Australia: Kate Miller-Heidke with “Zero Gravity” to Tel Aviv
Australia has chosen its Eurovision 2019 act as the country’s first ever national final “Eurovision: Australia Decides” has just concluded. It is Kate Miller-Heidke with “Zero Gravity” who will be flying the Australian flag in Tel Aviv.
The show with 10 acts competing for the ticket to Tel Aviv was broadcast live on SBS and took place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. Hosts were Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey, who have been Australia’s commentators at the Eurovision Song Contest since 2017. The show included a row of funny moments, interactions with the audience and insights into the Eurovision world.
As interval act, Eurovision 2016 runner up Dami Im, who achieved the best ever Australian result at the Eurovision Song Contest, performed a stripped down piano version of her 2016 entry “Sound of Silence” and her latest track “Dreamer”. Comedian Hans Boy Wonder Berlin also took the stage with a medley of Eurovision classics and winner songs.
The Running Order of the 10 finalists:
- Ella Hooper – Data Dust
- Electric Fields – 2000 and Whatever
- Mark Vincent – This Is Not the End
- Aydan Calafiore – Dust
- Courtney Act – Fight for Love
- Leea Nanos – Set Me Free
- Sheppard – On My Way
- Alfie Arcuri – To Myself
- Kate Miller-Heidke – Zero Gravity
- Tania Doko – Piece of Me
THE RESULTS
Just like at the Eurovision Song Contest, the Australian representative was determined 50% by public voting and 50% by jury votes. Public voting opened after yesterday’s Jury Preview Show of “Eurovision: Australia Decides” when SBS published the 10 performances on their website and remained open throughout the live TV show. The jury for “Eurovision: Australia Decides” was made up of Paul Clarke (Head of Delegation Australia), Josh Martin (Commissioning Editor, Entertainment at SBS), Fifa Riccobono (former CEO of Albert Music, a music publishing and production company), Milly Petriella (Artist Service director of APRA, a music rights organisation) and Christer Björkman (producer of Sweden’s “Melodifestivalen” and of various Eurovision Song Contests).
The Jury Voting
The Public Voting and Overall Results
Both the jury and the public agreed on who should represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 as Kate Miller-Heidke topped both votings and received the highest points. Kate is an award-winning singer-songwriter and has released 4 studio albums in Australia, achieving multi-platinum status. Her genre is a confluence of pop, folk and opera. “Zero Gravity”, a pop opera track combined with a theatrical and dramatic performance, is about overcoming depression, regaining strength and power and coming back into focus. Kate Miller-Heidke took inspiration for her entry after a period of rather feeling low and having lost her identity after the birth of her son, which she overcame after a couple of years he was born.
About Kate Miller-Heidke
Kate is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress. Although classically trained, she has followed a career in alternative pop music. She was signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in the UK, but is now an independent artist. Signed to Sony Australia, Miller-Heidke released her third EP Circular Breathing in 2006, followed by her debut album Little Eve on 15 June 2007. The album was certified gold in Australia. Miller-Heidke performed as the “female protagonist” in Michel van der Aa’s interactive song cycle film The Book of Sand, and debuted as a screen actress in the ABC comedy opera miniseries The Divorce, which was broadcast in December 2015. In 2017, Miller-Heidke released a live album called, “Kate Miller-Heidke and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Live At The Sydney Opera House“. In which some of the songs include from her previous albums, such as: “The Last Day on Earth”, “O Vertigo!” and “Sarah”
