JJ brought the ESC to Vienna.Image: keystone
ESC
01/29/2026, 09:01Jan 29, 2026, 10:02 am
There has been speculation for a long time, but now the moderation duo for the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna has been decided: Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski form the host team for all parts of the musical mega show, which will take place in the Wiener Stadthalle in May.
This was announced on Thursday morning in the “Ö3 Wecker”. While it had long been suspected that Swarovski would be one of the hosts, the ORF managed a real surprise coup with the 53-year-old film star Michael Ostrowski alongside the 32-year-old Tyrolean.
ORF program director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz was confident in a statement:
«Victoria and Michael are a fresh couple that you have never seen before. Both with great passion for the ESC, two excellent ambassadors for the cause, who will be fondly remembered for their performance for a long time to come.”
With Victoria Swarovski, the ORF has hired a truly colorful personality. After all, the 32-year-old Tyrolean can not only point to many years of experience in the moderation business, but also to forays into the pop business and, as the friend of Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz, is an integral part of the German-speaking tabloid press.
Born on August 16, 1993 in Innsbruck into the Swarovski industrial family, Victoria Swarovski initially began her career as a singer and signed her first record deal as a teenager. In 2016, the artist danced – and emerged as the winner of the RTL dance show “Let’s Dance” – whereupon she was appointed to the format’s moderation team from 2018.
Super talent and dog hostess
She also took the moderation lead on “Top Dog Germany – The Best Dog in Germany” and worked as a juror on “Das Supertalent”. And it gave the Bambi Awards extra shine.
But Swarovski is also active away from the TV stage. The designated ESC host founded his own care brand in 2026, designed fashion collections and worked as a model.
The 53-year-old Michael Ostrowski is considered one of the most renowned comedians in Austria. To date, he is best known as a film and television actor. Ostrowski was born on January 3, 1973 in Leoben and initially studied English and French before becoming an autodidact at the Graz alternative theater Theater im Bahnhof and finally into film. His breakthrough came with Michael Glawogger’s comedy “Nacktschnecken”, for which he also wrote the screenplay.
Seen in numerous films
Other cinema works in which Ostrowski could be seen include “The Accidental Kidnapping of Frau Elfriede Ott”, “I’ve Never Been to New York”, “The Uncle” and the successful Eberhofer crime series. “Hotel Rock’n’Roll” was Ostrowski’s first directorial work in 2016.
But Ostrowski is also successful beyond the borders of Austria away from the big screen and can be seen since 2020 in the TV film series “A Crime from Passau” as well as in the successful ORF format “Four Women and a Funeral”. And Ostrowski will not be making his debut in the moderation business in May either; the actor has at least already hosted the Nestroy Theater Prize, the Amadeus Austrian Music Awards or the Austrian Film Prize. (rbu/sda/apa)