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Category: Australia

The Australian entry is chosen by SBS. Australia first took part in 2015. The country has yet to win Eurovision.

  • Eurovision Countdown 24 – Australia according to Mo

    Eurovision Countdown 24 – Australia according to Mo

    I’m all for Australia being a part of the biggest party going. The support of Aussie fans is epic, and the TV producers really did seem to put in the effort with their programming.

    But something went wrong last year when we lost a national final that screamed fun and variety, with the SBS sending a previous runner-up with an uninspiring plodder. This year, it’s another also-ran.

    An overwhelming sense of worthiness bubbles under the surface of this bland slab of mall-music. For me, it’s dated, dull and fails in its attempts to inspire. It starts out like something from a mid-2010s UK national final, loses its way at the midpoint, and then resorts to the all-too-predictable chanting along the final chorus.

    If you ever danced to ‘The Only Way Is Up‘ by Yazz back in the day, this should have been the B Side.

    That and the official video has them looking as if they’re suppressing a fart.

    Two pointsI wanted to love this – their national final song wasn’t bad. Once was absolutely more than enough for what came over as stodgy muso studio pop.

     

    OnEurope Countdown to Eurovision 2024

  • Australia decides..in the dead of night!

    Australia decides..in the dead of night!

    At 5 AM in the flaming morning AEDT, SBS leaked out their Song for Europe 2024.  They do, of course, have a Eurovision pedigree by finishing second in Australia Decides in 2019 with ” 2000 and Whatever”. It also now seems pretty certain that SBS have abandoned the national final concept, presumably because they can find no bugger to fund it!

    To quote SBS’ press release

    Vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and keyboard player and producer Michael Ross have been performing as Electric Fields since 2015. The pair’s eclectic music blends soulful pop and up-beat electronica, and the pair have become known for their lively and visually vibrant live performance.
    Fielding grew up in the remote community of Mimili in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands. Mimili is about a 13-hour drive northeast of Adelaide. Ross grew up in Logan, Queensland before moving to South Australia. The duo are based in Adelaide.
    The incorporation of the Yankunytjatjara language into Electric Fields’ songwriting has become a defining feature of their music.
    The song they will take to the competition in Malmö in May is called One Mikali, which loosely translates to One Blood. Speaking in Yankunytjatjara, Fielding told NITV the name captures the song’s unifying message.

    “The song is about all of us being together as one,” he said.

    “Aboriginal culture has a way of dealing with situations and it’ll be nice for this country and the globe to learn that way of doing it. You don’t have to jump on anybody to get what you want. You can actually dialogue it out.”

    Still, now they have grasped their chance, to the delight of some Eurovision fans out there and to the dismay of others, can they get a decent result? – Have a listen and see what you think!!

  • 26 October – Do whatcha, whatcha, whatcha want

    26 October – Do whatcha, whatcha, whatcha want

    It’s always exciting when a country débuts in our favourite TV show. Over 40 countries have participated, and there’s always rumour of more débuts to come.

    The newest country is that famous European country – Australia. Avid viewers for 30 years, the EBU allowed them to become proper participants in 2015. The dubious honour of the first entry fell to today’s birthday boy Guy Theodore Sebastian. He’d been seen in such programmes as Australian Idol, World Idol and the X Factor, so broadcaster SBS saw fit to get him the gig in sunny Vienna. As it was the 60th circus, he was bumped straight into the final, and some quarters were scared he would win, throwing the whole contest into a bit of a tizzy. As you’ll know, he came a creditable fifth, getting maxima from Sweden (who know their Eurovision onions), Austria (the genial hosts), and Netherlands, The. He missed out on four countries’ votes. Australia was firmly embraced into our favourite TV show.

    Guy is 42 today.

    Happy birthday/Selamat hari jadi, Guy!

  • 17 October – Symphonies of dreams and highlights

    17 October – Symphonies of dreams and highlights

    It’s a vexed question these days. no, not how much this website is better than all those others. It’s about who should be able to compete in our favourite TV show. The natural answer is those countries that fall within the European Broadcasting Area. But things aren’t quite what they seem these days, and other places want a piece of the action. Countries who have a niche broadcaster that has its biggest audiences for our TV show.

    You may think I’m talking about our friends in San Marino. But I’m not. SBS is the Australian TV station that broadcasts the show at goodness knows what times. But they’ve not done badly for themselves, and today’s birthday girl Dami Im/임다미 only managed to finish second in Stockholm. If she’d have won, I might have packed in Eurovision and taken up octopush instead. As it happened, she was beaten by the equally lovely Jamala. We may have seen Australia’s swansong in Liverpool, but we love how our favourite TV show throws up surprises.

    Dami is 35 today.

    Happy birthday/생일 축하해, Dami/다미!

  • 4 August – Don’t you think it’s just a waste of time?

    4 August – Don’t you think it’s just a waste of time?

    There are lots of exclusive Eurovision clubs out there. Double winners. Singers performing back-to-back entries. Or that other one – singers who first performed in an interval act before getting the main gig. We can only think of two.

    One of this highly-exclusive club is today’s birthday girl Jessica Hilda Mauboy. She was an interval act even before her country first took part. It was an obvious sign that her homeland would be here for, well, a while anyway. In 2018, she got her own turn at the show, in sunny Lisbon. Things didn’t go that well for Jessica. Whilst finishing fourth in her semi-final, she could only manage 20th in the Grand Final. But at least she got there. In what we all thought was jury bait, almost 90% of her points came from the juries. Nevertheless, her country is a welcome addition. Now, who’s that other singer?

    Jessica is 34 today.

    Happy birthday, Jessica!

  • Voyager – Make it so? – Engage!

    Voyager – Make it so? – Engage!

    Australia from yesterday!

    They want to be a Eurovision house band, be on the stage and always be there. They seemed happy with their second rehearsal – they were more prepared.

    How long did it take them? – Three hours from Brighton to Liverpool! They then said 23 hours. Timur upped that with his 43-hour journey from Kyiv.

    Mexico City, Milan and Madrid were the places cited that the crowds were wild, as they have performed worldwide. They want to visit more parts of the world – Brazil, Norway, Sweden…..

    Best fan gift? – They played in a bike shop in Czechia and got a motorbike! The rest of the band said a cheesecake and a piggyback ride – not much of a gift!  What is your favourite Rock or Electronic song? – Shum! (Right answer), Hatari (not so much).

    Are they watching Eurovision in the early morning? – Horrible. They are so dedicated, and the band claim Perth 2024 will happen – we all know it won’t! The band were formed in 1999 but has been the current band for 12 years. Germany was the last country they had travelled to, and they have an Aussie tour in June, a new album, and a European tour in October.

    Musical inspiration? – They listen to many different types of music and take inspiration from elements of what each person listens to make the band sound as they do. Rituals before going on stage – a goat sacrifice! But seriously, folks, just focussing and getting excited.  For big moments they will have a huddle.

  • Monty’s Eurovision Countdown 2023 Part 3 – Australia

    Monty’s Eurovision Countdown 2023 Part 3 – Australia

    Promise by Voyager.

    Sometimes you have a national final, pick a winner, and the song that was the runner up feels more popular. Such was the case for Australia last year when Voyager’s Dreamer felt more championed by the fans than Sheldon Reilley’s tortured ballad Not The Same. With the selection show cancelled for 2023, for an ambiguous “variety of factors” looking back to your closest also-ran must have proved a tasty option, and here we are, with Voyager heading to Liverpool this May.

    Voyager is a progressive metal band with considerable pedigree and 7 studio albums over a 24 year career. They find themselves lining up as part of 10 all-male bands or duos out of 37 acts this year. [Correction: I’ve now realised one of the members is a woman – my apologies to Simone.] Although you can often rely on acts who blend a more pop sounding melody with a harder metal sound you have to wonder whether participating this year, in this line up, has been the most fortunate of calls.

    A metal-head friend has already expressed interest in their selection, suggesting the group has an international profile within sub-genres of music at least. However it’s been pointed out that they’re rather light on hits even in Australia and, well, UK fans can tell you all about sending an artist who can’t even chart on home ground.

    But what of the song? Well, it has that melodic rock sound and optimism of reassurance when a lover holds you in the moment. I don’t dislike it but there’s little of a call to vote despite enough to enjoy in the moment. A lively performance could elevate this on stage, and I’ve no doubt it will be fun in the hall, but I’ve equally no doubt this won’t be troubling the upper end of the scoreboard.

    My marks: 5 points

  • Phil’s Eurovision Countdown 2023 – Part 3/37 – Australia.

    Phil’s Eurovision Countdown 2023 – Part 3/37 – Australia.

    Australia – Voyager – Promise

    I think you know me well enough to know that it’s no great secret that I don’t much care for Australia being in this contest but, on the flip side, you also know me well enough to know that if the song is good – that won’t make that much of a difference.

    If this, then, is to be their last foray into the Eurovision (so the rumour goes and I;ve seen nothing to quash it at the mement) then cancelling Australia Decides and getting the runners up from last year to perform is a stellar rage quit.  That’s what we have though.  Promise could  have come straight out of the electro pop, nuwave playbook of the mid 80s but with a twist for both the tiktok generation and those of us that remember Temptation by Heaven 17 the first time round.   The band seem to be accomplished performers of this type of thing and are an established live band – something that has been missing from one or two aussie entries in the past.

    There is a very decent song in here with a lot of good songwriting qualities.  It is coherent and, most importantly, its not trying to be A Eurovision song – it’s just a damn good track that happens to be put into the contest – that did Sam Ryder no harm at all. I reckon that this is sailing through to the final on merit and when the boys give this “the beans”, its going to be irresistible to those of a certain age.  You should be looking at a Top 10 in the final with this.

    Phil’s Score – 6 Points

  • Mo’s Eurovision 2023 Countdown: Australia

    Mo’s Eurovision 2023 Countdown: Australia

    Voyager have been trying a while to reach Eurovision – and with the ABC participation agreement up for renegotiation, this might be their last chance. Looking back, Australia hasn’t turned out to be quite the contender they showed sparks of becoming – and televoters remain increasingly indifferent to their inclusion.

    As a package, it’s professional, even if there is an air of Duran Duran album track about the whole affair. And not the latest Duran Duran – the stuff they did back in the day.

    Song-wise, there’s little in the way of a hook, and nothing that elevates ‘Promise’ much above run-of-the-mill. As Aussie entries go, this is perhaps their most safe and mainstream radio-friendly entry yet. And radio-friendly rarely cuts it at Eurovision – ask Rosa Linn. Doesn’t mean squat though when it comes to the weeks that follow Eurovision. Again, ask Rosa Linn.

    It’s not bad. It’s just not good either.

    5 Points

  • 14 March – Oh, yeah, I felt this pain

    14 March – Oh, yeah, I felt this pain

    Make a statement, they say. You only get three minutes, so you have to make an impact. In days of yore, you only had the song to do that. Of course, now, there’s a whole staging that can enhance those crucial three minutes.

    One group of people who maybe dread an elaborate staging are those reliable stage-hands who have to remove one set of props and install another set, all within 45 seconds. If you were there in Torino/Turin, you’ll know that this was a challenge when placing and removing the many stairs accompanying today’s birthday boy Sheldon Riley Hernandez. It was a staging to remember, and it also had to move. So when you watch Sheldon tottering around in his voluminous outfit and glittery mask, spare a thought for those stage-hands.

    Sheldon is 24 today.

    Happy birthday, Sheldon!