"Who the Hell Is Edgar?" is a song by Austrian singers Teya and Salena,released on 8 March 2023.[1] The song represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after it was internally selected by ORF,the Austrian broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest.[2][3] After qualifying from the second semi-final in second place,[4] the song would compete as the first song in a 26-song grand final. In the final,the song would place 15th with a total of 120 points. The song reached the top ten in Austria and Lithuania and entered the streaming and official charts in Australia,Finland,Greece,Iceland,Ireland,Lithuania,Poland,Netherlands,Sweden and UK.
The song itself was written in a songwriting camp on 15 September 2022,[5] with the song being intended as a solo song for Salena for the Eurovision Song Contest. With an hour left in the camp,the two would make "Who the Hell Is Edgar?",and,according to Teya,was chosen because it was the best song they had written during their time in the camp.[6]
The song is reported as a satire of the music industry,and is based on the experiences both Teya and Salena have faced as women in the music industry. In press conferences leading up to the song's release,Salena stated that the song was "a snapshot of the fun we had writing it. It started with wanting to convey what it feels like when a good song is made. Sometimes creativity rushes through you like you’re possessed by a ghost." In the same press conference,Teya stated that as songwriters,they have had to "keep proving themselves" in order to be taken seriously. Teya also stated that having Edgar Allan Poe as a songwriter was to draw attention to the matter of ghostwriting.[7]
The lyrics feature Teya and Salena making a song,with the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe taking over their bodies to make the song,a reference to ghostwriting.[6] With the creation of the song,they feel as if they will become rich,wanting to sign contracts with the Universal Music Group. With each stream of the song,the two earn $0.003,to the dismay of the singers,as they can not pay their rent. They claim that in the span of two years,their dinners will be free and that they can buy "gas station champagne."[8]
Production and release
The song was produced in a songwriting camp in the Czech Republic in 2022.[6] In January 2023,a Twitter account named Crystal Ball ESC leaked a 15-second snippet of the song on its Twitter account. According to Salena,both Teya and Salena were distraught and crying after the snippet was leaked,fearing for negative reception due to the low quality recording of the snippet,comparing it to "someone recording [the snippet] on a toaster."[9]
On 31 January 2023, ORF announced during the radio show Ö3-Wecker, aired on Ö3, that they had internally selected Teya and Salena to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with a song written by the singers themselves at a songwriting camp in the Czech Republic.[2]
On 7 March, both artists announced that the title of their entry was "Who the Hell Is Edgar?", a reference to American writer and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe.[10]
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) 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 (EBU) 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 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in.
Austria was placed into the second semi-final, which was held on 11 May 2023, and had been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[11] Before the semi-final, the song was considered a favorite to win the semi-final, winning polls on Wiwibloggs and audience polls from dress rehearsals.[12][13] They subsequently qualified for the grand finals, that was held on 13 May 2023, and performed in the first half of the show as the opening act. The song would finish 15th, with 120 points.
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