Following JJ’s victory at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel with 'Wasted Love', Austria’s public broadcaster ORF will host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026.

The key members of ORF’s Core Team for next year’s event has now been revealed, with a number of those who worked on the Contest when it was last held in Austria in 2015 returning to the event.

ORF Chief Producer Michael Krön will serve as Executive Producer and overall project leader, representing ORF at the highest operational level of the ESC team and reporting to ORF management.

Stefan Zechner , who has led the Austrian ESC delegations since 2011 and was the Show Producer at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna in 2015, will once again take on this central role.

Daniel Hack , previously the production economic manager of the ORF Multimedia Newsroom, will be the Head of Production for ESC 2026.

Christine Tichy , as the Technical Manager of the ESC Core Team, is responsible for the technical execution of the event. She was part of the ESC in 2015 as Assistant Production Manager.

Roman Horacek , who was Head of Communications for Vienna 2015, and has been the main Head of Media for the Austrian ESC delegations since 2005, will take on the role of Head of Communications again.

(pictured from left to right: Martin Sczerenci, Christine Tichy, Stefan Zechner, Christina Lassnig, Michael Krön, Christina Heinzle-Conrad, Roman Horacek, Iris Keutter, Oliver Lingens, Daniel Hack)

Marketing Manager Iris Keutter , who was part of the delegation responsible for marketing during Austria's ESC victory in Copenhagen and managed marketing and sponsorship agendas for the ESC 2015, will take over this role again.

Oliver Lingens , who was part of the ESC Event Team in 2015, responsible for ticketing, location management, and side events, will serve as Event Manager for off-air activities, including logistics processes of the Media Centre, delegation support, hospitality, side events, and security.

Christina Lassnig will support the Executive Producer as Executive Assistant, focusing on internal organization.

Christina Heinzle-Conrad will act as Secretary General, serving as the liaison to the ORF General Directorate.

Martin Szerencsi has also been nominated as Legal Advisor, a role he also held in 2015. He has been a leading rights expert in numerous major TV events for ORF.

The ORF core team is completed with Nina Kaiser as Head of Commercial, Anja Lenhart as Executive Assistant, and Claudio Bortoli as Technical Supervisor.

As Head of Commercial, Nina Kaiser is responsible for national partnerships within the ORF core team and serves as the liaison to the EBU. Kaiser has been on the management board of ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4 since 2003, co-founded the 4GAMECHANGERS Festival, and will be on leave from the private media house for the duration of her ESC duties.

Claudio Bortoli, as Technical Supervisor, is responsible for the technical execution of the show production along with Christine Tichy. He has been a Technical Production Manager for ORF since 1999 and was a member of the core team for ESC 2015, as well as recently being involved in the Olympic Summer Games in Paris and the Alpine Ski World Championships in Saalbach.

Anja Lenhart was an assistant in the directing team for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015. In 2026, she will support overall director Michael Krön as an Executive Assistant in stakeholder management and coordination between various production areas. Her work will also focus on accessibility and implementing a Green Event.

ORF Director General Roland Weißmann welcomed the new team:

"With the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, ORF has taken on a mega-project, for which we have just under a year to implement. The existing know-how and ESC experience at ORF are invaluable. I am pleased that we have been able to assemble a team of experts who, under the leadership of Executive Producer Michael Krön, will make ESC 2026 an unforgettable event that all of Austria can be proud of."

ORF Programme Director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz added:

"We will make ESC 2026 an on- and off-air event of the highest international standard for the whole family, showcasing our country at its best. I am excited about this challenge and wish Michael Krön and his entire team all the best."

Executive Producer Michael Krön is excited to lead the team:

"It is a great honour and pleasure for me to implement the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Austria as Executive Producer. Of course, I am aware that this is one of the biggest and most challenging tasks in the media business. I am confident that as a team, with the combined strength of ORF, we will host an ESC that makes Austria proud and impresses the world."

The application deadline for the Host City of ESC 2026 ends on 4 July, after which negotiations with the applicants will commence.

The Host City and the event date for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will be announced in August.