"Vienna Calling – Who sings for Austria?": This is how the voting process works in the national preliminary decision on February 20th, live on ORF 1 and ORF ON
The countdown is on - soon it will be decided who will represent Austria at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna! Alice Tumler and Cesár Sampson will welcome viewers live on ORF 1 and ORF ON on Friday, February 20, 2026, to "Vienna Calling – Who will sing for Austria?" when Anna-Sophie, Bamlak Werner, Cosmó, David Kurt, Frevd, Julia Steen, Kayla Krystin, Lena Schaur, Nikotin, Philip Piller, Reverend Stomp, and Sidrit Vokshi present their songs. The twelve acts will need to convince the 44-member international expert jury and the TV audience to secure their ticket to the world's largest music competition in the first national preliminary round since 2016. In the studio, the commentator panel with Caroline Athanasiadis, Elton, and Luca Hänni will provide knowledgeable and entertaining commentary on the performances. They assist in the difficult decision-making process without awarding points themselves.
The voting process in „Vienna Calling“ is designed like the „Eurovision Song Contest“: The jurors of the national and international expert jury give their ratings based on the rehearsal performances of the twelve „Vienna Calling“ acts. After the presentation of all participants' songs in "Vienna Calling – Who sings for Austria? The Show„ at 8:15 pm, the audience has the opportunity in “The Voting„ at 10:55 pm to vote via telephone for their favorite. The jury and audience voting each account for 50 percent of the final decision on who will represent Austria on the “Eurovision Song Contest" stage.
All twelve songs participating in „Vienna Calling - Who sings for Austria?“ will be available from February 16th via songcontest.ORF.at and www.mein.orf.at/vienna-calling.
The members of the national and international expert jury:
- Max Bauer (Ö3)
- Christina Böck (Kurier)
- Armin Doppelbauer (ORF Burgenland)
- Martin Fichter-Wöß (APA)
- Robert Fröwein (Kronen Zeitung)
- Linnea Gawell (Swedish singer and songwriter)
- Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz (ORF Program Director)
- Thomas Gruber (ATV)
- Alexander Gutmaier (Heute)
- Jamala (Singer; ESC winner Ukraine)
- Theresa Kahr (ORF Styria)
- Magdalena Kanev (ORF Vienna)
- Melisa Kaymaz (President OGAE Switzerland)
- Constanze Kreuzberger (ORF Salzburg)
- Armin Luttenberger (ORF)
- Melinda Markowitsch (ORF)
- Sascha Mutavdzic (Eurovision Austria)
- Wolfgang Pammer (Kronehit)
- David Pearson (ORF Lower Austria)
- Valentina Pisoni (ORF Vorarlberg)
- Jakob Rabitsch (Producer)
- Heide Rampetzreiter (Die Presse)
- Alina Rauch (Radio NRJ)
- Martina Rauner (Ö3)
- Romy Reis (GRIDmusic)
- Sabine Reiter (mica)
- Lisa Schneider (FM4)
- Marco Schreuder (Der Standard / Podcast „Merci, Chérie“)
- Patrick Schubert (Puls4)
- Michael Schulte (Singer)
- Alan Roy Scott (USA / Songwriter for Ray Charles, Céline Dion, Cher)
- Shari Short (USA / Singer & Songwriter for Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, etc.)
- Violet Skies (GB/USA Singer-Songwriter)
- Markus Spiegel (Music expert)
- David Steiner (ORF Tyrol)
- Parov Stelar (DJ, Producer)
- Marcos Tritremmel (President OGAE Austria)
- Christian Ude (Kleine Zeitung)
- Alkis Vlassakakis (Podcast „Merci, Chérie“)
- Alex Wagner (FM4)
- Melanie Wehbe (Swedish singer and songwriter)
- Peter Wolfgruber (ServusTV)
- Klaus Woryna (former president OGAE Germany)
- Thomas Zeidler (Austria)
"Vienna Calling – Who sings for Austria?" on YouTube and ORF ON
For the international audience, a live stream of the show "Vienna Calling – Who sings for Austria?" will be available on the official Eurovision YouTube channel (@EurovisionSongContest) with commentary in English. This version is available to the Austrian audience on ORF ON.
(February 15, 2026)