Austria | Meet PÆNDA From Austria

This year will mark the 64th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel, and will see 41 countries compete for the honour of being Europe's best. There will be two semi finals taking place on Tuesday 14th May, and Thursday 16th May. Ten artists from each will progress to the final that will be held on Saturday 18th May 2019. A grand total of twenty six countries will compete to be Netta's successor at the competition. With just a short time until this event, Eurovoxx will bring you a series of meet the artist articles, that will introduce you to each country that will be participating. Today's instalment comes from Austria who will be represented by PÆNDA.

Who Is PÆNDA?

The singer PÆNDA was born Gabriel Horn on the 25th January 1988, she is 31 years old. She heralds from the Styria region of Austria in the town of Deutschlandsberg, which is very near the border with Slovenia. This year's representative has many talents which include singer, songwriter and music producer. As well as all of this, she can also play the guitar and piano. From a very young age, music took hold of her, where she joined her local choir at the age of six, and by the time PÆNDA turned fourteen she had already turned her talents to song writing, and performed in various pop, rock bands. At the age of 20 the talented singer moved to Vienna to study pop and jazz music at the Vienna Music Institute, where she graduated with full honours in 2013. The singer has made her home in Vienna, where she writes, and produces her music from there.

She has released one album thus far entitled, "Evolution I", from this, three singles have been released, "Waves" (2015), "Good Girl" (2018), and "Paper-Thin" (2018). The young singer will premier her second album, "Evolution II" on the 23rd April 2019, with its official release being on the 26th April. She will also hold a series of concerts in Austria in April, July, and November 2019. This year Austria will be represented by PÆNDA who will sing "Limits". The official music video has already amassed 320 thousand views on YouTube.

Check Out PÆNDA's Eurovision Entry "Limits" Below:

How Was PÆNDA Chosen?

This year the song, and entrant were chosen internally by the national broadcaster ORF, The singer was chosen by a team of musical experts. The broadcaster revealed on the 21st November 2018, that they would opt internally once again. Austria have done this every year since 2014, that has seen a largely positive result that has culminated in a win that same year. PÆNDA was officially revealed as this years artist on the 29th January 2019.

Check Out Andy Reacts To "Limits" Below:

Austria At The Eurovision Song Contest

Austria first debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1957 when Bob Martin would sing, "Wohin, kleines Pony?" which placed tenth. This year will mark the countries 51st participation. Austria did not participate in 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1998, 2001, and 2006. After they failed to qualify in 2008, the country opted to take a break from the competition, and would not return to the competition until 2011. Since the introduction of the semi finals in 2004 the country has failed to qualify on four occasions. Austria has won the competition twice. Firstly in 1966 when Udo Jurgens won with the song, "Merci, Chérie", with the latest win coming nearly 50 years earlier with Conchita Wurst and "Rise Like A Phoenix" in 2014. They have come last on seven occasions, and in 2012 "Trackshittaz" came last in their semi final. Since the introduction of the semi finals the country has qualified on 6 occasions. They have also made the top 5 on eight occasions.

In the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest, the country has awards most of its points to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, and France. Whist it has received most of its points from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, and Germany.

Last year Austria was represented by Cesar Sampson with his song, "Nobody But You". He came third scoring 342 points. Cesar came first with the televote receiving 271 points. However, the public would not be so generous, and only award 71 points. Could PÆNDA echo that result?

Do you like the song? Will it qualify? Please tell us what you think in the comments below. The whole team at Eurovoxx would like to wish PÆNDA "Viel Glück".