The affair started as a special invitation for Vienna in 2015, and the love has not stopped since.
The land of Guy Sebastian and Dami Im has always secured special invitations to participate in Eurovision – but today, the relations between Australian broadcaster SBS and the EBU rose to the next level. SBS and production partner Blink TV have secured Australia’s participation as a competitor at the Eurovision Song Contest for the next five years, all the way to 2023.
Paul Clarke, the Australian Head of Delegation, expressed his gratitude for the decision:
“This is a wonderful validation of what Australia has brought, and we say “Thank You Europe!” for their decision. It’s been 10 years since we first took a team to Eurovision, when it was just Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang, myself and a cameraman. Since then SBS’s coverage has grown, and the Australian music artists and industry have completely risen to the exciting challenge. Australians have really fallen in love with the joy, and Eurovision has become part of the Australian entertainment calendar. Europe knows it can always expect great music and passion from Australia.”
The Executive Supervisor of Eurovision, Jon Ola Sand is elated with the agreement that was reached, ensuring Australia’s stay is more streamlined for the years to come:
“We are delighted that Australia has become a more permanent member of the Eurovision Family. The Australians have long been huge fans of the event with a great number of loyal viewers year on year and when they were invited to participate in the 60th anniversary edition of the Contest, we couldn’t have imagined quite how popular their artists would become.”
“It was a natural progression for us to agree to their inclusion as a participant for the next five years as they bring so much to the table and we very much look forward to welcoming them to Tel Aviv to perform, alongside the 41 other exciting participants in what’s sure to be a fantastic celebration of music.”
The five-year deal comes hot on the heels of Australia’s well-received first ever national selection, where Kate Miller-Heidke won the right to represent the land down under in Tel Aviv this May with her track, “Zero Gravity”.
Are you happy to see Australia become a more permanent member of the contest? Do you feel Australia’s victory is nearing? Let us know in the comments below!
I’ve made a petition for Electric Fields to represent Australia in ESC 2020! Sign here: http://chng.it/6H2nXvSmp5
Good. They should be allowed to host if they win too.
As an Aussie id prefer if we hosted in a European country such as the UK if we won. We’re still guests to Europe at the end of the day!
You do share a head of state with the UK, so I guess that makes sense…but why would the BBC use their valuable resources just to help the EBU out? Why should any broadcaster for that matter? It’s a huge burden on any broadcaster, even when they win the executives are not so thrilled with the job.
Ever heard of time zones?
That’s what Perth is for
I believe the EBU has stated that if Australia ever wins the contest will be hosted in Europe, likely in Germany–with Ozzie hosts and production, perhaps…but, yah, not going to happen down under.
People can hate on Australia all they want but remember the more the merrier because we need money to help host this expensive event each year. Eventually we won’t be needing a Big 5(something I’ve always wanted BBC to drop out of). Also Australia is a Europeanized colony much like Israel(also not part of Europe despite being part of broadcast union). So why not? hope Canada, New Zealand and Mexico are next 🙂
Are BlinkTV even considered a broadcaster? They are in reality an equal partner in this venture, SBS not being able to cope alone. Are BlinkTV associate members of the EBU or just SBS? This is another of my problems with Australia’s participation. It’s such a tiny channel that barely anybody watches it. It has no money. I might feel differently if it was one of the big ones, like Nine or Seven – then the contest might actually get some decent viewing figures. As it is, the show is not even the most watched show of the night, never mind… Read more »
Moving Eurovision to channel 7 or 9 would be the best thing seeing as SBS makes no effort whatsoever to advertise it to the greater Australian audience.
Eurovision is a perfect fit for SBS as its a multicultural channel. Last year Eurovision reached 2.9.million people and when Kate was selected as our representative this year it was featured on the news on all the channels. Eurovision is big here no matter what you might think. If it went to Nine or Seven it would be ruined with all the ads they would insert into the program. Plus they would never be able to show it live on their main channels due to their morning shows.
I like it:) Australia to STAY. If one country have to leave its San Marino because they are not trying. Just takes up a slot.. Australia is trying. So if you want Australia out before San Marino then you are not fans.
No he is a great man. Pig is to good to call you. Pigs are great animals
Fine! I’m happy for them.
Yes. Australia isn’t part of Europe but Australians watched and loved the show for over 30 years and all of that while knowing that they would probably never get a chance to participate themselves. I think they showed enough love for our old contest to be welcomed and to make an exception for them. And I’m not afraid of countries like the US knocking at the eurovision door as well. If they pass the 30years entry test – they can participate as well.
Ew.
And also, Wiwibloggs crew, the name North Macedonia was officially implemented yesterday.
Fine, but from this year on can the juries stop pouring points on them? They could be sure they’ll be in the finals no matter what they were sending. Or put them in the Big 6 and stop the farce. Once fair play is in place maybe they will advance in televoting.
Its only ESC “fans” who have this strange opinon. Everyone else dont believe in fantasys
Okey. Now, internally select Electric Fields for 2020 and everything will be alright.
Amen to that!!!
I’ve started a petition! Sign it here: http://chng.it/6H2nXvSmp5
Intead of Australia, in Eurovision should be countries like Slovakia, Bosnia, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Feroer Island and Turkey.
They don’t wanna come so it’s not EBU or Australia’s problem, imo.
Is all about Money. sadly
It’s NOT about money. SBS, the Australian network, is a TV channel with very limited financial resources. Get your facts straight.
Yes, that’s true, but it doesn’t stop them from rustling up large amounts of $$$ to give to the EBU. That’s where record company sponsorship and I guess BlinkTV come into play. We still don’t know how much SBS actually pays to the EBU, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re getting a good deal to allow them to participate…who knows? It’s not very transparent.
Compare it to what Ukraine is doing: UA:PBC is their EBU member broadcaster, but they have no money, so VRT does the actual organizing of the national final and finances their participation. They just can’t be a full member cuz they’re a private broadcaster. UA:PBC is, for all intents and purposes, the “front.” Same deal for SBS and Blink TV: SBS is a public broadcaster so they’re the associate member, while Blink TV coordinates the participation.
That’s probably a bit of a tricky area too, though Ukraine have a lot going on right now, so I shall let it pass…BlinkTV aren’t even a broadcaster, though…they are a production company. Also, you don’t have to be a public state broadcaster to be a member of the EBU…right? For example, the UK’s ITV.
I really got used to Australia being in Eurovision. Pls stay forever Australia
I would like to know if in USA they would accept european teams in their super bowl..
How popular is the Super Bowl in Europe?
Surely more than the 266.000 persons that saw in Australia eurovision last year in 2018 lol
They’re actively looking at launching a team in London, so I guess the answer is yes
Well, Notify me when it becomes reality lol
NBA accepts players from around the world. It has an annual American sporting event that people around the world watch..
I’m still waiting the debut of Kazakhstan in the Senior. They deserved much better than the australians.
You welcome Kazakhstan you welcome asia..
You welcome Australia, you welcome Ocenia, his continent and all the world. It’s simply. Or Australia is in Europe? xd Kazakhstan has part of his territory in Europe, is fair. 🙂
I would like to know how much Australia contributes to the contest financially. I guess they pay the EBU more than just the participation fee because otherwise Jan Ola Sand would not let them participate from 2016 onwards. It was supposed to be a one-time event for the anniversary in 2015.
We need more transparency about this stuff.
I’m all for transparency in an ideal world. But you have to realise that as soon as the “practical spending first” philistines find out there is real money going into an arts contest, they wll object to it and the funding will disappear. That has always been the problem with funding transparency for Eurovision.
Would you mind to explain this better?
I’m inclined to agree with Nikko. The actual members of the EBU need to know how much Australia are paying. Are they getting a cut-price deal? I know people have speculated, but the EBU were so pleased with themselves for inviting Australia, I wouldn’t be surprised if they bent over backwards to make it happen. If they pay a fair share, fine. If they don’t, that needs to change. As to your point about funding, SBS engaged a record company to cover their costs for the first few years, it was not coming from public funds so there should be… Read more »
SBS has no money
I will start supporting Australia’s participation in Eurovision when all the European countries (inc. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Turkey, Andorra, Luxembourg, Monaco) are able to compete in the contest. Nothing personal against Australians, but for now Australia is like an interval act for me in ESC. I don’t see them as a competitor and I am not going to vote for them even if I’ll love the song.
All of them are able, they just don’t want to/can’t because of the broadcaster’s budget. Never understood the negative attitude toward Australia’s inclusion. They are not the only non European country to compete, they are just the most enthusiastic one.
Don‘t worry i‘ll make it up and vote twice 😉
This is the dumbest logic ever – how is that Australia’s fault at all.
Australia’s participation fee is pretty well understood to be among the highest – comfortably top ten – so Australia’s participation already helps cover the costs for smaller countries. As it should. Without Australia’s participation in 2015, for example, at least one and possibly as many as three countries wouldn’t have been able to attend (something to do with exchange rates against the Swiss Franc, can’t remember the specific details, but I know Moldova was basically paid for by Australia).
Have you any hard figures to back that up? Please cite an official source, because I doubt that is true. Even if it is, you could very well say the same about any other country who contributed as much. Australia didn’t carry the burden alone, if at all.
Great news!
Good to know the EBU have time to reflect on a four-year deal with Australia, meanwhile Kazakhstan are still left aside because it’s part of a “broader issue”… They’d be well advised to negotiate with Khabar Agency soon, not only Kazakhs are willing to join Eurovision, but it would also be telling and unprecedented if the EBU eventually didn’t accept an associate member that took part in a event from the Eurovision brand (JESC).
Exactly. It is hugely offensive to Kazakhstan to be left out. Why are Australia better than they are? This is very murky territory. Full EBU membership should be the criteria, otherwise the contest is opening itself up to everybody which is untenable.
Australia is moving further away from a victory each year
Nonsense. They only need to select better songs and they’ll do well. And a winning song to reach for the victory.
That’s basically what he said. First two entries were amazing, then meh, then ok, now Zero Gravity. He basically said that they need to select better songs.
Australia is moving further to “fake and plastic eurovision songs”.
Why EBU does not help Slovakia, Luxembourg, Andorra, Monaco, Turkey, etc. to come back? Australia is fine, but What about the rest of Europe? Not interesting, cause they are not rich???
The microstates on their own don’t have enough viewers to constitute an accurate televote result. The stats are complicated enough to work out with just San Marino, LOL! However, if they wanted to come back with that disadvantage in mind, they are welcome. As for Slovakia, I am told it is a culture clash (but it’s better to ask a Slovakian for clarification). And the less said about the Turkey situation at Eurovision, the better. 🙂
SBS has no money
Because these countries don’t want to come back? They have said on numeral occasions they don’t want to participate.
None of that is EBU or Australia’s fault. if they don’t want to, you can’t force them
Australia being overrated, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT hehe
Well in order to Australia should follow the exemple of yugoslavia, have the state enter EBU seperately, so Tasmania get 12 points from SA,WA, NT, ACT, QL, NSW and Victoria 🙂
I have nothing against Australia taking part, as such…but I don’t want the contest opened up to every country in the world like the US, China etc. – and if Australia are allowed, how can we keep others out? There has to be a limit set somewhere and full membership of the EBU seems a perfectly logical place to draw that line.
Yeah, I’d be open to at least exploring how 1 additional slot could be used each year to invite a different participating country outside of the EBU core membership, on a rolling basis.
is ebu still trying to convince us australia is a temporary guest ? they’re welcome in the competition but omg we ain’t stupid just admit they’re permanent and call it a day
Hear, hear!! Thank you 🙂
Magnificent! We here in Australia are very delighted to hear this news! 😀
Exciting news!
Can’t say that I’m surprised
Well, it wasn’t that surprising, was it? It’s been expected since 2016.
This doesn’t mean they will participate every year, just that they can.. Im expecting great things…
Oh indeed, uncle Bjorkman would definitely have them stay forever
What has Björkman do to with anything of this? He is no longer part of the reference group and was not employed by the broadcaster who first invited australia to the competition?
Great! 😀 So we will not here the sound of silence next year, because we meet them tonight again, and although it don’t come easy, at the end we got love and zero gravity 🙂
that last bit was a stretch
😀 “I’m going where there’s Zeeeeeeero Graaaaaaavity.” I sing this every day dancing through the flat, swinging my arms like Kate. Huuuuuuhhhhhhaaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaa 😀
I threw up in the back of my mouth a little bit.
Electric Fields to represent Australia in Eurovision 2020. 🙂
#ElectricFieldsAustralia2020, let’s start a petition!
I’ll sign it! Please! This needs to happen!
Sign here: http://chng.it/6H2nXvSmp5
Why do they have to stay et Eurovision if they are going to have Asiavision?
That’s why they are only renewing it until that time frame. I think they want Asiavision to first have a solid base and Australia will be the key factor to helping that grow. But either way Australia is more correlated with European culture than Asian culture although it attracted times blends the two. Regardless what is the big deal. They bring good quality and seems like they genuinely enjoy being part of it.
As an Australian I’m a little scared to read the comments of this article below
Here’s hoping nothing too soul shatteringly negative
Nah mate. I always love your guys entries. They are for the most part always on my top 10. Sometimes even higher than my own country haha
I’m all in for Australia at Eurovision 🙂
You proved your passion and dedication to quality each and every year, even more than some European countries
No one can deny you deserve to compete <3
Love from Israel
Everything below this comment pretty much is fine. Those above, however…
Good! I love their national selection. They should make it an annual event like Sweden.
I absolutely love this. Australia embodies a country that is passionate about Eurovision and makes a real effort to give the best that they can. They have been an amazing addition to the competition and I am really glad they are here to stay.
Well done! Now we know the first confirmed country for the next five years.
I feel like this move by SBS to extend their participation for four more years, which is a pretty long time (whereas most countries usually only confirm participation for the following year right after the previous contest has ended). is a way to piss off all the people who don’t like the idea of Australia at Eurovision. Also, it seems like this will kill off any chances of Eurovision Asia occurring since Australia would rather be at Eurovision.
That sounds more like unhealthy paranoia than healthy cynicism. You really think Australia has secured its participation in a ploy to piss off people who don’t like Australian participation? Isn’t that a circular logic? For what purpose would they do that?
Like I mentioned, for a country to have chosen to extend their Eurovision participation for a pretty long period of time is pretty unusual. Also, there’s always hope every year among some people that Australia might not compete the following year.
I think you’re missing or obscuring a key difference between Australia and other participants though. As I understand it, Australia has until now only formally been invited to participate each year since 2015. This is because Australia is an Associate Member of the EBU. This is quite different and unique from all other regular participating countries, who are full members of the EBU. This deal simply provides clarity, stability, and certainty to an existing arrangement. Australia is surely worthy of receiving a sense of security in its participation, at least in the short-term, given its dedication to the contest, relatively… Read more »
Australia is way more culturally European than Asian.
Same thing applies to New Zealand. Doesn’t mean they should participate.
Now that Australia has secured continued participation in ESC it means that the whole will they/won’t they charade will stop. Which is good. What I also hope will stop now is the preferential treatment that they got, especially from the juries. They should be treated just as equally as the other 41 countries and their continued success should be based on song merit alone. EBU should also let them host now if they win. Does anyone know if Eurovision Asia is still happening? Bit unfair if they can participate in both.. But anyway, it took me a while to accept… Read more »
Preferential treatment from the juries? Have you ever thought that maybe the juries vote for them because they actually like their songs? Despite your opinion of Australia’s songs you can’t deny that all of their songs have been radio-friendly and well produced. You could argue that they got preferential treatment in 2015 as their participation was supposed to be a one-off, but not the other years. And the EBU will never let them host. It is impossible. The shows would have to start at 5 o’clock in the morning! I doubt very much they would allow that.
Yeah, while I’m not a huge fan of every entry they’ve sent, I can’t act like if I was judging them objectively based on the criteria Eurovision judges are supposed to use, I’d give them high marks every year. They are incredibly professional and obviously take their position as the sole representative of the non-EBU member states (which means, in essence, the rest of the world) very seriously. They’re good studies, too. It takes some countries years and years to figure out what’ll work for a Eurovision entry. Sometimes you’ll get a Ukraine or a Latvia, winning within their first… Read more »
I always welcome Australia to Eurovision they have had loyal fans and viewership exceeding some European countries. That said I would love Kazakhstan to be considered to make their Debut in 2020. The Eurovision just keeps growing and growing which make me very glad to be part of it.
I’m surprised that the EBU hasn’t actually allowed full membership to Kazakhstan rather than associate membership. Aren’t they actually partially located in the EBU broadcast area?
Maybe the EBU just want western countries in as it makes the contest easier to sell.
I’d like to see Kazakhstan participate in ESC as full members.
Kazakhstan are not in the EBU broadcasting area but they can apply to be in the Council of Europe which would make them full members
I find the fact that Kazakhstan is not in the European Broadcasting Area ridiculous. Why doesn’t the European Broadcasting Area include ALL of Europe? Some of Kazakstan is in Europe! I think the EBU should address this issue, it’s really not fair.
Kazakhstan is the only European country outside of the EBA and only 4% of it’s territory is in Europe. It’s not the EBU’s fault, the EBA has extended further than it should have already. Kazakhstan can address their issues in human rights then they may join apply for the Council of Europe to join Eurovision.
And after 2023 :)) ?
Hope they left the festival xd
Interesting. SBS have done very well as a broadcaster, evidently. But I am a little confused, because wasn’t Australia going to be a major part of the new “Eurovision Asia” contest? i.e. Hosting it. Is the SBS budget unlimited in this regard?
The Wikipedia entry for Eurovision Asia is very interesting reading, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Asia_Song_Contest_2019
Yes, me too. All I know about that is that according to ESC Turkey, Ibrahim Eren, Chairman and General Manager of TRT, told the EBU that the broadcaster had “decided to join” Eurovision Asia. How, when and with what format, no-one in the media seems to know (yet).
N.B. This is a not-so-subtle hint to Wiwibloggs and/or other media to possibly investigate and do a feature on Eurovision Asia. ( I currently don’t have the time to do it myself. And besides, someone based in Australia would be much better placed to do it, one would think.)
I am Turkish and trust me, we will not participate in anything, neither the European nor the Asian version. I would not be surprised if we get out of NATO. Unfortunately this is the political climate now.
Oh no. That’s sad. 🙁
Right now, from my end of the sphere, I haven’t read much of anything new related to Eurovision Asia, apart from an article from Eurovoix about the Asia Broadcasting Union concocting an equivalent but unrelated contest with its members. All the listed names of countries in the Wikipedia entry are not confirmed to actually taking part but have expressed interest. Nothing is certain yet unless it comes from the EBU themselves and Blink TV. However, I am looking out for info here in the Philippines since we have a local song festival and I’m hearing murmurs online that it might… Read more »
Indeed. Hence my appeal for investigative journalism. 🙂 (And for someone to re-write the Wikipedia page.)
Create the world you want to see, Purple 😛
It’s strange, because while Australia has never sent anything bad, they’ve never sent anything fantastic either. 2015 comes closest to this but even then I didn’t really like it.
They nearly won the whole thing in 2016!
Yeah, Dami Im was my winner that year. Her live performance was so so incredible. And I use the phrase “Dami it up” even in non-Eurovision contexts.
I would also say that 2016 was an extremely strong year (for me) and there were 4-5 entries that were worthy as winners and could’ve won in other years.
In the words of Mahmood: Soldi, soldi… *clap* *clap*
To this day “Tonight again” stays the only entry by them, I’ve been passionate about. But I appreciate Australia at the contest, as I do with every country participating. This comment section is gonna be so toxic again, I can already hear the Anti-Australia fraction rose from their graves.
I’m not anti-Australia, but I am anti excluding other countries like Kazakhstan yet giving a pass to Australia. The special treatment raises many questions, and I’m not sure there are any adequate answers.
Yeah, I’m all in for including Kazakhstan, but it’s not Australia’s fault, that they can’t enter.
I thought you might want to know that Kazakhstan is listed on Wikipedia as a possible entrant to the Eurovision Asia contest. Whether or not this dream is happening, of course, is another question…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Asia_Song_Contest_2019
They will debut soon, don’t worry .
How much do associate members of the EBU contribute to the organization? I understand they pay a participation fee to compete at the song contest, but that is only one small part of what the European Broadcasting Union does. Do they pay anything beyond this? It seems unfair that SBS get this huge perk when they’re not even actual members, especially considering the huge amount of €€€ that the EBU pump into it, diverting funds away from other causes their members could benefit from.
P.S. This is my second post here, the first disappeared. Apologies if it mysteriously shows up later and I seem to be hammering home my point.
As I understand it, in the past Australia’s partipation fee has been pretty much equivalent to Sweden’s each year, perhaps slightly higher. That would probably suggest we’re comfortably in the top ten, and possibly as high as 6th; in either event Australia’s fee certainly covers costs and helps subsidise those who pay less. Which absolutely no Aussie would ever complain about 😉
Australia may be a large & wealthy country, but that doesn’t mean SBS have a whole heap of cash. They don’t. The fee must surely be based on what the broadcaster itself can afford, which in the case of SBS can’t be much. I’m not sure I agree with your assessment that their fee is at the higher end.
Are they hiding the good stuff from us? Cuz all their entries so far have been middle-of the-road songs or jury baits.
I’m not sure I’m happy about this. They’re not fully paid-up proper members of the EBU. The much vaunted “popularity” of the contest in Australia amounts to a tiny number of viewers on a minority channel. SBS must go into partnership with a private production company to make it viable. On what grounds can the EBU exclude any and all other nations after this? Kakakhstan, China, Logo in the US…they all now have a valid claim to take part. Not to mention the practicalities – the contest is broadcast live in the very early morning there, which decreases the audience… Read more »
There have been multiple non-hosting winners in the past.
I’m aware of that, but the last time will be forty years ago in 1980, and no country has ever been ruled out before they’ve even started.