Following from Conchita Wurst’s victory for Austria in 2014 and Cesar Sampson’s respectable third place in 2018, Austria has a very strong contender for Eurovision victory in the guise of Vincent Bueno.
Vincent co-wrote the song “Alive” - a very catchy tune with a powerful message of not taking the wonderful things in your life for granted. In his own words, Vincent sums up his composition as “All of us fight our own egos. An ego is like a high wall. If you break it down you realize how much easier and freer life can be."
Listen to “Alive” here:
Born in Vienna in 1985, of Filipino descent, Vincent developed a precocious musical talent and by his teens, he had learnt how to play piano, guitar, bass guitar and drums. He went on to study at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, majoring in music and the performing arts.
In 2008, Vincent wowed experts in musical theatre when he won a televised competition, “Musical! Die Show” beating 10 contestants (out of 400 hopefuls) to become the winner. Due to this and his growing contacts within ORF (the broadcaster that covers the Contest in Austria), he was put forward as a possible candidate for Eurovision.
He participated in the National Finals to be selected for the 2016 Contest, narrowly losing out to Zoe, and in 2017, he was a backing singer for Nathan Trent. His talent shone through and he got his dream opportunity to represent his country at Eurovision.
Here is Vincent’s performance at the National Finals in 2016:
In 2010, an appearance on TV in the Phillipines lead him to being signed by the label, Star Records, and a growing fanbase in the country of his parents.
Vincent was internally selected by the Austrian broadcaster, ORF, and we are happy that he will be returning to Eurovision in 2021.
Check out how Vincent has been coping with the recent lockdown in Eurovisioncalls with Nikkie:
Austria first participated at Eurovision in 1957, and have one won the contest twice – first in 1966 with Udo Jürgens, and then their second victory in 2015 with Conchita Wurst; an interval of 49 years!