The Eurovision expertise begins inside minutes of touching down at Vienna International Airport. I pause my headphones simply in time to listen to the pilot acknowledge the competitors in German—cheers from ecstatic gaggles of friends come from the entrance of the aircraft.
As the aphorism attributed to Austrian satirist Karl Kraus goes, “The streets of Vienna are paved with culture, the streets of other cities with asphalt.” What would Beethoven consider Romania’s 2026 entry, Choke Me, I’m wondering, as I move the Theater an der Wien. Something tells me the composer might need vibed with Dara’s Bangaranga, although—the Bulgarian observe flutters between melodic hooks and Arabian-esque dance breaks at neck-break pace.
Playlist rolling on, I assume extra of a strut to Antigoni’s Jalla (Cyprus’s entry, which, admittedly, has graced the Spotify playlist for weeks) and am transported to the superclub by the earth-shaking trance breaks of Felicia’s My System, Sweden’s entry.
As Vienna’s blessed with sunshine after a spout of exceptionally unhealthy climate that compelled the Eurovision Village at Rathausplatz to evacuate simply days earlier than, I take to the streets for one other distinctive musical journey. Exiting Hotel Motto, I’m confronted by an euphonious classical rendition of Francesco Sartori’s Con te partirò—the melody to Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman’s Time to Say Goodbye, additionally—from Mariahilfer Straße, one of many capital’s best-known purchasing streets. I set off in direction of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, opened in 1891 by Emperor Franz Joseph I and now house to masterpieces by the brushstrokes of Titian, Rubens, and Pieter Bruegel.
Sartori’s contemplative masterpiece rings in my ears earlier than—a bin! A vivid orange bin on Babenbergerstraße catches my eye. “Schmeiss Like a Phoenix,” it reads, honoring Conchita Wurst’s successful track from 2015, beside a emblem of “Vienna, 12 points.” As I later understand, all the dustbins within the areas surrounding the Eurovision motion have had a vivid facelift. It’s working, if the pristine streets are something to go by. Although this can be a results of Austrian values and respectful attendees, I can’t see lyrics from Katrina and the Waves’ 1997 successful entry, Love Shine a Light, on dustbins deterring Soho Square’s punters flinging their dogends into the night time.
