It was a confident Austrian delegation that arrived in Dublin in 1988. The national entry had been well recieved on home ground, was a commercial success in the domestic charts and was tipped, by the local press, to do really well in the competition.
Austria had not made top five in twelve years - now the newspapers were confident that all would end well.
They were wrong - very wrong. Austria fell between the chairs and ended with not a single mark on the scoreboard.
Wilfried made an unsuccessful attempt at blaming politics for his failure - referring to the current Waldheim scandal - resulting in the press, who had tipped him to do really well, labelling him a sore loser whose career took a Finn Kalvik-esque turn for the worse.
Nul points?
Well, I don't think so. There is a certain tension and atmosphere in this song that appeals to me, and there is a raw quality in Wilfried's voice that adds to the drama.
But on the other hand, I can see all the jurors in a room thinking this song nice at the same time as they easily find ten songs they like more. This song is nice, and nice will never win at the ESC.
Wilfried - Lisa Mona Lisa (Austria 1988)
And for me personally, this is the 0 pointer that I think deserved it the most. Just awful.
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