Austria: Victor Bueno | Amen

Austria

Artist: Victor Bueno

Song: Amen

Semi Final 2: First Half

It's been a bumpy few years for Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest since Conchita Wurst's victory in 2014. This year, Victor Bueno has been given a second opportunity to improve the country's fortunes with the song Amen which is a completely different proposition to his 2020 cancelled effort, Alive. 

Where the latter took on a funky Bruno Mars/Justin Timberlake vibe, Amen gives Victor the chance to show off his accomplished vocals on a respectable breakup ballad. The lyrics are fairly repetitive, bog standard, heartbreak clichés but there is a nice progression as the song develops.

As Amen begins, Bueno is in reflective, almost claustrophobic, mood. However, around the halfway mark there is an explosive change of tone and the mood switches as if the singer has finally been been released from the shackles of a doomed relationship.

Victor delivers all of this with the angst one would expect of the material and he has sufficient charisma to attract quite a few votes. He is up against some pretty tough competition in his semi-final though, and the song probably doesn't have enough of a wow factor to push him too far up the scoreboard. 

However, I'm willing it to make the Grand Final as I believe it's good enough to earn a spot. Very much a borderline hope, though.

What are your thoughts?