Weil der Mensch zählt
"Weil der Mensch zählt" ("Because People Matter") was the Austrian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed by Alf Poier in his native Styrian dialect of German.
| ""Weil der Mensch zählt"" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Alf Poier | ||||
| Released | 2003(Austria) | |||
| Genre | Pop; Austropop | |||
| Label | Edel Music | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Alf Poier | |||
| Alf Poier singles chronology | ||||
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| Eurovision Song Contest 2003 entry | ||||
| Country | ||||
| Artist(s) | ||||
| Languages | ||||
| Composer(s) | ||||
| Lyricist(s) | ||||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 6th | |||
| Final points | 101 | |||
| Entry chronology | ||||
| ◄ "Say A Word" (2002) | ||||
| "Du Bist" (2004) ► | ||||
The song was performed second on the night, following Iceland's Birgitta with "Open Your Heart" and preceding Ireland's Mickey Harte with "We've Got the World". At the close of voting, it had received 101 points, placing 6th in a field of 26.
The song is intended as a sendup of the contest (much in the vein of a previous Austrian entry - Schmetterlinge's Boom Boom Boomerang) and its excesses. Lyrically, it is about farmyard animals and their habits, but also features a number of non sequiturs about Adam and Eve and "the African dromedary". The thick accent in which the song is delivered also adds to the humour, as even a native German speaker may find it hard to follow the lyrics at times.
Musically, the song switches tempo from a simple folk melody during the verse to a singalong chorus before featuring loud guitar chords (to which Poier famously danced in his performance), after which the lyrics record Poier grunting in the manner of a rock star.
The performance itself is also memorable, as the animals mentioned in the song were present - in cardboard cut-out form - on stage playing various instruments.
An English translation can be found on the Diggiloo website. . Here you can also read what the lyrics would be like in standard German.
It was succeeded as Austrian representative at the 2004 Contest by Tie Break performing "Du bist".
