Australia: SBS and EBU agree to Aussies’ Eurovision participation up to 2023
SBS has secured Australia’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest up to 2023
As Australia is heading to its fifth year of participation,the Aussies aren’t going anywhere and will be around for a long time, as SBS in collaboration with Blink TV have secured Australia’s spot in the Eurovision Song Contest for the next 5 years. Up to now the country was participating in the contest after EBU’s invitation since 2015 .
This development comes after the country’s first successful national final which crowned winner Kate Miller-Heidke with her song Zero Gravity and will represent Australia at the 64th Eurovision Song Contest next May in Tel Aviv, Israel.
As soon as the agreement was confirmed SBS officials didn’t miss to express their enthuciasm on the development.
SBS Commissioning Editor Josh Martin stated:
“SBS has been the home of the Eurovision Song Contest in Australia for 35 years and we’re thrilled by this invitation to become a more permanent member of the Eurovision Song Contest family. We will continue to showcase Australia’s amazing talent and diversity to hundreds of millions of people across Europe and the world. It highlights the power of music to bring people together – even from polar opposite sides of the globe. Thank you Europe!”
Paul Clarke, Australian Head of Delegation and Director of Blink TV, commented on the deal:
“This is a wonderful validation of what Australia has brought to Eurovision, and we say “Thank You Europe!” for their decision. It’s been 10 years since we first took a team to Eurovision, just Julia and Sam, myself and a cameraman. Since then SBS’s coverage has grown, and the Australian music artists and industry have completely risen to the exciting challenge. Australians have really fallen in love with the joy, and Eurovision has become part of the Australian entertainment calendar. Europe knows it can always expect great music and passion from Australia.”
In addition to these statements the Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest Jon Ola Sand stated:
“We are delighted that Australia has become a more permanent member of the Eurovision Song Contest Family. The Australians have long been huge fans of the event with a great number of loyal viewers year on year and when they were invited to participate in the 60th anniversary edition of the Contest, we couldn’t have imagined quite how popular their artists would become. It was a natural progression for us to agree to their inclusion as a participant for the next five years as they bring so much to the table and we very much look forward to welcoming them to Tel Aviv to perform, alongside the 41 other exciting participants in what’s sure to be a fantastic celebration of music”
Australia’s Eurovision Story So Far
Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest first time in 2015 and has so far 4 participations. The country was invited to participate in Vienna , when Gay Sebastian represented the country achieving a honorable 5th placing. Since then and considering the entusiasiam that the Aussies have show about the contest, Australia has been invited for 4 consecutive years.
In 2016 Dami Im almost won the competition as she came second in Stockholm with her dynamic ballad Sound of silence. An the success doesn’t stop there as Australia has achieved already 3 top 10 results in its four years of participation. Last year SBS selected internally, Jessica Mauboy to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon with her entry We got love, where she ended in the 20th place on the final scoreboard.
This year Australia is set perform in the second half of the First Semi-final of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 14 May in Tel Aviv. Kate Miller-Heidke with her song Zero Gravity and will represent the land of down under on its 5th participation .
