To infinity and beyond.
At Australia Decides, Kate Miller-Heidke battled the forces of darkness and in her first rehearsal at Eurovision 2019 she escaped their orbit altogether.
Perched atop a precarious platform, Miller-Heidke models a fabulous gown and fabulous crown, serves expert handography, transports us to another galaxy.
With limited mobility, you might forgive her not being able to emote to her fullest, but Australia’s girl turns it out.
The scene starts looking down on planet earth, with Kate and backing dancers floating weightless above them.
Gradually she floats away, breaking free of the planet’s atmosphere and escapes into deepest space.
There were camera problems in the first run – at one point planet Earth threatened to obscure Kate’s face – but the kinks had largely been ironed out by final run through.
Crikey the Aussies are onto a good thing!
Kate Miller-Heidke — “Zero Gravity”: Reviews and Reactions
Australia: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2019
Australia: First press conference 2019
Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews
Photo Credit: EBU
Take the weakest aspect of your entry and turn it into a strength. That’s how you do it, Australia! Amazing. Feeling even more confident in my prediction that they win SF1 now. The muggles are going to love this.
Suddenly this is a top 5 song. Good job Australia.
Well people still complain that Australia have a best staging but not complain about others… Why not complain about Moldova and Cyprus for have a good staging last year? Russia 2016? So hypocrite….
As I wrote here after the national final, the concept was good, it just lacked sophistication. I’m so glad they kept the acrobats, it’s a clever way to depict someone fighting depression. Plus they’re dressed in a sober, less distracting way now. Kate’s dress isn’t perfect, but it’s much better. The background now is part of the storytelling and I love that she’s also floating. If they get the camerawork right, it will look awesome.
Australia really is a game changer!!
To all the complainers out there: Staging does play a big role in the Euro-VISION SONG contest (vision meaning being able to see), as well as live vocals. If it was just about the song, then Europe & Au could just pick the winner based on the studio cuts and the live shows would be pointless. To me, this is the full package, the staging is FANTASTIC, her vocal power is OUTSTANDING, but most importantly I also do really like the song, structurally, melodically… It all just works for me
Well, I think I could swap Belgium with Australia in my qualification predictions now…
She’s got the right idea of floating in space. Surprised she didn’t bring that dress with her tho.
Song-Bad
Performance-Amazing
Final-Qualify because circus
Position in the final-Right side of the table
The song is good, energetic.
For me is TOO MUCH, I’m sorry…
Pick 1 genre. Not 10
My thoughts exactly. However, still a brilliant song, and a (guilty) pleasure to hear and see. 🙂
Easy: The Kate genre.
With full respect to Kate’s vocal capabilites, this song to me is just one hot mess. Australia should stick with mainstream pop-rock, that’s what they are the best at.
I can’t wait for Jimmy Jump stage invasion in this one AHAH.
I’ve supported this song and it’s been in my top 10 since the very beginning, so I’m so happy to see that they’ve done such a great job with the staging. Well done Australia!
This will be in Eurovision introduction video for being so iconic! This will be the performance to remember whether it will end up high or not.
It does look less messy than the original staging! Because that one was all over the place. The song is still a mess though..
May have just done a fist pump and shouted the word “yes” very loud in the middle of Sainsbury’s while having a crafty check on rehearsals. Yes yes YES!
Winning because of this act??? Never!
So, this is going to be Eurovision Stage Contest afterall? Don’t like that.
That staging looks promising!
Too bad the song is just trash!
WOW! Just WOW
So this is what the Australian pole-vaulting team get up to in their spare time.
ESC= Eurovision Song Circus ?
Yaaaasss. 🙂
or ESC= Eurovision Stage Contest?
Yes it’s more and more a stage contest than a song contest.
Amazing! I loved the song from minute one because of flawless vocals and pure elegance – and now look at this background. Total winner alert <3
Hahahaha is this a joke ? I find really funny this circus specially the 2 clowns flying like mosquitos oround. Ans some people call this art ? In esc planet only .not in the rest of the world..:)
Yes, people call this art. Doing acts and tricks in circuses take a lot of patience, set of rules, a ton of rehearsals, high stamina and a sense of professionality, which makes it a jaw dropping performing art, in all its underestimation.
if you could decide everyone should be in black and just stand there and not moving for 41 songs. Good you cant 🙂
Oh Shut up, little piece of crap. This is art and when this is on TV, locals are going to be impressed. Deal with it, fad
How would you interpretate zero gravity? Stage and song seem fairly well mixed. To sing this while moving through space is going to be seriously amazing in terms of her technique, strength and delivery. Wow
i’ve been askin for a performance like this for YEARS. i’m surprised no one’s tried to imitate p!nk’s acrobatic, middle-of-the-air performances…. and unsurprisingly, an australian (p!nk’s biggest stans in the world) is tryin to start the trend at eurovision ! it takes enormous talent, which kate has, to perform like that.
mad max fury road
Yes, give Queen P!nk credit where it‘s due!
That’s exactly what I though regards P!nks incredible work. To sing this song on one of those is seriously amazing.
AWESOME
talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shxt on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it
I just gave birth to it.
Is it a nice thing or bad? Im confused
Love this!!! Also super excited to see Malta’s staging and what Ambra Succi has in store!
This will really look stunning on camera. However, I am afraid it might become a bit monotonous after 3 minutes as they can’t actually do much more than rocking left and right. Still, although the song does not really fully convince me (it’s my 14th overall), the staging will probably end up elevating it some positions, maybe even making it in my top 10
Wow, Australia is climbing in the odds now!
Deservingly! This staging will be EPIC! Juries will love it, televotes even more.
So the problem with the dress in Australia decides was from the waist down. I’m glad they changed it to that flowy lower half but it’s a shame they missed the upper, ornate, Glinda-esque part.
Wasn’t Australia supposed to change the staging? All of this only adds more fuel to the hot mess the staging already was. This is too much. Also, the dress is awful, her facial expresions creepy and her vocals strident. Anyway, some people love a circus in Eurovision. If it was another country we wouldn’t be talking about qualification or Top 10. It is just a pure artificial and over-the-top-staging trying to elevate an average song.
Hey, it’s you again – always critiquing Australia in a negative way. Don’t you have anything remotely positive to say?
Not about this entry, I’m afraid.
It’s really growing on me actually and from what the guys from ESCUnited said, the staging and camera angles look amazing on screen. This will definitely qualify, but I never doubted that. Belgium is in trouble with all these spectacular acts following after them…
I’m sure Belgium will be fine. You guys always bring quality songs. Love from Australia
Weißbrot is not from Belgium. She is from Serbia.
Oops! I always thought she was German or from Austria…
Oh ok, sorry about that.
On my top nine for semi final one, I actually have both Belgium and Serbia. So hopefully all three of us will go through 🙂
No guys, I’m neither from Serbia nor Belgium… I’m from Germany, so Rimig got that right. 🙂 German is the only language that has the letter “ß” and Weißbrot is the German word for white bread.
Australia was the ONE country I missed them reacting to live. So disappointed in myself!
What are they actually trying to do?
Hide a mediocre song behind a circus staging?
Sometimes, it is just better to do it simpler than make it even more distracting than it already was.
Is not distracting, is staging, and it’s an art.
Kate has a background in musical theatre, so I’d say she draws some of her inspiration from that.
I agree, Una. This is seriously battling it out for my bronze medal at this point. LOVE IT!
8 minutes without saying whether the song is any good is a new record.
😀 Eurovision Winner.
Australia, finally you learned to be meme-worthy in Eurovision!
I love this. It is so creative. I am sure all of us had been at least once in that dark place…Many people who relate to that will vote for this. I predict maybe third best televoting result for Aussies, after Demi and Sebastian.
Estonia: Who are you?
Australia: I’m you but weirder.
Jokes apart, I admire Kate for be able to ever move perched up there. I can’t even get up a chair without feel dizzy
For me kitschy performance. If she represent Montenegro,Georgia,Poland,San Marino…she will be stay in semi (juries will be put her in bottom 5). Prediction Australia in final (more points from juries like every year from 2015)
Since when did you like Australia’s entry?
Kate Miller-Heidke —> daredevil extraordinaire
Brilliant singing! Brilliant staging! In the run for victory now.
Like her, you’re in an alternative universe
People from alternative universes can reach our Wiwibloggs comments section? That’s amazing! How do they even do that? 😀
(Conan Osiris, where did you send your phone this time?)
Thank you for acknowledging my talent – just like Kate!
Sorry, this comment was meant for Mark Dowd.
She is talented but this staging is just too much… And I don’t like the song, so to me is a NQ
This will qualify! BUT I don’t like the staging, it’s too circus for me personally. Also don’t like her dress amd she should’ve been alone on stage.
The dress will always divide opinion, but I assume that Kate wanted to wear a dress for Eurovision and that’s why it’s there?
Wig!
Like her song, like her staging, and all respects for her to do operatic singing and trying NOT to fall on the Strange Fruit pole at the same time.
Whahahaha…are they serious? :O
Could this be the winner of ESC 2019?
Discuss.
It would certainly be a very surprising winner, but I’d be totally down with that surprise. This seems *very* difficult to pull of with this staging, but if she nails it both vocally and acting-wise, this is a top 10 song.
The concept of “zero gravity staging” is brand new to the ESC. Hence, I think it can either win or come last. There’s not much room for ambiguity, IMO. It’s the ultimate “like this gimmick” entry that happens to be a cool song as well.
We will be on to our next divisive winner then.
With 80% of the people hating on it again.
That just wouldn’t be good for the contest itself.
But she has talent, we can’t deny that.
I don’t think it has a winner potential, but I predict a top 10 finish, The song almost seems to be designed to appeal to the viewers, and the juries were supporting Australian acts every year since their debut, so why not this year as well? But not a winner – it’s a bit too “gimmicky” for the juries to put it in a first place, and too “Australia’s not in Europe” for the televote. Unfortunately.
Of course! Depending on what the other countries bring to the contest, this is good enough to get them 2nd place!
Yeah, just 2nd place. The Netherlands secured 1st place the very second they released Arcade.
i say yes
The thought went through my head too. This staging looks like a vast improvement on the National Final, something innovative and daring.
I’m not sure she’ll win but they’ve surely guaranteed entry to the GF and are looking good for the Top 10.
I don’t see it winning…but strange things have happened in Eurovision before. Let’s see…
The opera entry last year came 8th and Italy’s similar entry in 2015 came 3rd. But I think this year’s opera song is not as grabbing and memorable?
I’d like to see anyone say this wont qualify now. I never doubted her!