Prior to the 2018 contest, Austria had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty times since its first entry in. The nation had won the contest on two occasions: in with the song "Merci, Chérie" performed by Udo Jürgens and in with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" performed by Conchita Wurst. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the, Austria had featured in five finals. Austria's least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on eight occasions, most recently in the. Austria has also received nul points on four occasions; in,, and. The Austrian national broadcaster, Österreichischer Rundfunk, broadcasts the event within Austria and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. ORF confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 16 August 2017. From 2011 to 2013, ORF had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Austria, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. For the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, ORF held an internal selection to choose the artist and song to represent Austria at the contest. In 2015 and 2016, the broadcaster returned to selecting the Austrian entry through a national final. For the 2017 contest, ORF opted for an internal selection to select their artist and song. On 16 August 2017, ORF announced that they would opt for an internal selection again in order to select their act and entry for the 2018 Contest.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
On 5 December 2017, ORF announced Cesár Sampson as the Austrian entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 during radio showÖ3-Wecker, aired on Ö3. It was also confirmed shortly after that the Austrian entry for 2018 would written by Boris Milanov and Sebastian Arman, who have been behind multiple Eurovision entries including the Bulgarian entries in 2011, 2016 and 2017. The song will be presented to the public on 9 March 2018 during Ö3-Wecker.
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Austria was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Austria was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Croatia and preceding the entry from Greece.
Semi-final
Austria performed thirteenth in the first semi-final, following Croatia and preceding Greece. At the end of the night, Austria was one of the ten countries announced as qualifying for the grand final, making it their fifth appearance in the final in a row since 2014. Following the semi-final, Cesar Sampson participated in a press conference with the other qualifying nations, during which they drew to see which half of the final they'd perform in. Austria was drawn to perform in the first half of the grand final. It was later revealed that Austria placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 231 points: 116 points from the televoting and 115 points from the juries.
Final
Austria performed fifth in the grand final, following Lithuania and preceding Estonia. They earned 342 points, with 271 coming from the jury vote and 71 coming from the televote. This averaged out to a third place, Austria's highest score since their victory in 2014.
Voting
Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
Points awarded to Austria
Points awarded by Austria
Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Austrian jury:
