Alf Poier

Alf Poier poses

Alf Poier (Vienna 2008)

Alf Poier at the Picture on festival in Bildein , 2012

Alf Poier (born February 22, 1967 in Judenburg , Styria ; actually Alfred Poier ) is an Austrian cabaret artist , painter and songwriter .

Life and artistic creation

Alf Poier attended elementary school in Sankt Peter ob Judenburg . He then graduated from the commercial academy in Judenburg with a positive degree in 1987. Until 1995 he did very different jobs. He was also a runner; So Poier took part in the mountain running world championships in Keswick (Great Britain) in 1988 as a runner in the short-distance competition (10 kilometers track length), in which he finished 21st out of 50 participants. As he said later in an interview, after ten years of “job” he asked himself whether sitting at the computer eight hours a day was the meaning of life. Then he lived in a cave, meditated a lot and dealt intensively with psychology and mysticism . A knowledge gained is that thinking is a scourge of humanity and that this causes most of the problems.

In 1995 Poier had his first cabaret appearance at the Graz cabaret competition Kleinkunstvogel . He reached second place. In the following August he presented his first program Himmel, Arsch & Gartenzwerg . After performing it countless times, Poier was awarded the Salzburg Bull in 1998 .

The name of the next program (1999) was Zen . Poier has received several awards for this program. Soon after, he brought out the Mitsubishi program .

Poier's program Kill Eulenspiegel (also: "Kill Till"; see Till Eulenspiegel , Kill Bill ) premiered on October 5, 2005.

In February 2005, Alf Poier's first book came out with the title Mein K (r) ampf. A spiritual death book . The title is an allusion to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf .

From autumn 2008 he appeared in the comedy series Alfs Welt .

At the beginning of September 2008 he opened his private museum in Eggendorf ( Tullnerfeld ), “Embassy for Consciousness, Shit, and Art” and performed with his Satsang program throughout Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland.

On April 1, 2010 Poier's first pure music program with the name This Isn't It premiered in Vienna. The title is a nod to the Michael Jackson film This Is It . Poier was accompanied by his band “Die Obersteirische Wolfshilfe”, consisting of Leonard “Lenny” Dickson (drums), Wolfgang Laab (guitar), Marco Weichselbraun (keyboard) and Hannes Steif (bass). In December of the same year, Alf Poier also appeared at the 19th Arosa Humor Festival .

Poier's next program Backstage from 2012 revolved around the topic of the backstage area. He wanted to give insights into life backstage. It celebrated its premiere in the Orpheum Vienna in autumn 2012. In the following year he participated a. a. on the music video Beer (Let's Go Punk) by the band Soupshop .

In June 2014 Poier's longtime manager and friend René Berto ended the collaboration. Berto, who with his agency also represents Conchita Wurst , cited the homophobic statements of Poier (see below) as the reason : "A point has been reached where I am deeply disappointed and draw the line under the joint work and no longer see a common future."

On the occasion of its 20th stage anniversary, the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien presented a retrospective of Poier's work. At the same time a book 123 masterpieces was published .

After a two-year hiatus, Poier has been back on tour since summer 2016 with his new stage program “The making of Dada”. In it he read from old diaries from his youth and presented many of his works of art. At the same time, he exhibited the works of art shown in it in galleries and art spaces.

For his 50th birthday in 2017, he produced a single entitled “I hob's gsehn” and received a star on the “Walk of Stars” in Vienna's Prater .

After the expiry of his program “The making of Dada”, Poier worked on his new program “Humor in Shirt” in 2018, with which he will go on tour from 2019. At the same time, he produced the single "Hausverstand" in early 2019, which made it into the DJ Charts Austria .

Exhibitions (selection)

• Bank Austria Art Forum , 2015
• Viennafair , 2015
• Literaturhaus Graz , 2016

Eurovision Song Contest

In 2003 Alf Poier represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest . With his title Because man counts he reached the 6th place, the best result for Austria since 1989. His song and his stage show were a parody of the pop business. Poier got 10 points each from Iceland and Portugal; he won the Irish televoting, but because of technical problems Ireland had to fall back on a jury decision in which Poier received no points.

In February 2005 he wanted to compete for a second time, but in the Austrian decision-making show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 he came second with the song Good Old Europe Is Dying , 4 points behind. However, he became a victim of the rating system that weighted the votes unequally: The organizer ORF let the viewers vote by phone and separately by SMS . Each federal state had the same number of points to award - even though Vienna has about six times the population of Burgenland . The total voting via SMS only counted as much as a single “tenth” federal state. This unequal weighting brought Poier to second place with around 106,000 votes cast, behind the band Global Kryner , which received only around 60,000 votes, but in contrast to Poier was mainly supported by landline callers from Vorarlberg and Burgenland with a higher voting weight. The originally planned direct evaluation was only replaced by the indirect mode described a few days before the vote; some took this as a targeted maneuver to "prevent" the artistically bulky and decidedly non-folkloric poier.

Poier published the following statement on his website:

“Anyone who demands justice in this world is an idiot!
Whoever demands understanding in this world is deranged!

I thank you all in the name of the truth!

Alf Poier 2nd place with 106,000 votes
Global Kryner 1st place with 60,000 votes

Your deranged idiot Alf POIER "

In 2006 Poier was nominated for an Amadeus Austrian Music Award .

In autumn 2010 Poier was nominated for the Austrian preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with his contribution Happy Song .

Controversy

In the song Good Old Europe Is Dying , Poier celebrates the fall of the Christian West . The following text passage in particular met with criticism: "... and because Mohammed multiplied so well, the muezzin was soon singing in Rome." Poier, who portrayed himself in the same song as "the last knight" with a flag and rifle, was accused of hostility towards Islam and racism . Among other things, he was described by the moderator Martin Blumenau of the public radio station FM4 as an “idiot”, “who was pulling Austria into a hate speech”. Poier withdrew the incriminated text passage due to the criticism.

In May 2014, Alf Poier railed against the Austrian travesty artist and ESC winner Tom Neuwirth and his artist persona Conchita Wurst in a newspaper interview . Poier described Neuwirth as an “artificially high-bred monster” with a “sulky Zumpferl romance.” Finally, he recommended: “If someone doesn't know whether he is a Manderl or a Weiberl, then he is more likely to be a psychotherapist than a song contest . “Poier's statements were rated by many as homophobic and transphobic , Poier received praise from the politician Heinz-Christian Strache , the then party chairman of the right-wing populist FPÖ . Poier later apologized to the artist for his "exaggerated choice of words".

Message for awareness, shit, and art

On September 8th, 2008 Poier opened his private museum Embassy for Awareness, Shit and Art in a courtyard in Eggendorf ( Tullnerfeld ). In addition to pictures and stage props, Poier exhibited numerous bizarre things , such as an “electric chair” (in the sense of feces ), a “carnival carp” and a Madonna with spread legs. In his cabaret program Satsang from autumn 2008, Poier addresses his private museum. It was temporarily closed from mid-October 2009 to June 6, 2010.

In the meantime, the building has been sold again by Poier.

Awards

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Alf sings the most beautiful songs with a band   AT 41 08/31/2003 (2 weeks) Funny songs of sadness and distress   AT 18th 03/20/2005 (4 weeks) This Isn't It   AT 25th 07/09/2010 (5 weeks)

Singles

Because people count   AT 7th 03/30/2003 (22 weeks) Good Old Europe Is Dying   AT 35 02/27/2005 (5 weeks)

DVDs

Mitsubishi   AT 1 09/25/2003 (10 weeks) Kill Eulenspiegel   AT 1  gold 09/12/2007 (8 weeks) Satsang   AT 1 09/16/2009 (11 weeks)

• 1998 Salzburger Stier Best young Austrian cabaret artist
• 2000 German Cabaret Award Category cabaret
• 2000 Prix ​​Pantheon Jury Prize Early Ripe & Corrupted
• 2000 German Comedy Award for Best Newcomer
• 2002 Austrian Cabaret Prize Karl Main Prize for "Mitsubischi"
• 2009 Ybbs joker through the town of Ybbs on the Danube
• 2013 Austrian Cabaret Award the golden DVD for "Kill Eulenspiegel"

TV appearances

• April 28, 2000 - 7 days, 7 heads

Discography

• 1996: Himmel, Arsch & Gartenzwerg (album CD, Alf Poier and the Upper Styrian Wolfshilfe )
• 2001: Zen (album CD)
• 2003: Because people count (CD single)
• 2003: Alf sings the most beautiful songs with a band (album CD)
• 2003: Mitsubischi (DVD, new release 2008)
• 2005: Good Old Europe Is Dying (CD single)
• 2005: Funny songs of sadness and distress (album CD)
• 2007: Zen (DVD)
• 2007: Kill Eulenspiegel (DVD)
• 2009: Satsang (DVD)
• 2010: This Isn't It (album CD, live )
• 2011: Happy Song ( download single, Alf Poier & Die Obersteirische Wolfshilfe )
• 2012: Oid & fat (download single)
• 2017: I hob's gsehn (YouTube)
• 2019: Common sense (YouTube)

literature

• Alf Poier, 123 masterpieces , Seifert Verlag 2015, ISBN 978-3-902924-41-4 .
• Alf Poier, My cramp. A spiritual death book , Genie & Wahnsinn 2005, ISBN 3-200-00286-7 .
• Dr. Günter Heidinger, Alf Poier's Foreword in Zen Running - Sport as a Philosophy of Life . Kneipp Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-7088-0448-4 .
• Genro Laoshi, Alf Poier's preface to ZEN-seeks the wanderer . Top Team 2005, ISBN 3-200-00384-7 .

Web links

• Official website
• Literature by and about Alf Poier in the catalog of the German National Library
• Alf Poier in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Alf Poier portrait at Kabarettlive.de
• Interview with Alf Poier ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• Alf Poier in an audio interview about his current program Kill Eulenspiegel (MP3 file; 13.25 MB)
• Golden DVD for Alf Poier: Cabaret award with surprises ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ mediasprint gmbh / WMRA: Ranking list of the mountain running world championships in 1988 in the category "Individual men, short distance"; . Wmra.ch. October 15, 1988. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
2. ↑ "This Isn't It" - Alf Poier & the Upper Styrian Wolfshilfe (PDF; 10 kB) Retrieved on September 18, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Facebook info page on the Upper Styrian Wolfshilfe . Retrieved July 8, 2011.
4. ↑ [1] heute.at: Wurst-Manager drops Poier
5. ↑ [2] Der Standard : Conchita Wurst's manager ends collaboration with Alf Poier
6. ↑ Alf Poier starts "painter" career. In: wien.orf.at. January 2, 2015, accessed November 15, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Alf Poier - I raised it (Official Video). Retrieved April 24, 2017 . 
8. ↑ www.heuta.at, today: Alf Poier immortalized himself on the Walk of Stars . In: heute.at . ( heute.at [accessed on April 27, 2017]).
9. ↑ www.kabarett.at: Kabarett.at | Program: humor in a shirt. Retrieved January 11, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Since common sense. Retrieved January 11, 2019 . 
11. ^ DJ Charts Austria (DCA). Retrieved January 11, 2019 . 
12. ↑ Alf Poier | Safe | Bank Austria Art Forum. Retrieved June 4, 2017 . 
13. ↑ Why you should all still watch the Viennafair 2015! (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 22, 2016 ; accessed on May 2, 2017 . 
14. ^ Alf Poier: retrospective. Retrieved June 4, 2017 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b} Statement  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at alfpoier.at  
16. ↑ Alf Poier on Conchita Wurst: Artificially high-bred monster ( Memento from June 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Article in the Tyrolean daily newspaper.
17. ↑ heute.at: HC Strache praises Alf Poier ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
18. ↑ [3] The Standard : Much media coverage for Conchita Wurst
19. ↑ Alf Poier vs. Conchita Wurst: After massive attacks, now sorry article on vienna.at, accessed on May 12, 2014.
20. ^ [4] Kleine Zeitung : Alf Poier opened his bizarre private museum for one day
21. ↑ Steffen Hung: Alf Poier - Because people count . austriancharts.at. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
22. ^ Alf Poier / Mitsubischi . Charts.orf.at. Accessed on September 18, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
23. ↑ Alf Poier / Kill Eulenspiegel . Charts.orf.at. Accessed on September 18, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
24. ^ Alf Poier / Satsang . Charts.orf.at. Accessed on September 18, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
25. ↑ Awards for music sales: AT
26. ↑ Golden DVD for Alf Poier: Cabaret award with surprises . Retrieved December 1, 2013.
27. ↑ Alf Poier - I raised it (Official Video). Retrieved June 4, 2017 . 
28. ↑ YouTube. Retrieved January 11, 2019 .