Australia doesn't mess around with its approach to Eurovision - having ranked near the top of the scoreboard more often than not since they first took part in 2015. Aria Award-winner Montaigne returns this year as the country's representative with her song, Technicolour - an ear-splitting tale of courage, vulnerability and solidarity.
While the singer's stage presence may be striking - she now sports colourfully cropped hair, heavy makeup and chains - her song is pretty much the opposite. Well, in truth the song is not too bad, it's just Montaigne's performance of it that doesn't cut the mustard.
Dami Im, Isaiah Firebrace and Kate Miller-Heidke all brought accomplished vocals to Eurovision and, in Kate's case, the bonkers factor. Unfortunately, Montaigne brings neither if her recent live performance of Technicolour is anything to go by (see above). She was whiny and off-key throughout, something which will not convince viewers to rush to vote for her.
Personally, the song does nothing for me and 2021 could well be the first year that Australia misses the Grand Final.
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.
Will Jessica Mauboy get the love from Eurovision voters?
Following on from the of the likes of Guy Sebastian and Dami Im, the appearance (again) of Jessica Mauboy at Eurovision seems like a major achievement for Australia. Even though she's still somewhat unfamiliar in Europe, she’s a huge name back in Australia having placed second on the fourth season of Australian Idol, since when she's become an award-winning actress as well as a multi-platinum recording artist.
We Got Love (or #WeGotLove) was the preferred song of two which Mauboy had considered taking to Lisbon - the other titled A Force of Nature. It's a slice of anthemic pop which Mauboy describes as "a strong song with a simple message". The lyrics make it blatantly obvious what the message is: not to give up as love has the power to make changes for the better. Not a new theme when it comes to Eurovision; neither is the construction of this entry.
It's disposable, plastic pop which has been heard at the Contest dozens of times before, but this song has been done quite well. It feels fine-tuned for a contest triumph: it's drum-driven, catchy, easy to dance to and bound to get crowd participation at the stadium in Lisbon.
Possibly, the only doubt is how well Jessica's live vocals will cope with the song - many remember her pitchy performance at the second semi-final in 2014. However, some recent live performances demonstrate how much she has matured since then, so this may not be an issue now.
At any rate, I've no doubt that it will gain a substantial score, and in particular, it should be an entry with which Australia can be unquestionably pleased. It's also has a nice draw midway through semi-final two so, all in all, should be an easy qualifier.
Sydney calling! These are the votes from Australia - with the official placings in brackets:
Austria 74,434 votes (1)
Sweden 53,562 (3)
The Netherlands 33,990 (2)
Finland 29,702 (11)
Iceland 24,106 (15)
Poland 23,928 (14)
UK 23,154 (17)
Switzerland 18,934 (13)
Malta 18,884 (23)
Ukraine 18,392 (6)
Spain 15,116 (10)
Greece 14,936 (20)
Hungary 12,034 (5)
Norway 11,594 (8)
Denmark 10,430 (9)
Romania 10,044 (12)
Belarus 10,042 (16)
France 9,176 (26)
Armenia 7,614 (4)
Germany 6,316 (18)
Slovenia 5,912 (25)
Russia 5,824 (7)
Montenegro 5,346 (19)
Italy 4,968 (21)
Azerbaijan 4,724 (22)
San Marino 4,698 (24)
Eurovision was even more popular with Australians this year, with just shy of a million viewers tuning in at one point during the final. As usual, the television station transmitting the show permitted people to vote for their favourite song and in line with the official result Austria took first place.
Some surprising differences can be seen between the official standings and how Australia placed the songs, though. Probably, the most notable positive changes are the fortunes of those countries filling positions four to nine, all of which ranked outside the official Top 10.
Not even getting a sniff of the Top 20, let alone the 10, was France. However, in a year when most everybody seemed to vote for the 'beard', Australia also gave much more love to the Moustache of the French, placing it 18th and relegating San Marino into their last position.
Valentina Monetta was not the only loser. Both Russia (22) and Armenia (19) fared much worse Down Under, fuelling yet more speculation about political voting in the northern hemisphere.
That aside, one of my personal favourites this year also went running in the wrong direction too, as Hungary could only manage 13th as opposed to its much better official showing of 5th.
Following the broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest in Australia, viewers down under were able to cast votes for their favourites. It has been revealed that Australians agreed with the winner, but that there were surprises with some of the other rankings. Here's the full points tally:
Denmark – 36,556
Greece – 30,908
Romania – 28,896
Norway – 26,880
Ireland – 19,738
Azerbaijan – 17,732
Malta – 14,856
Finland – 11,312
Iceland – 11,002
Italy – 9,768
Sweden – 9,674
Ukraine – 8,964
France – 7,922
Hungary – 6,410
Netherlands – 6,366
Russia – 6,366
Moldova – 5,866
Germany – 4,986
Belarus – 4,358
Belgium – 3,590
United Kingdom – 3,032
Georgia – 2,766
Lithuania – 2,592
Estonia – 2,414
Armenia – 2,226
Spain – 1,768
Emmelie de Forest performs Only Teardrops
Some of the voting is not unexpected due to the various diaspora present in Australia. Note the Greek vote, for instance. Possibly more surprising is the third place result for Romania, while Ireland bucked the European trend finishing fifth.
However, once again, congratulations go to Denmark and Emmelie de Forest on her victory not only across Europe, but also with our Australian friends.
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