In recent weeks it has been unclear if Montaigne and the Australian delegation will be able to travel to Rotterdam for Eurovision 2021. But now Australian broadcaster SBS has confirmed that Montaigne will not be able to travel to the Netherlands in May. Montaigne will instead compete using the pre-recorded live-on-tape performance.
SBS broke the news with an announcement on social media. They said that “We came to this difficult decision after considering the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, including the many factors involved in travelling to and from the event from Australia.”
The announcement also features Australia’s Eurovision commentators Joel Creasy and Myf Warhurst, who joke “We can’t leave the island!” in a video chat with the Eurovision team in Rotterdam.
But despite not being able to experience Eurovision 2021 in person, Montaigne remains upbeat. Writing on Twitter, Montaigne said “I am sad to not have gotten the opportunity to perform on the big stage but grateful that I got to wear two years of Eurovision in a row, during a pandemic nonetheless, which is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
In a Q&A with Eurovision.tv, Montaigne noted that Australia has already been “campaigning from a distance”. She said, “The only thing about the situation that changes here is where the performance is taking place, which I think we have adapted nicely and I’m excited for everyone to see it!”
i am sad to not have gotten the opportunity to perform on the big stage but grateful that I got to wear two years of eurovision in a row, during a pandemic nonetheless, which is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. #SBSEurovision #ESC2021
— Montaigne (@actualmontaigne) April 20, 2021
Why can’t Montaigne travel to Rotterdam?
SBS hasn’t specifically given the exact reason why they are not participating, but have mentioned “many factors involved in travelling to and from the event from Australia.”
Since March last year, Australia’s international border has been closed and Australian citizens are generally unable to leave the country. This is done as a way of minimising the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
The Australian government can make exemptions — but there are strict criteria that must be met.
As well, if the Australian Eurovision delegation were to go to Rotterdam, they would also need to quarantine for two weeks in a hotel upon their return to Australia. This would be AU$3000 (€1940) per person — which would substantially increase SBS’s budget for their Eurovision 2021 expenses.
However, issues like this have already been considered by the EBU. This year all delegations have recorded a “live-on-tape” performance that can be used if the delegation is unable to perform live in Rotterdam. Montaigne recorded the performance of her song “Technicolour” in March.
Australia is the first and so far only delegation to confirm they will not be able to travel to Rotterdam.
What do you think? Are you sad that Montaigne won’t be able to perform in Rotterdam? Will the live-on-tape performance give Australia an advantage or disadvantage? Tell us your thoughts below!
Sorry if I have this incorrect. From memory, at Eurovision each performer has two rehearsals. At each rehearsal the performer goes through their performance three times. Then there is the dress rehearsal but here I’m not sure how many times the participants go through their performance. I’m comparing this to Montaigne who has provided a live-to-tape performance as her final (best out of three performances). Difficulty here is that the live-to-tape has the added pressure of being the final performance which is not the case during rehearsals. I thought I would mention this as it adds to the less than… Read more »
There is no limit on how many times did performers rehearse before taking the live-on-tape performances. While in real Eurovision they are limited to six individual rehearsals, live-on-tape can be rehearsed as many times as they please, since it happens in their own studios. Then they get three shots on the final live-on-tape recording supervised by the EBU.
Fair enough, thankyou
while i dont like the song (or the performance at the cricket ground), i still feel really bad for Montaigne. however i still believe that being live-on-tape could be an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time as she is more noticable, so the public could either love the song and she could qualify or the public could see her as meh and place her 11th or 12th
I think it’s an advantage on one hand because she got to choose out of three performances where others are beholden to how they perform on the night. On the other hand it’s a disadvantage because when people get to rest their voices on the day and prepare, it can’t have been easy performing such a challenging song so much on one day. Either way, well find out which way it goes on the night.
Ok, I think what people are forgetting is that SBS made this decision based on an independent assessor who decided that considering we have no cases it’s probably safe to go. The independent assessor found it too risky to come BACK to Australia given the cases overseas. Also, SBS did not have a say in bringing the Aus open here, they didn’t choose to bring Ed Sheeran or any other celeb here and they have nothing to do with sending athletes to the Olympics. They decided that it was better to keep australia safe this way. There can’t be hypocrisy… Read more »
sbs must be on a tight budget… this is so unfortunate tho, i hope no other country does the same
Thanks for your sensible comment. Yes SBS does some amazing things despite its budget. I’m disappointed for Montaigne and hope everyone else is there.
How can you say that. You are a liar. Just look at the presenters of the news to start with. What were you doing at SBS ? Cleaning their office ? Apart from that it it not SBS but BLINK TV
Imagine Montaigne being announced the winner while she is still sleeping in her Aussie home lol.
Not difficult to live on European time during ESC week? Perhaps it is a requirement for Montaigne to appear live during the semifinal qualifier announcements/final voting sequence
If SBS were the ones who denied her the chance of traveling to Eurovision, Montaigne should sing ‘Don’t Break Me’ with the word ‘break’ changed to isolate, and the ‘your name’ part changed to SBS. Lol try it. It’s got feels.
The Australian Open tennis tournament was held in Melbourne. So you can import delegations from all over the world but not send a small delegation to Rotterdam.? This stinks. I don’t know if it was politics or SBS itself but I feel very sorry for Montaigne and all Australian eurovion fans:-(
Australian open is not organised by SBS.
The Australian delegation travelling would take up valuable “slots” for returning passengers to Australia. There is a lot of anger about people stranded overseas and unable to return home. Sending a delegation to an European song festival might be something many would see as unnecessary and selfish.
Yet athletes and Hollywood stars can travel to and from Australia without restrictions..
Is a nurse and Eurovision fan I predicted this weeks ago. Direct flight issues, our issues with the vaccine roll out ,the boarder closures and exemptions. Just too many hurdles to jump to get there . It is what it is. At the moment our isolation is working in our favour .
I hope that Australia will make a normal performance in Eurovision 2022
They will, don’t worry!
Australia, stay home!
Well. As an Aussie this is as an unfortunate decision. Are we disadvantaged now? Maybe. But the EBU made this an option for countries who couldn’t attend or deemed it too much of a risk to go. Considering the Netherlands had about 7000 new cases the other day which is more than my state, New South Wales, the most populated state in Australia, has had throughout this entire pandemic thus far it is rather risky. Yes, the performers may be confined to their room/eurovision bubble for the entirety of the contest but there is still a risk. In the end… Read more »
I’m betting that the Olympics might get cancelled entirely.
We don’t know how long the pandemic will last though
Sorry for her but in another case, I think australia stay in semis
wow what crawled up your ass and died Anita. seriously, all you’ve done in this comment section is upvote all the comments that say australia wouldn’t qualify. you made your opinion very clear, stop shouting it out on every single comment in the section.
By the way, how come the AUS gov gives special permits to tennis players and athletes to travel from and to Australia but they cannot give the green light to a small delegation team for Eurovision?
They can give them. We don’t even know if SBS asked. That’s not what this is about.
This is very disappointing and unfair to Montaigne. She won’t get to live the Eurovision experience at all, i wish she had rejected the offer for 2021 and instead participate another year. She’s such a sweet and down-to-earth person! I am curious about her pre-recorded performance. I think it won’t be as good as the one in Rotterdam considering Rotterdam offers a bigger stage with lots of options and technology to use while the pre-recorded performances had limitations. Isn’t this unfair for Australia? I am also curious to see how they are going to blend this next to live performances… Read more »
I think SBS wanted to travel to Australia but they did not want to take the responsibility of bringing the virus to the country. I think the problem was the government not giving them speicial permit to travel.
I just hope that people judge her live on tape as equal to Rotterdam performances instead of bias of it being a different forum to other performances. She deserves fairness for that. Judging by a lot of the comments I’m not so sure, but she deserves to be judged on her performance regardless.
They won’t. If she were one of many, it might have worked, but given that everyone else will likely perform live, her performance will most be perceived as an interval act. It’s sad, I love the song, but this is a live competition after all.
Thanks for your input. I assume you’re an expert in piles of xxxx and have tonnes of experience not making any difference.
I like more song from 2021 then 2020 and for me Australia deserve final. Australia wil be in advantage with this solution, especially with juries and some televoters , and thanks to that Australia wili be in final. Betting odds, many ESC fan for the first time don t see Australia in final
Yes they would.
Money isn’t the reason, just glad the virus is dealt with seriously over there. Montaigne can be an interval act if Australia ever win. 🙂
Australia should have waited until 2022 to send Montaigne really.
Hardly a loss. Hope they never come back.
Someone is salty.
Off-topic: what’s up with these pre-(dis)liked comments I sometimes get? I haven’t read the article before but the comments already have some reactions highlighted. And I can still like a comment even if it highlighted as liked. Does anyone else have this?
Me neither, did it for the first time. And I didn’t dislike your comment haha
Sometimes there’s a possibility of a bug where this happens and it’s either showing you the last vote someone did (+ or -) and it just randomly shows you few comments with that. Usually happens if there’s a lot of comments or such so the post takes longer to load.
You can give a plus or a minus still, so no need to worry.
What happens if she qualifies? Will they use the same recording for the GF?
I think she might need to record a new performance.
No, she won’t – the back-up is for Covid, in case somebody is diagnosed…if that happens, they won’t be able to make another back-up performance for the final. Once only.
Yes, there’s only one version that will be used.
Thank you 🙂
She said they will use the same performance for the semi and final.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but I feel so bad for Montaigne. While all the other artists are preparing to the fullest for the contest and the stage in Rotterdam, Montaigne has practically only the results to look forward to. And she even said she is unhappy with her live-on-tape performance. She might’ve also looked forward to meeting her fellow contestants (some which were to perform with her last year and share the same experience and feelings with her). Now she has lost her chance twice. At least she can still take part in this way, but it’s not the same as… Read more »
This is beyond stupid. She’s representing your country! Just like the athletes! Double standards smh.
Look as a gesture of goodwill why not give her a free pass to the final as she is not on a level playing field. The song can then be judged on its merits, or otherwise, on the Saturday night.
That is not a good idea. Other countries might have to use their back-up, and they can’t all go right to the final – that just gives them more reason to use it, in addition to saving money.
Yes, Australia has gone straight to final once already
so is australia not competing in the olympics ??
The two things are not connected. The Australian Olympic Committee is non-profit, with no money from the government, but I’m sure they will somehow manage to get to Tokyo.
Tokyo is said to be cancelling the games this summer, at least there will be no viewers attending from abroad.
Well, it seems like SBS could’ve made it work if they committed to it, so it turns out they have even less money than I initially thought… I’m expecting a great act next year though
It makes sense, but if the rest of the singers are in Rotterdam, that would not be very fair…
If Australia is the only country unable to perform in person it will really highlight how ridiculous it is that they take part in the first place
Not really when there’s a global pandemic going on champ.
Or it highlights that their country has much more stringent public health measures.
Or it could mean that Australia largely has the virus under control and we are aloud to go out of the house even if we can’t go out of the country.
I’m fascinated by comments like this. I live in Europe and I have actually lived in three different countries during the pandemic. Guess how many days I’ve spent under a lockdown? Zero. Big fat zero. Most Australians have experienced at least some lockdowns during outbreaks.
I could always leave my house AND whatever country I was in. And I don’t have to worry about losing those freedoms whenever an odd case appears somewhere.
And look at the situation Europe is in now. Its exactly because people were moving about freely in a lot of countries that cases are rising again.
What situation is Europe in? Things look pretty alright where I am. Yes, we need to take some precautions (keeping distance, limited capacity in restaurants and we should preferably keep socialising to a small circle of family/friends) but nothing major like Australia had during their lockdowns.
Not sure what “a lot of countries” has to do with it. The virus doesn’t care about borders on the map.
You don’t have to worry about leaving your house, but you should probably start worrying about killing people.
I feel bad for her I hope that she is the only artist that has to use the live tape because I feel like that I don’t want more artist to go through what she probably went through I hope for the best for Montaigne and hope that this does not affect her placement
The australian rehearshall will be a pre-recorded video this year! How exciting this is! ?
This is an interesting situation… clips from the other 2 takes for “rehearsal” use maybe?
Sympathy? For what? She can’t sing! Stay home, Montaigne! My vote for you would have stayed at home anyway
It seems a bit contradictory to me that the Australian women’s soccer team recently played a match precisely in the Netherlands and now to go to Eurovision the government itself does not allow the Australian delegation to go to Rotterdam
SBS say they made the decision, not the government.
Yes. But just keep in mind how hostile the Australian Government is to the Arts.
Exactly. SBS is a public broadcaster overseen and majority-funded by the government.
Ernest said the government would not “allow” the delegation to travel, implying they could not get the exemption – up to now, thought to be the only thing that could stop Montaigne. That’s not what’s happening, and that’s all I was saying.
This is a false equivalency, because the Aussie women’s team only used players who already were in Europe, playing for European club teams. None of the players traveled from Australia.
Thank God! That song was a load of nonsense. I hope North Macedonia, and the copy-cut-paste Cyprus will do the same!
i don’t like technicolour either but come on… dont be so rude
Why do you need to be so negative?
What on earth kind of comment is “I hope these people still compete in Eurovision but do it remotely! Yeah that’ll show em!” What an unusual thing to say. It reads like a kids show villain.
Ban
I’m disappointed, and a little confused. I thought the back-up was only to be used when there was no other choice. SBS say this was a “decision” they made. If they’re able to get to Rotterdam responsibly, that’s what should happen.
It probably means that SBS don’t want to go over budget. One has to admit that Australia has handled the pandemic exceptionally. It’s sad because this is almost a certain non qualification.
SBS is a public broadcaster which has a tight budget, having to stay in a hotel or such 2 weeks more in quarantine would most likely double the cost. Also there’s a “no leave” policy currently where people can’t come in or leave Australia so easily. Eurovision performance has the option where the Australian team doesn’t have to leave Australia, but for example: Olympics are different since you can’t do the sport from another country and just tape it also they’ve got the Olympic village for the athletes where it’s cheaper to stay in quarantine. One thing to concider is… Read more »
The only positive thing I see in this is that Montaigne can totally relax herself now, she still competes but all her work has already be done, so no stress, no pressure, no rehearsals, no stage fright for her in May, only fun, so I wish Montaigne and the delegation to enjoy their eurovision journey even remotely. Sad things is that she couldn’t meet with the others contestants and she couldn’t walk on the big stage and feel this sensation. I hope her live on tape performance is stunning enough, and that the viewers won’t quote that she is not… Read more »
100% agreed. I feel bad not only for Montaigne being “cheated” out of her Eurovision experience, but for the viewers in Australia as well. All we can do is wish her good luck and hope for the best that the same situation does not repeat itself for other participants.
Yes, it’s a bit unfair for her to be deprived of this experience, as I said the only positive thing here is that it’s the easiest way to compete in Eurovision, without moving from her country and without the need of singing the D-day. I try to find the positive in this special situation.
I really doubt this is the easiest way. And it is most likely going to lead to a terrible result 🙁
I agree, Australia should’ve pulled out this year and moved their funding to their 2022 entry.
When she doesn’t qualify for the final- due to the fact it’s a terrible song- I hope people don’t start saying it was down to the fact that she could not be present in Rotterdam. It’s simply down to the fact the song only appeals to a small minority of viewers. And It’s quite obvious that since SBS have a miniscule budget, since they are a very small TV station in Australia, could not afford to pay for Montaigne’s hotel quarantine costs. So blame SBS more than anyone else.
It wasn’t just the hotel quarantine cost! Since flights are flying at a limited capacity in Australia, ticket prices are ranging from 12k upwards, it would’ve cost them an arm to fly everyone over and back from Sydney.
A song being “terrible” is still subjective.
They have such a miniscule budget that they have managed to stage national selections that put most European national selections to shame, and so broke that they have been able to afford to have their own commentator for ages now. if that doesn’t spell “bankrupt”, nothing does.
Sbs is one of our main broadcasters just to let you know
If the song was as good as Dami Im’s and was topping the betting odds, they would’ve forked out the extra funding and sent her to Rotterdam – fact.
That thought has occurred to me. I’m sure it was Prohibitively expensive To travel, but technicolor may not have been worth it if they are choosing to go despite the costs.
That contract will be extended.
Seeing these comments it feels like I’m the only one who absolutely adores Technicolour.
I’m pretty much heartbroken by this news. She was the artist I was most excited for to see what they planned to do on the big stage.
Don’t worry, I really like her song too!!
I know right !! People here are just sympathizing that she isn’t able to go and not actually saying anything about how brilliant that song is !!
I love Technicolour, too 🙂
Count me in too, I absolutely adore Technicolour!
The host broadcaster, or to be specific, the team assigned to be in the control I would assume will be the ones who will put Australia’s pre-live stems on the deck with given shotlist used as their guide for cueing the pre-taped performance and they’ll do the mixdown live as it airs.
That would mean they’ll be doing any special effects on the vocal and visuals on site, which is tricky to do, as it always is, on live TV.
Let’s be honest, this is not *really* about COVID. There are a lot of famous people from the EU, the UK and the US who traveled to Australia recently – the latest may be Rita Ora, who have flown there to be on an australian TV show or something. And Australian athletes and artists have also traveled outside of their country, as several people seemingly from Australia have stated in previous comments. So if they really wanted to send Montaigne, they could. I don’t know if they thought it would be a loss of money, or if they didn’t bother… Read more »
But if it was really about money bevy for SBS wouldn’t they just withdraw instead of going the whole journey of preparing an act etc if they had no intention/will of showing up anyway?
There’s a reason why the EBU have presented different scenarios. It’s so that no matter what, no country taking part would withdraw if they can’t make it to the host city to perform.
In a way, SBS was fortunate to not have to face disqualification just because they can’t travel. What’s a publicly-funded broadcaster got to do with heavily-sponsored professional athletes and well-connected celebrities?
I wonder why the SBS didn’t consider getting a sponsor to help cover the expense of travel and hotel cost for The delegation.
I wondered about that too! They could have partened with the airline to reduce/cancel the cost of the flights, and Montaigne has enough followers on social media to do some product placement.
The reason behind this decision is probably linked to the two weeks mandatory quarantine and the subsequently raise in its expenses rather than the travel ban itself. It’s understandable they don’t want to spend that much when they are not going to win. I mean, I really like the song but I doubt it will win or even make the top 10.
An esc to Australia…lol
I really feel like this oils the wrong decision, am exception should have made for the Australian delegation after last years missed opportunity.
One of the big reasons is Australia has an outward travel ban (people are actually not allowed to leave the country unless they can get an exemption and its quite strict). And then there’s 14 days mandatory quarantine on the way back.
It’s sad… I was optimistic