Squiz Shortcuts - Australia at Eurovision

Your Shortcut to… Australia at Eurovision

For the past 10 years, Australia has taken part in the extravaganza that is the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s an annual competition held, not surprisingly, in Europe, so it’s a long way from home - but we’ve somehow become right at home in it… So in this Squiz Shortcut we’ll look at:

• what the contest is all about,

• how Australia came to be a part of it

• and we’ll give you a run down of the acts to keep an ear out for this year…

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Squiz the Shortcut

Sounds fun… What’s Eurovision all about?
It’s an annual international song writing competition that’s run by the European Broadcasting Union (or the EBU). It involves dozens of countries - this year, for example, there are 37 competing. And there are some strict (and not so strict) rules…

Oh yeah? What are they?
Each country can only have one entry who has to perform an original song live on stage lasting for no more than 3 minutes, and there can only be a maximum of 6 people on stage at a time.

What’s the not-so-strict rule?
An act doesn’t have to come from the country they’re representing - for example, Celine Dion won the 1988 competition for Switzerland (which some said was a little bit like cheating, and we can see their point…). 

Where is it being held this year?
This year it’s back in Switzerland, in the city of Basel. 

And how long does it go for?
It goes for a week every May, but the main action happens in the semi-finals. The first of those was on Tuesday, and the second one (which Australia is in) is tonight local time (5am AEST tomorrow) so dancing in your PJs may be in order...

When is the final on?
If we make it through, it’ll be a case of setting the alarm for Sunday morning at 5am (AEST) for another early dance party. 

Can I watch it later?
Sure you can, but live voting is an important part of Eurovision because the audience vote counts for half of a competitor’s score - so if you want to help your country’s act get through, you’ll have to watch and vote in real time. And you do that online through the app or by text message.

Who decides the other half of the score?
Each country competing has a jury that scores the performances. They’re not allowed to vote for their own country’s act, but there has been some controversy in the past over neighbouring countries voting for each other.

Scandalous - how long ago did the contest start?
The first one was held back in 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland (there have been other hosts besides Switzerland, trust us) - before pop music was even a thing. It was set up to unite countries through music and broadcasting. And, while most of the nations are European, there are a few ring-ins on the list…

Like us?
Yep, and also Israel and Azerbaijan. We might seem like an odd inclusion given we’re nowhere near Europe, but the reason we’re allowed in is because any country with a broadcaster who’s a member of the EBU can compete, and our international broadcaster SBS is a member, so we were given a wildcard entry back in 2015…

And how have we fared?
We’ve smashed it… The first Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian was also our first Eurovision entrant, and he finished fifth with a catchy song called Tonight Again. 

Not bad for our first year
You said it… Far from being a bunch of one-hit-wonders, Aussies have embraced the contest and done really well most years. We’ve finished 9th twice - with Voyager’s song Promise in 2023, and Kate Miller-Heidke’s track Zero Gravity in 2019. In fact, we’ve cracked the top 10 more than half of the times we’ve competed.

What was our best result?
In 2016, Dami Im got to the final and came second with her song Sound of Silence. 

So close… Who gets to choose our act?
The broadcasters get to select the act, so SBS chooses for us. For 3 years, there was a public competition where we could vote for who went, but reports say the licence to use the Eurovision name ran out and SBS decided to keep the choice in house. 

And who have they chosen to represent us this year?
That would be 29yo TikTok star Go-Jo. In case you’re not familiar, he’s a French/Australian singer who’s real name is Marty Zambotto. He grew up off-grid in WA, he’s one of the most streamed artists online, and he’s fond of wearing sparkly lycra.

Perfect for Eurovision… What song will he perform?
It’s called Milkshake Man, and if you need a little pick-me-up you can check it out here. Go-Jo says his mission is “to make sure everyone knows Australia is a really fun place”. 

He does seem fun… Who’s he up against this year?
As high-energy as he is, he’s got some stiff competition. To give you a taste, there’s a trance-pop anthem about Laika, one of the first dogs ever sent into space - that’s from Ireland and it’s called Laika Party. There’s also a song about the powers of the sauna from the Swedes (featuring dancers in skimpy towels), and there've been a number of complaints about the level of innuendo in some songs…

No comment from Go-Jo there… What are the costumes like this year?
If the first semi-final is anything to go by, they’re as OTT as ever - there was leather, feathers, spandex, lurex, those towels on the Swedes, and the odd suit… And if the promos are anything to go by, our boy from Oz will be wearing tight aqua lycra pants bedazzled with sparkles, and maybe/maybe not a shirt.

Sold - where do I tune in?
You can watch Go-Jo on stage performing Milkshake Man on SBS from 5am AEST tomorrow (Friday) morning. He’s up first so maybe set your alarm for 4.45am. Then the finals are on Sunday morning, again from 5am AEST… Nothing like dancing it out before the sunrise.

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Onto our Recommendations

Reading: This entertaining summary by the BBC of the songs and performers in this year’s contest. It’s called Witchcraft, innuendo and moody goth boys: Your guide to all 37 Eurovision songs, and if that title doesn’t grab you, we don’t know what will.

Watching: The official video clip for Go-Jo’s Milkshake Man so you can support Australia’s tenth go-round at the competition… if you like it.

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