2019: Australia | Kate Miller-Heidke | Zero Gravity

Kate Miller-Heidke: Tel Aviv bound

Kate Miller-Heidke topped the scoreboard at Australia's first Eurovision national final with the pop-opera song Zero Gravity.

Quite frankly, the whole thing is a shambles. Juries are likely to shun it and, from a Eurovision perspective, it is likely to follow in the footsteps of Sweden's 2009 effort or Romania's entry from 2013, rather than the more successful path enjoyed by Estonia 2018 (whose presentation Miller-Heidke looks to be emulating). Both of the former entries ended up outside of the Top 10 and, quite honestly, each of those countries can claim a lot more friends than Australia.

The public's response to the entire package may turn out more favourably as, for example, Romania’s Cezar (2013) found when he finished within the Top 10 in the televote, but flopped with the juries. So, while this genre of song may gain the goodwill of the public in May, it is likely to be a non-starter elsewhere - especially if other songs in Australia's semi gather more credible traction. Of course, this all depends on whether viewers will be sufficiently engaged with the song. Personally, about halfway through, I just wanted it all to stop. To be fair, I stayed with it, but towards the end it all got extremely monotonous. Consequently, this may well have grave implications for Australia’s televote, given that any interest in their highly camp presentation swiftly evaporates.

At the time of writing, only a few of the songs in Australia's semi-final have been announced. Their competition could be tough though, as the first semi-final contains several Eastern/Balkan nations. The Aussies could find themselves in a fight for points. 

Those points could be more forthcoming if they can revamp the production so that more surprises are provided as Zero Gravity unfolds. Then, a place in the Grand Final may not be in question.

What do you think?

Australia

Artist: Kate Miller-Heidke

Song: Zero Gravity

Semi-Final 1: Second Half

Photo: Eva Rinaldi [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons