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Austria has qualified for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 thanks to its ode to 19th century horror author Edgar Allan Poe.
Female duo Teya And Salena’s song has already gone viral on TikTok – but a new audience embraced the bonkers banger during the Eurovision semi-finals staged in Liverpool. The UK city is hosting the contest in Ukraine’s stead.
While the song, Who The Hell Is Edgar?, on its surface essays the American writer, in reality it is much more layered.
The official Eurovision website says it is about the “experiences as female songwriters in an industry that all too often doesn’t give women enough credit for their hard work and expertise”.
The chorus goes something like this:
Poe, Poe, Poe, Poe, Poe
Poe, Poe, Poe, Poe, Poe
Poe, Poe, Poe, Poe, Poe
Edgar Allan, Edgar Allan
POE POE POE POE POE! 🇦🇹 #Eurovisionpic.twitter.com/f9XzTBRlzI
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 11, 2023
Your votes have been counted and Austria 🇦🇹 is through to the Grand Final! #Eurovisionpic.twitter.com/i71GnYvMrj
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 11, 2023
The song also has dig at streaming royalties – referencing Spotify’s paltry $0.003 rate. Whatever you got from the tune, people were loving it …
"Why do you watch #Eurovision?"
"An incredible Austrian Duo are singing a dance song about being possessed by Edgar Allen Poe whilst making a statement about how little artists are being paid in the streaming era"
"Ah" pic.twitter.com/k5V7TiPk38— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) May 11, 2023
Only in #Eurovision could a song about Edgar Allen Poe sung by Roxie and Velma from Austria 🇦🇹 be a serious contender for a place in the final
— Matt Wells (@MatthewWells) May 11, 2023
Austria’s song is about the lack of royalties musicians receive from the likes of Spotify, with 0.003 referencing how much some artists get per stream.
Just boss moves. Absolutely no notes. #Eurovisionpic.twitter.com/jySui73Tk1
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) May 11, 2023
It’s about this writer who has been possessed by the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe and it’s making them write the song really well but their producer doesn’t know who Edgar Allen Poe is so… pic.twitter.com/DDvABSTCac
— James Topham (@JamesTophamWord) May 11, 2023
I've accidentally found myself watching the Eurovision semi-final and Austria's entry is a banger all about Edgar Allen Poe . It's completely fucking daft and I think I love it. pic.twitter.com/lpwScnbBVB
— Aidan Moffat (@AidanJohnMoffat) May 11, 2023
edgar allan poe is the oldest artist to ever compete at eurovision. he is 213 years old ! #eurovision#eurovision2023pic.twitter.com/j4NHvZqGgZ
— mollie | 🇦🇲🇸🇪🇪🇸 (@escmikolas) May 11, 2023
Albania, Cyprus, Estonia and Belgium also qualified for the final in the second semi.
The other five countries which qualified for Saturday’s Eurovision grand final were Lithuania, Poland, Australia, Armenia and Slovenia.
Greece, Denmark, San Marino, Georgia and Iceland failed to make it through.
For the second time this week, the M&S Bank Arena was filled with Ukrainian flags flying alongside those from other countries competing for the prize.
Hosts Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina were also back on stage after making their debut as a presenting trio on Tuesday night.
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