On November 26, the Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards — that’s ARIA Awards for short — took place in Sydney. Equivalent to the Grammy’s in the US, the ARIA Awards celebrate the achievements of the Australian music industry and are a who’s who of the moment. Australia’s Eurovision alumni turned up and turned out. Jessica Mauboy was nominated for Best Female Artist for her post-Eurovision song ‘Can I Get a Moment?‘. And Guy Sebastian was nominated for Best Male Artist for his 2015 Eurovision entry ‘Tonight Again‘. Neither of them won their respective categories, but no matter. The real news came later…
THE PERFORMANCE ON EVERYONE’S LIPS
If you’re familiar with Australian music dating back to the early 1990’s (I can just about see two people raise their hand), you’ll absolutely know who Tina Arena is. A pioneer in Australia’s push into mainstream pop, Tina Arena was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame this year. This induction resulted in a collaboration unheard of until this week. Tina Arena. The Veronicas. Jessica Mauboy. Singing Tina Arena’s hit from 1994, ‘Chains‘. Everyone in Australia is LOSING THEIR SH*T.
THE RELATION TO EUROVISION?
So far, this doesn’t seem too Eurovision oriented, I know. Aside from the fact that Jessica Mauboy appeared as an interval act in Copenhagen in 2014, Tina Arena and The Veronicas have nothing to do with the contest. And where is the widely rumoured 2016 Australian Eurovision entrant Delta Goodrem and why is she not on stage with these ladies? One question at a time, please! Let me explain.
JESSICA MAUBOY
Jessica Mauboy was the runner-up in Australian Idol in 2006 and has had a stellar music career in Australia ever since. She was fortunate to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen in 2014 as that interval act that I’d really like to forget. ‘Sea of Flags’ wasn’t a particularly good song choice and she would have made a bigger impact if she got to perform another one of her tracks like ‘This Ain’t Love’ or ‘Never Be The Same’. She would be a great candidate for Australia in 2016 — she has attitude and sass and has recently taken a turn in her musical style which would suit the modern direction Eurovision seems to be taking of late.
THE VERONICAS
The Veronicas are made up of identical twins Jess and Lisa from Brisbane and they too have had a stellar pop career in Australia as well as some success throughout Western Europe and the USA. At the start of 2015 when Australia was announced as a guest at the contest in Vienna, The Veronicas added fuel to suggestions they could participate for Australia. Obviously that didn’t happen, but their current pop/rock sound and their stance on equal rights could work in Australia’s favour in 2016.
TINA ARENA
Arguably one of Australia’s most celebrated female artists of all time, Tina Arena came to fame in the late 1970’s on a show called ‘Young Talent Time’. Tina Arena also speaks Italian and French fluently, which led to major stardom in France and Belgium too. Tina Arena has not had any mainstream success recently, though her most recent album ‘Eleven’ reached number two on the Australian charts. Maybe a Eurovision performance could catapult her back into the spotlight?
DELTA GOODREM
Delta Goodrem remains the most heavily rumoured artist to be represent Australia at Eurovision 2016 in Stockholm. After writing and producing the Australian Junior Eurovision entry in 2015, we are in love with Delta. Australian Junior Eurovision contestant Bella Paige loves Delta. She’s amazing! I do believe she would’ve been invited to perform with these other ladies at the ARIA Awards too, however she’s currently cast in the stage production of ‘Cats’ in Sydney. After the success of her most recent single ‘Wings’, it’s likely that she’s also currently working on a new album, which could include a potential Eurovision hit?
LONG STORY SHORT
Long story short is that SBS have a very difficult task in picking a contestant for Australia for Eurovision 2016. We can sit here and speculate all day but the reality is that we probably won’t know anything until early next year. After the performance at the ARIA Awards, it’s clear that Australia has a very strong female offering which will only make the decision harder for SBS. Yaaassss, girl power. Yaaaasssss.
Tina delivered the most poignant speech when she received her Arias Hall of Fame award inducted by Kylie. Praising musicians above the age of 40 and criticizing radio for not supporting was such on point argument to showcase. Like she said “we’re the one who’ll decide when it’s time to stop”. Beautiful Tina and powerful performance of “Chains”. I would personally love to see Delta competing as she is such a crafted and skilled songwriter besides having a wonderful voice. No tricks, no props, no old ladies, no half naked male dancers … just her music on stage speaking volumes… Read more »
Yaaaaassss Deltaaaaa! I also think she could be the one. Her most recent single would’ve been a killer in that ESC stage, also she’s telegenic, hot, talented, and her performances are always beautiful and in most cases memorable.
Dami Im please
Still Troye Sivan would be great!
Even if he would be standing in silence for three minutes at Globen, he could be my favourite.
Ask Troye for Stockholm, SBS. He’ll release his debut album in a week, and Eurovision may give him a great chance in European charts.
Delta Goodrem has already had a run-in with Eurovision (or, at least, the junior contes) as she co-wrote “My Girls”.
So she must be familiar with the concept of the contest, which means she could potentially be in the running.
I hope she is, because she’ll get douze pointe from the UK easily.
It should be either dami im or delta goodrem.