G’day from Down Under. The Eurovision 2023 lineup is growing quickly, and now the Aussies have their song for Liverpool. Progressive metal band Voyager will represent Australia at Eurovision with their track “Promise”.
A year after placing second at Australia Decides, Voyager will fly the Australian flag in Merseyside this May. Broadcaster SBS internally selected Voyager to sing for Australia at Eurovision 2023 after cancelling the national final format.
Voyager — “Promise” (Australia Eurovision 2023)
Voyager is a five-piece progressive metal band from Perth, Australia.
They formed in 1999 and have released seven full-length studio albums under a number of lineups. The band’s current formation consists of frontman Daniel Estrin on vocals and keys, Simone Dow and Scott Kay on guitars, Ashley Doodkorte on drums and Alex Canion on bass.
In 2022, they entered Australia Decides as one of 11 acts vying for the Aussie ticket to Turin. Their song “Dreamer” won the public vote, but placed second overall to champion Sheldon Riley and his ballad “Not The Same”. This year, they’ve received the blessing of broadcaster SBS to fly the Australian flag in the UK.
The band has a deep love for Eurovision. Singer Daniel Estrin said: “As a long-time Eurovision fan, this is the pinnacle – Voyager gets to play the greatest show on earth! Our song Promise is made for the Eurovision stage and collectively we feel it’s one of our best yet. We filmed the music video in both the city of Perth and beautiful parts of Western Australia to showcase the majestic beauty of our home state. Eurovisionation, we are coming!!!”
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Emily Griggs, Head of Entertainment as SBS, said: “Voyager bring together my love for the ’80s and catchy lyrics that you can’t stop singing. I can’t wait to see Eurovision fans the world over embrace them as much as Aussie crowds have. Voyager have been determined to get centre stage for the biggest song contest in the world and SBS know they will bring that grit with them along with a whole lot of fun. Look out Europe, the Aussies are coming!”
Australia will perform in semi-final 2 on 11 May. Voyager will compete for one of ten spots in the final, as they hope to impress Europe with their track “Promise”.
What do you think of “Promise”? Will Australia qualify for the final? Share your thoughts below.
basic boring rock song
Just realised that if Lords of the Lost are selected for Germany- it will really be ‘game on’ if Voyager make it to the final- both tracks ring a similar style( not the same, but similar)….. not getting the ‘Voyager and Jokers Out are similar’ comments floating around though- the latter is not at all like Voyager… much more pop rock/ pretty boy / 5 Seconds of Summer than Voyager.
It feels people may be putting all rock in the same basket more so than they would other song categories. I get that rock hasn’t always been popular with eurovision fandom but recent years have proven we are all opening up to different types and I think there is a place for Australia, Slovenia, Finland (let’s face it, no contest) and others, more so than any other year.
Full disclosure – I’m an Aussie, but this is my favourite entry we have ever sent. I love it so much, and I am so damn happy that Voyager finally get to go to Eurovision. I wish I could be in Liverpool to see them perform, because I am sure they will do a fantastic job. P.S. Yes this is the final year that we were confirmed to be involved in the comp. No, I don’t know what the decision will be regarding our future in the comp. Yes, I really, really, REALLY hope that we will be back, because… Read more »
Thank you, that’s really nice to read. 🙂 Going back to when Australia joined in 2015, I was shocked at the unwillingness of some European fans to accept Australia into the contest. I also find it sad that eight years later, some people in the UK still don’t understand the connection that Australia has to our history and culture, and refuse to see past geography. On an even bigger note, music is for all of humanity anyway, so I had predicted that a World Contest for music of some form would one day start up in my lifetime. As for… Read more »
Thanks, Kaz for saying everything I think, too! GO VOYAGER!!!!
I suspect you’ll be invited back. You’ve always been great participants, putting in quality songs and performances. I’d be amazed if the invite isn’t extended.
As an Aussie I am very nervous about how things will play out this year. Obviously we had no choice but to go for something more televote-friendly, as past results show we will struggle without juries. This should be an easy qualifier – of course it comes down to the live performance but Australia know how to stage, Voyager have decades of experience and are in the weaker semi. Eurovision is a massive investment for any broadcaster, but especially SBS. We need to make the final for the investment to be at all worth it but if the public continue… Read more »
I cannot even believe there are people comparing this song to last year’s Bulgaria… These songs are so different from each other that it isn’t even funny. Promise is a very dynamic song with highs and lows that sounds very contemporary with that mixture of the synth and the usual rock elements. I have no idea how ANYONE could compare it to Bulgaria, it’s insulting even… Now, let me be honest, I am to this day still very bitter that Voyager didn’t go for Australia last year due to the stupid voting system favoring the juries. So with that, I… Read more »
Now THIS is what I was waiting for! Up until this point, I was honestly losing hope that this year would be anything memorable. All the decent songs/favourites were being overlooked and crashing out in their respective ‘finals’, and the insipid (and at times, leftfield) songs were going through to represent their countries. Australia have come along and really shaken up the competition for me. I love the fusion of trance, Rock & pop. ‘Promise’ has everything that makes a great entry. Peaks and troughs, layers of flourishes and sounds that really capture your ears, and the ability for the… Read more »
Australia can win this year and eurofans are not ready for that conversation. It’s funny how fans were saying that Dreamer could win while they even question if this will qualify lol.
Australia can’t win this year. Dreamer was weak and so is this.
i don’t remember anyone saying that…. i surely didn’t ‘t. plus, given that the past two winners have both been groups- i doubt this year’s winner will also be a group
Much better than the bland Dreamer for me. This is interesting and much more energetic. Australia knows how to stage so I won’t worry about the chance of doing well.
Even if Sheldon flopped with the televote in the grand final, he still came top with the televote in the semi. So people’s predictions of not qualifying this year are ridiculous.
*came top 10*
I utterly enjoy the Voyager’s style in musical genres, mixing pop with metal. Yesterday, I was skeptical about “Promise”, since I attempted to compare it to their Australia Decides entry, “Dreamer” from last year. Big mistake. Today, I absolutely love it. I’ve placed them in my top 5.
i love this song. my issue with dreamer was that the chorus sounded quite empty, the production just wasn’t there… this one is so full and rich on the other hand! yet another song i love in this year’s lineup.
Awww, thank you Voyager for bringing back that 80s & 90s rock sound. Good memories. I hope you all enjoy Eurovision and Liverpool. 🙂
Voyager should have represented Australia last year and I see this as SBS trying to rectify their ‘whoops!’ error from last year. Voyager were said to have won the public vote in a landslide, but because of the 5pt increments per place system in the public vote count brought them back closer to the rest of the pack. Had the landslide of actual votes transferred into points tallied, they would have easily won. Sheldon Riley won on the jury vote and a point system that diminished the public vote in his favour. Then we all saw what happened to Sheldon… Read more »
So- Voyager has one huge strength over many of the current entries so far- they are amazing live- there are absolutely no concerns with their staging …..or presence on the stage. We saw a particularly good example of this last year at Australia Decides when they performed Dreamer. Promise might not be quite up to the standard of Dreamer as a song, but it has levels, it tells a story and this will be very well interpreted on the ESC23 stage by Voyager. I predict it will make it Top 20 in the final- that will be a bonus.
Joker Out are also very good live, and they’re both in the 2nd semi. I think they’re both good acts and can qualify, but I don’t think they’ll both do well in the final (although I would love them both to!)
Australians themselves don’t buy their records.
Australians haven’t bought records for quite some time now. In fact, CDs have gone out of fashion there too.
I just come up from me billabong after shearing some jumbucks, wound up the diesel generator, cranked up the phonograph and dropped the needle on Voyager’s latest 78rpm single.
It’s fully dope and we all got maggoted.
As an Australian, I’m here to tell you that this comment is categorically incorrect ? We certainly do buy their records. They have a giant following in the metal scene ?
I absolutely LOVE this! Finally something good this year with Italy and Croatian troll antiwar message song!
Agreed, I already sense that people will be tired of “message” songs in Liverpool. It’s not going to be the year for that.
I think it’ll be this weekend, I can’t wait!
I am happy for Voyager. I was someone last year who supported them and was sadden when they didn’t represent Australia.
Among the best entries we’ve seen so far. But not because it’s outstanding. I’d say this song feels fairly average. Everything else so far has just happened to so far be underwhelming. I know we’ve got roughly half of them to go but I really hope we start to see other countries finally step up already.
Twin Peaks Bob
This is decent. Not as good as their song last year and there’s things about this that I’m not loving, such as the bland lyrics (considering the sound – you’d expect something with a bit more edge) and those oh-oh-oh’s in the chorus.
However, we know they’re great live and will put on a show. They’re also the heaviest band we’ve had so far this year so they’re going to fill that gap pretty nicely, too.
Definitely feels more competitive than “Not The Same” yet I get the feeling it’s probably going to get the same sort of overall result.
The studio may be underwhelming, but trust me go to a voyager live show and they will knock it out.
Shame it’s so meh. Why burn an internal selection on this… electric fields with world pride in Sydney was my hope
For me it is a bit to much middle of the road, to safe? I wanted more edges, more attitude, more rock..
But they can give a good performance and I do think it is safe enough to qualify
The seventh band chosen. Is this a new record for the modern contest?! At least it’s the second for semi 2. The first half of semi 1 is wall to wall bands. This isn’t my cup of tea but I’m sure Australia will stage this well and this feels slightly more heavy metal than any of the other bands.
The ‘bands’ are all rather ordinary this year – and none of them really have the TikTok televote impact of Norway …… it’s great to have the bands however because they will all perform well live whereas the TikTok favourites can have all the muscle ridden dancers they want- it’s not going to improve the singers voice.
I’m very happy to see them get selected, even if I prefer “Dreamer” and the other two proper rock songs in the field so far.
The thing about “Dreamer” is that it seems like there are always 3 or 4 interesting things going on at the same time, and “Promise” has a little less of that. It’s a little less prog, I guess.
It’s not something I’d listen to, but I’m sure their performance will be nice to watch on stage.
I was kind of hoping for Dami Im or another huge Australian star. Since we don’t have a runaway winner at the moment I was kind of hoping Dami would come back with a ballad and sweep the entire competition. Anyway, we can count on Voyager to give us a good performance in Liverpool.
Also Australia secured a safe final.
This is simply very well packaged. Strong, blasé and superbly polished song in terms of melody and arrangement. An unusual occurrence. Very interesting mix.
There’s going to be a stage on fire in Liverpool. The song is not boring, but you listen to it for 3 minutes with full attention.
Top 5 for me, for now. In any case, it can be in the top 10. especially for the audience.
Nice addition. I’m all in favour of rock bands in Eurovision and I excited about the line-up of rock material we are getting this year (only if Estonia could have chosen Bedwetters or Ollie). Anyway, I lend towards alternative and indie rock, so “Promise” doesn’t resonate in my as “Carpe Diem” or “Aija” do. In fact, I find the chorus a little too much “in your face”. I preferred “Dreamer” I think. Anyway, this will grow live and it is miles better than Bulgaria last year. I don’t know if it will have a different fate, though. Australia should try… Read more »
Electric Fields should have represent Australia in 2019., and win it!
Kate Miller-Heidke was outstanding – nothing against EF, but she did us proud.
Is it true that Australia will no longer participate after this year? That would be so sad even though their recent entries have been underwhelming
I like it. Probably the most I’ve liked an Aussie song since Dami. Is it for everyone? hmm…no. But for someone with a soft spot for Alternative Rock, it’s a thumbs up.
I love this! This’ll go straight to the top of my list. It could be a bit heavier, but oh well.
Yaaaas I love this. They were my favorite song last year out of anyone at Eurovision and I was really sad when they didn’t win their selection.
As an Australian, I’m a little disappointed, but don’t feel too bad. I got into it musically, but lyrically it feels very weak – like a bunch of cliches strung together. I can’t help but compare it to Dreamer and say I preferred that, but this is also decent. I am excited for the staging – they’ll have great presence and put on a great show.
I am liking so many bands this year, and I hope lots of them can do well.
I agree. Musically the band works but both this and Dreamer are below par lyrically which is a shame because I really like the song – especially the start and the end. Too much use of the wird “I” or words with “I” in it is off putting. The bass player/back up vocalist really stands out for me though. If they could change some of the lyrics to be more meaningful and less repetitive it would elevate the song from good to great. Mind you this will be amazing live!
Can someone please tell me why Australia is in the competition when is Australia part of Europe why is this country taking part it is complete a joke
I’ll explain, but only if you explain why it bothers you.
This question is about 8 years out of date.
tl;dr –
There are good reasons for why they can participate, they take the competition more seriously than most countries, and they have an excellent track record in their competition since joining.
Internet Explorer is that you?
You will be enlightened at http://www.EurovisionTroll/FAQ/#93/WhyAustralia
Same reason Israel is and that Central Asian country Russia used to be. Actually Australia was initially invited to join as a one off then the ESC extended it because Eurovision has been very popular in Australia.
As we all know Israel is very much part of Europe along with Azerbaijan. Australia has been one of the staunchest supporters of EUROVISION for decades. Their non conformist approach to the competition has been a breath of fresh air. Very few Eurovision songs go on to be global smash hits. So let’s all the fun & kitsch that is Eurovision.
Another band? Okaayy. This year will be 2021 over again. Remember when 2021 all the pop girls cancelled each other in televote. And i can see this coming for 2023 with all the bands. So i guess the pop girls or ballads will stand out this year.
Excited that Voyager are coming to eurovision, they were my pick to win Australia Decides last year. Hard not to compare Promise to Dreamer, for me Dreamer was a lot stronger, but it’s still very early days, I’m sure won’t have any problem with qualifying though by this year’s current standard.
For me it’s a good song for Australia !
For me its easily in final and it’s very promising on the stage.
I love it ! Thanks internal selections (Because snippet from Cyprus is very promising also) with Slovenia !
They won the televote last year, and both them and Jaguar Jonze have built a credit to go to ESC eventually. I understand that we have many bands already, but it’s neither a positive or a negative. A curiosity, maybe. I like Voyager’s entry at first. I get the association to Bulgaria last year, but apart from men of over 40 singing pop-rock, there’s not much else. This song has some neat melodic shifts, and comes off as unexpected. I think it might be another grower.
Let’s see Sweden’s entry but no matter Sweden’s song is good or bad; everyone would overhype it.
I agree.
I’m not sure Sweden bashing is really necessary on a post about Australia’s selection.
Woaw. The first 20 seconds i found the lyrics clearly weak… And then the construction of the song saved the game… Well, more than saved it actually!! If they deliver vocally and avoid a messy staging they could win the whole thing!!! Favourite entry so far!
Finally someone noticing that this song has winner potential with strong staging.
Working towards a climax and what do they send? Last year’s runner up. I think all the fans expected the return of Dami Im so it is an uphill climb for Voyager.
The ESC Battle of the Bands continues to expand, I see. 🙂
If we keep getting band like this. This year will be 2021 over again. Remember when 2021 all the pop girls cancelled each other in televote. And i can see this coming for 2023 with all the bands. So i guess the pop girls or ballad will stand out this year.
This is a mess
A beautiful mess.
and yes!
Yes
Am I the only one who didn’t like majority of the selected entries so far?
No
No. I’ve only found two songs I liked enough to download. A couple – that’s alright, let’s see the staging. And several “Are people listening to the same song I am???” messes. But that is how it usually is this early on in the game.
I’m actually quite impressed! That’s a cracking chorus, and this has got so much potential for a terrific performance.
I agree!!
Judy darling Australia will struggle to get out of a televote only semi-final with this
I do not like this type of mucis but this song is great, maybe my top5.
I listen…listen…listen. Shot down YouTube and … don’t remember anything. “Good” song for contest.
I really like rock music and yet this one leaves me cold . But nice try…
Well, this is embarrassing. Did Australia decide to just give up on Eurovision?