Would our friends from Austria please take the floor?

By Jamie McLoughlin on Aug 1, 08 10:16 AM

Look at this smashing pair. You don't need the likes of Boom Bang a Blog to tell you that it's Dorian Steidl and Nicole Kuntner (I'm so glad I'm not a commentator), who will represent Austria at this year's Eurovision Dance Contest in Glasgow.

Shall we get to know them a bit more? Do come this way.

Austria didn't enter Proper Eurovision (the singing one) this year as they think the voting is too political for them to make any sort of impact on the scoreboard.

However, the Vienna faithful aren't totally against pan-European shows of skill, you'll be glad to hear, as they're going to have a bash at winning the Dance trophy instead.

Dorian and Nicole were selected to strut their stuff in Glasgow after winning the domestic Dance For Europe competition.

This is due in part to their success in Austria's version of Strictly Come Dancing. Here is one of their routines from the Grand Final which got viewers reaching for their telephones.

The male half of the duo, who isn't dissimilar to Blighty's very own Lord of the Dance, Sir Lionel of Blair, is 36 (if he has already had his birthday this year, that is - the biography isn't that exhaustive) and he passed his A-Levels in Graz in 1990, so a belated well done to Dorian for that.

Starting off as a comedy-type person on an Austrian radio station, Dorian has co-hosted the very popular Austrian game show Bingo since 1999. Only last week (July 26, in fact) he also presented We Are the World - highlights from the biggest choir contest in the world - on Austria's equivalent of BBC2.

As you can gather, Dorian isn't a professional dancer, and fulfils the new Dance Contest rules that each participating couple should be made up of a professional dancer and someone who is famous - but by no means a dancer. A bit like the time the UK sent Jemini, who are by no means singers, to a Song Contest.

Nicole is a proper dancer though (get her). Born in 1976, she began her ballroom dancing career in a club in Salzburg in 1991 (we're picturing Phoenix Nights, don't burst our bubble with the truth, Nicole).

A year later, she took part in her first professional competition with partner Alexander Zaglmaier and her lengthy amateur career ended in 2003, when she finally turned professional.

Nicole has already reached the quarterfinals of the World Dancing Championships, so can Dorian and her repeat Udo Jurgens' 1966 success and take some Eurovision silverware on the flight home to Austria?

Probably not. They won't have enough friendly neighbours phoning in to vote for them.