stadthalle, each starting at 9:00 PM on ORF 1 and ORF ON. The two semi-final evenings will be opened at 8:15 PM by ORF commentator Andi Knoll with „Mr. Song Contest proudly presents.“ On the final evening, Barbara Schöneberger will host the two ORF/ARD/SRF broadcasts "ESC – The Countdown„ (8:15 PM) and “ESC – The Aftershow" (12:55 AM) live from the MuseumsQuartier Vienna.
(May 08, 2026)