AUSTRIA 2021

The Austrian song was released on March 10th with its premiere play on Hitradio Ö3 followed by the video release online. Last year's representative Vincent Bueno had been reselected internally, as had his song., which is called "Amen"

The video mainly takes place in a number of different 'rooms'. There is some opening of doors which coincides with changes in the song. There is also a strange analogy going on with a crow which then morphs from a plain black crow to a multi-coloured one when Vincent finally escapes from his rooms and into the open air.

As you can probably tell from the pared down video the song is pretty straight forward too. The song starts off softly with piano and guitar backing. As the chorus starts the beat starts up and helps the chorus build from the rather sombre verse. This beat stays on during the second verse although his vocals are softer and breathy. I feel like this shouldn't quite work but actually helps the song keep its momentum. After this there is a short bridge which takes the beat away before the last rendition of the chorus. For this one though, Vincent sings the first bit slow and hushed before the beat comes in about this time with a choir helping with the chorus which feels like it is going for the big finish but finishes with Vincent singing the title of the song as the backing fades away,

Bueno started dancing at the age of 4 and later graduated in music and performing arts at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. His big break came in 2008 when he won the Austrian reality show “Musical! Die Show” showing that he could act sing dance and entertain. Over the weeks he performed a range of song from different musicals such as Hair, Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Grease and Miss Saigon and in the end won over  two thirds of the phone in votes in the final. In 2009 he took part in Austria’s version of ‘Strictly’ coming 7th and had his first taste of Eurovision taking part in the Austrian national final in 2016.

This is rather awkward as there is already another song called "Amen" on the showlist, but for me is is by far the better. Even on a technical point of view, the title of the song is prominent in the chorus, repeated often as is also the first and last words that comes out of Vincent's mouth. The beat really builds and you get a real feeling that every word means something. The video is a little confusing but I could imagine the kind of black turning into technicolour vibe being quite clever or even something about opening and shutting doors on the backdrop. It's also nice to see something totally different from Vincent considering his 2020 song was a Justin Timberlake style up-tempo song and shows that he is really versatile. Last years one probably had its hopes pinned on televotes while this might be hankering after the jury vote and if I'm honest Imuch prefer this once.

ARTIST - Vincent Bueno
SONG - Amen
WRITING CREDITS - Tobias Carshey, Ashley Hicklin, Jonas Thander